Solid phase extraction of metal ions using immobilised chelating calixarene tetrahydroxamates

Synthesis of straight arm chains substituted dibenzo-21-crown-7 derivatives

A series of straight arm chains substituted dibenzo-21-crown-7 derivatives 2a–c, 3a–c, and 5a–c have been synthesised by the Huang Minlon method or reduction with sodium borohydride from the corresponding dibenzo-21-crown-7 bridged diketones 1a–c and 4a–c, which were obtained by diacylation of dibenzo-21-crown-7 with excessive mono- or dicarboxylic acids in the presence of polyphosphoric acid. All new compounds were characterised by IR, MS, 1H NMR and elemental analysis.

Selective sorption of palladium by thiocarbamoyl-substituted thiacalix[n]arene derivatives immobilized on amberlite resin: application to leach liquors of automotive catalysts

Thiocarbamoyl-substituted thiacalix[n]arene derivatives immobilized on amberlite resins have the potential for application as new adsorbents for selective separation of Pd(ii) ions from leach liquors of automotive catalysts.

Separation of amino acids by high performance liquid chromatography based on calixarene-bonded stationary phases

In this work, we present a new method for synthesis of silica gel stationary phases based on calix[4]arene derivatives. In order to achieve it, 25,27-dipropoxy-26,28-bis-[3-propyloxydimethylsililoxy]calix[4]arene has been synthesized in six steps and immobilized on silica via chlorotrimethylsilane. Stationary phases were characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis and used for the separation of amino acid derivatives by high performance liquid chromatography. The effect of isocratic and gradient elution, pH and column temperature on retention and selectivity of the Fmoc-protected amino acids were studied. The retention mechanism was also discussed. The results indicated that the stationary phase behaves like a reverse phase packing. Size exclusion, electron-π, π-π and hydrophobic interactions seem to be involved in the separation process.

Enrichment of trace amounts of copper(II) ions in water samples using octadecyl silica disks modified by a Schiff base ionophore prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination

Bis(5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde)-1,2-propanediimine is synthesized by the reaction of 5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 1,2-diaminopropane in ethanol. This ligand is used as a modifier of octadecyl silica disks for preconcentration of trace amounts of copper(II) ions, followed by nitric acid elution and flame atomic absorption spectrometric (FAAS) determination. The effect of parameters influencing the extraction efficiency, i.e. pH of the sample solutions, amount of the Schiff base, type and volume of stripping reagent, sample and eluent flow rates were evaluated. Under optimum experimental conditions, the capacity of the membrane disks modified by 4mg of the ligand was found to be 247.7 (+/-2.1)mug of copper. The detection limit and the concentration factor of the presented method are 2.4ng/l and greater than 400, respectively. The method was applied to the extraction, recovery and detection of copper in different synthetic and water samples.

Chelating sorbents based on silica gel and their application in atomic spectrometry

This mini-review covers chelating sorbents anchored to silica gel and their analytical applications for the preconcentration, separation and determination of trace metal ions, focussing mainly on the last 20 years. The article summarizes also the experience gathered by our research group in the synthesis and characterization of new modified silica gels "via silanization", and their affinity toward selective extraction and separation of trace elements. The introduction of 1,5-bis(di-2-pyridyl)methylene thiocarbohydrazide silica gel (DPTH-gel) and methylthiosalicylate silica gel (TS-gel) chelating sorbents in trace and ultratrace analysis provide vital breakthroughs in preconcentration methods. These home-made materials allow certain analytes to be selectively extracted from complex matrices without matrix interference and good detection limits. The advantages of these new chelating sorbents in comparison with 8-hydroxyquinoline chelating sorbent immobilized on silica gel are discussed.

High-performance liquid chromatography of di- and trisubstituted aromatic positional isomers on 1,3-alternate 25,27-dipropoxy-26,28-bis-[3-propyloxy]-calix[4]arene-bonded silica gel stationary phase

A new 1,3-alternate 25,27-dipropoxy-26,28-bis-[3-propyloxy]-calix[4]arene-bonded silica gel stationary phase (1,3-Alt CalixPr) has been prepared and used for the separation of di- and trisubstituted aromatic positional isomers by HPLC. The effect of organic modifier content, pH and column temperature on retention and selectivity of the benzene derivatives were studied. The retention mechanism was also discussed. The results indicated that the stationary phase behaves like a reversed-phase packing. However inclusion, hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding and pi-pi interactions seem to be involved in separation process.

New calixarene-bonded stationary phases in high-performance liquid chromatography: comparative studies on the retention behavior and on influences of the eluent

The chromatographic behavior of six calixarene-bonded stationary phases is reported. Varying analyte selectivities (i.e., for phenols, substituted aromatics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, barbituric acid derivatives, xanthines) exist as a function of the ring-size of the calix[n]arenes (n=4, 6, 8) and the substitution at the "upper rim" with para-tert.-butyl groups. Although eluents with unusually high proportions of water were used, a comparison with conventional reversed-phase (RP) columns shows a predominantly reversed-phase character with remarkable selectivities of these phases. The influences of several organic solvents on retention variations of solutes are compared for RP-C18, phenyl and calixarene phases.

Quantification of lanthanides in rocks using succinic acid-derivatized sorbents for on-line SPE-RP-ion-pair HPLC

The use of new poly(norbornene-block-7-oxanorborn-2ene-5,6-dicarboxylic acid)-coated silica-based sorbents as well as of beaded polymers based on poly(norborn-2-ene-5,6-dicarboxylic acid-co-1,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-1,4,5,8-exo-endo-dimethanonaphthalene) for the on-line preconcentration of lanthanides from rock digests and their subsequent RP-ion-pair HPLC separation is described. Block co-polymers of norborn-2-ene and 7-oxanorborn-2-ene-5,6-dicarboxylate used for coating were prepared by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and poly(norborn-2-ene-5,6-dicarboxylic acid-co-1,4,4a,5,8,-8a-hexahydro-1,4,5,8-exo-endo-dimethanonaphthalene)-based polymer beads were prepared by ring-opening metathesis precipitation polymerization. Both types of sorbents exhibit an extraordinarily good pH stability, are hydrophilic and therefore easily wetable by water alone, and show high extraction efficiencies for lanthanides within a pH of 3.5-5.5. The rare earth element (REE) content in the investigated rocks varied over 3 orders of magnitude (0.19-108 microg/g). REE concentrations prior to enrichment were typically in the range of 1-25 ng/mL; the total amount of each REE sorbed onto the precolumn was in the range of 8-270 ng. Extraction selectivities of the sorbent may be enhanced by adding 5-sulfosalicylic acid as a masking agent for iron and aluminum as well as methanol as an inhibitor for the precipitation of o-silicic acid. Gradient elution of the lanthanides from the precolumn and their subsequent separation on a RP-C18 column was achieved using hydroxyisobutyric acid (HIBA) and sodium octanesulfonate. Depending on the actual concentration of the lanthanides in the digests and in order to suppress interfering cations, UV detection was carried out with two different postderivatization reagents, 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol (PAR) and arsenazo III. The high selectivity in enrichment as well as the complementary use of post-derivatization reagents allows the fast, quantitative, and highly reproducible quantification of REEs present in rocks by complete removal or suppression of all other interfering components. Thus, recoveries were found to be within a range of 97-103% for most REEs with relative standard deviations of 2-5%.