Characterization and quantitation of mixtures of alkyl ether sulfates and carboxylic acids by capillary electrophoresis with indirect photometric detection

The separation, characterization, and determination of mixtures of alkyl ether sulfates (AES) and fatty acids (C10-C16) in background electrolytes (BGEs) containing acetonitrile (ACN)-water mixtures is addressed. Due to inhibition of the ionization of the carboxylate groups, the migration time and the resolution between the fatty acids decreased when the water content of the BGE was reduced, but efficiency and resolution between the AES oligomers improved. The migration times increased and resolution improved by substituting 5% ACN by an equivalent amount of dioxane. A complete separation of the two surfactant classes, up to the AES oligomers with 8 ethylene oxide units (EOs) with respect to C10, with excellent resolution between the AES oligomers, while preserving a satisfactory resolution between the fatty acids, was achieved with a BGE containing 5 mM trimethoxybenzoic acid, 7 mM dipentylamine, 85% ACN, 5% dioxane, and 10% water. The two surfactant classes were increasingly resolved by further reducing the water content of the BGE. Thus, C2 (acetate) was resolved from the AES oligomers up to 7 EOs using 90% ACN and 5% dioxane, but the resolution between the heavier fatty acids was poor with this BGE. Identification of the AES oligomers was eased by the excellent regularity of the successive migration times; thus, within each AES subclass or series of oligomers with the same number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain, the migration times decreased following a mild curve as the number of EOs increased. The way how the data obtained by indirect photometry (corrected peak areas that are proportional to the molar concentrations) should be managed to avoid systematic error when the calibration curve is constructed using an AES standard with an oligomer distribution different from that of the samples is discussed and equations are given. Decyl sulfate was successfully used as internal standard. The detection limits (S/N = 3) were of ca. 2 microM for individual AES oligomers.