Comparison of flame ionization and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the detection of organometallics separated by capillary supercritical fluid chromatography

Analytical methods for phenyltin compounds in polychlorinated biphenyl-based transformer oil samples

We present the first study on the analytical methods of phenyltin compounds (PTs) in polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-based transformer oil samples. Tetraphenyltin (TePhT) has been used as stabilizer for some kinds of PCBs-based transformer oil formulations. Monophenyltin (MPhT), diphenyltin (DPhT) and triphenyltin (TrPhT) could have been formed from TePhT during long-term use. TePhT was directly measured by gas chromatograph (GC) connected with three types of detectors, a mass spectrometer (MS), a flame photometric detector (FPD) and an atomic emission detector (AED) after dilution with hexane. MPhT, DPhT and TrPhT were propylated with Grignard reagent before measurement. The MS was the most sensitive of the detectors, with detection limits of phenyltin compounds of 30 ng/ml (MPhT), 9.8 ng/ml (DPhT), 5.5 ng/ml (TrPhT) and 0.60 ng/ml (TePhT), respectively. From the viewpoint of selectivity, MS was slightly worse than other detectors, but interference from PCBs matrices was not significant under ordinary analytical conditions. Two used transformer oil samples were analyzed using the analytical methods developed in this study. TePhT and TrPhT were found in both samples.

Capillary electrophoresis-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry: an attractive complementary technique for elemental speciation analysis

Some basic and practical aspects of interfacing capillary electrophoresis to inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (CE-ICP-MS) are reviewed in this article with emphasis on the use of this hyphenated technique for elemental speciation analysis. The principles behind the techniques of both CE and ICP-MS are introduced. The interfacing of CE to ICP-MS is discussed including several devices and nebulizers reported in literature. A brief account of their advantages and limitations is given. The various CE-ICP-MS applications for elemental speciation analysis are also reviewed. Some issues concerning the future of CE-ICP-MS for the elemental speciation analyses are discussed.

Elemental speciation by chromatographic separation with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection

Separation techniques coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is reviewed. ICP-MS technique is described briefly. Coupling of the different separation techniques are described, together with the most common applications used for each technique that has been described in the literature. An overview for the future of separation techniques coupled to ICP-MS with regard to elemental speciation is discussed.

Element selective detection for supercritical-fluid chromatography

This manuscript describes the use of Supercritical-Fluid Chromatography (SFC) with plasma spectrometric detection for the analysis of organometallics. An introduction on the principles and characteristics of Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) is included, along with a discussion about requirements for coupling SFC to plasma detection and the different approaches for interfacing SFC to ICP. The last part of this review paper provides a comprehensive description of SFC-ICP applications for the analysis of organometallics containing iron, silicon, tin, chromium, arsenic, lead, mercury and antimony.

Separation of metal chelates and organometallic compounds by SFC and SFE/GC

Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) combines the high diffusion coefficients of gas chromatography (GC) and the solubility properties of liquid chromatography (LC). SFC generally requires lower temperatures for chromatographic separations and thus is more suitable for analyzing thermally labile compounds including a number of metal chelates and organometallic compounds. SFC also allows interfacing between supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and chromatographic analysis of metal-containing compounds. A large number of metal chelates and organometallic compounds can be separated by SFC. This article summarizes SFC separation of various chelates of transition metals, heavy metals, lanthanides and actinides as well as organometallic compounds of lead, mercury, and tin reported in the recent literature. This article also discusses SFC detection systems and the determination of solubility of organometallic compounds by SFC.

Analysis of organotin compounds by gas chromatography-reactive-flow detection

The gas chromatographic (GC) reactive-flow detector (RFD) responds strongly to organotin compounds. The system yields over four orders of linearity with a minimum detectable amount of 8 x 10(-16) g Sn/s (at S/N = 2). The RFD's selectivity towards tin over carbon is approximately 2.5 x 10(5) g C/g Sn. The spectral emission includes a surface luminescence centered at 390 nm and a gas-phase luminescence centered at 470 nm. These findings suggest that the GC-RFD could serve as a sensitive and selective tool for the analysis of organotin compounds.

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric detection for chromatography and capillary electrophoresis

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is now a well established detection technique for liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, supercritical fluid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis. A review of the literature with particular regard to ICP-MS as a chromatographic and capillary electrophoretic detector is presented. The various modes of chromatography and capillary electrophoresis are discussed and practical descriptions for hyphenating the techniques with the ICP mass spectrometer are given. Sample introduction systems and data acquisition methods are reviewed along with the numerous applications of ICP-MS as a chromatographic detector. In addition, alternative plasma sources, such as the atmospheric and reduced pressure helium microwave-induced plasmas for chromatographic detection are described.