This document describes a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for determining the concentrations of cyclic oligomers of caprolactam, from 0,01 % by mass upwards, and linear oligomers of caprolactam, from 5 mg/kg upwards, both up to and including the hexamer of caprolactam (n = 6), in samples of polyamide 6, caprolactam and mixtures of rearrangement products in water.
A second, significantly faster, HPLC method is included for determination of caprolactam and its cyclic dimer, based on the same principle and using the same equipment as the first method.