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Synthesis and characterization of isotopically enriched methylmercury (CH 3 201 Hg + )
Author(s) -
Mizanur Rahman G. M.,
Skip Kingston H. M.,
Bhandari Sandeep
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
applied organometallic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1099-0739
pISSN - 0268-2605
DOI - 10.1002/aoc.551
Subject(s) - chemistry , isotope dilution , methylmercury , mass spectrometry , inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry , stable isotope ratio , chromatography , analytical chemistry (journal) , isotope , inductively coupled plasma , radiochemistry , environmental chemistry , physics , bioaccumulation , plasma , quantum mechanics
Abstract A simple procedure for the synthesis of an important standard, isotopically enriched methylmercury, which is not commercially available, has been established successfully. The isotopically enriched standard synthesized is utilized in conventional isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS), as well as in speciated IDMS (SIDMS), for determination of the true concentration of methylmercury in environmental samples. The CH 3 201 Hg + standard has been synthesized from commercially available 201 HgO and tetramethyltin. The synthesis time required is 1 h at 60°C. The product is highly pure, yielding more than 90% as 201 Hg in CH 3 201 Hg + . Hazardous dimethylmercury does not occur during this synthesis procedure. The product synthesized was analyzed using high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) and ICP‐MS alone in order to determine its concentration, isotopic composition and purity. The stability of the product was also evaluated for over 6 months and found to be stable at 4°C in the dark. The isotopically enriched methylmercury synthesized can be used in SIDMS and IDMS analyses as a standard. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.