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On‐line solid‐phase extraction coupled with liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for the determination of trace tributyltin and triphenyltin in water samples
Author(s) -
Sun Qian,
Chen Zuliang,
Yuan Dongxing,
Megharaj Mallavarapu,
Naidu Ravendra
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.4321
Subject(s) - chemistry , tributyltin , chromatography , detection limit , solid phase extraction , mass spectrometry , atmospheric pressure chemical ionization , electrospray ionization , extraction (chemistry) , sample preparation , matrix (chemical analysis) , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemical ionization , environmental chemistry , ionization , ion , organic chemistry
On‐line solid‐phase extraction (SPE) for pre‐concentration and sample cleanup is one strategy to reduce matrix effects and to simultaneously improve detection sensitivity in liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). This paper describes an on‐line SPE‐LC/MS method for the determination of tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPhT) at trace levels in water samples. The direct coupling of an on‐line C 18 pre‐column to LC/MS was used to pre‐concentrate TBT and TPhT at trace levels from waters and to remove interfering matrix effects. Pre‐concentration was followed by separation of TBT and TPhT on a C 18 column using a mobile phase containing 0.1% (v/v) HCOOH/5 mM HCOONH 4 and methanol. While both electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) can be interfaced with MS for the detection of TBT and TPhT, ESI‐MS was preferred for this application. The calibration curve for the targets was linear in the concentration range 0.1–30 µg L −1 . The detection limit (signal‐to‐noise ( S/N ) ratio = 3) was 0.02 µg L −1 when 3.0 mL of sample was enriched on the C 18 pre‐column. The recoveries of TBT and TPhT in spiked waters were from 81.0 to 101.9%. The reproducibilities for the analysis of the standard mixture (10 µg L −1 ) for TBT and TPhT were 13.1 and 5.0%, respectively. The developed method was an easy and fast way to analyze TBT and TPhT in water samples. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.