Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography of metal-benzylpropionitrile dithiocarbamate complexes

• Published in: Journal of Chromatography A 1989, Vol.481, p.287-297
• Main Authors: Park, Yong J., Hardy, James K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Chemistry; Chromatographic methods and physical methods associated with chromatography; Exact sciences and technology; Other chromatographic methods
• ISSN: 0021-9673
• DOI: 10.1016/S0021-9673(01)96772-X

A new dithiocarbamate, benzylpropionitrile dithiocarbamate (BPDTC), has been synthesized for use in metal analysis. The high-performance liquid chromatography behavior of metal chelates of BPDTC has been investigated for the simultaneous determination of antimony, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, thallium, and zinc, all of which are on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's list of priority pollutant metals. Metals are extracted into dichloromethane as BPDTC chelates, and then separated on a C 18 column. Cobalt is added as an internal standard. The effects of pH and of three organic modifiers (methanol, acetonitrile, tetrahydrofuran) of the mobile phase on retention time have been investigated. Addition of dichloromethane to the mobile phase increases solubility and chelate stability, and improves the separation of metal BPDTC complexes. BPDTC is added to the aqueous mobile phase to reduce on-column dissociation of the complexes. Detection limits at 260 nm are in the range of 0.1 to 3 μg/l depending on the metal species.