Phospholipids are major components of biological membranes. Without chemical derivatization, it is difficult to identify and quantitate phospholipids in biological samples. Chemical derivatization can improve both the selectivity and sensitivity of the analytes. This paper gives a full review, through March, 2002, of derivatization methods used for phospholipids in HPLC, CE and GC as well as the spray reagent used for TLC in the early days.