The color reaction between sialic acid and 1,3-dihydroxy-benzene was promoted by coordinate-catalytic effect of Cu~(2+) and Cr~(3+) . The produced compound was extracted by butyl acetate-butanol, then the sialic acid in the serum was detected by spectrophotometry at 625 nm. So, a new method of determing the sialic acid in the serum was set up. The linear range of the method is 0 - 1000 mg/L, the detection limit is 2.1 mg/L, the relative standard deviation is 1.59% -2.11% and the recovery is 96.2% - 101.2%,the interference of sugar and ascorbic acid was less than 2 percent. This method is simpl...