Speciation of selenomethionine and selenocystine using online micro-column containing Cu(II) loaded nanometer-sized Al2O3 coupled with ICP-MS detection

A flow injection online speciation procedure by using micro-column packed with Cu(II) loaded nanometer-sized Al₂O₃ coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the separation and determination of selenomethionine (SeMet) and selenocystine (SeCys₂) has been developed. The main factors affecting the separation and preconcentration of SeMet and SeCys₂ including pH value, sample flow rate, eluent concentration, eluent volume and flow rate, and interfering ions have been investigated. It was found that SeCys₂ could be selectively retained by micro-column packed with Cu(II) loaded nanometer-sized Al₂O₃ at pH 4.0, and the retained SeCys₂ could be eluted by 1.0 mol L⁻¹ HNO₃, while SeMet was not retained and passed through the micro-column directly at this pH. Both SeMet and SeCys₂ could be quantitatively adsorbed by the micro-column at pH 9.0, and the retained SeMet and SeCys₂ could be easily eluted with 1.0 mol L⁻¹ HNO₃. The content of SeMet was obtained by subtracting the SeCys₂ from the total content of seleno amino acids. With the enrichment factor of 7.8 and 7.7, the limits of detection (LODs) for SeMet and SeCys₂ were found to be 24 pg Se mL⁻¹ and 21 pg Se mL⁻¹, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for SeCys₂ and SeMet with seven replicate determinations of 1.0 ng mL⁻¹ SeMet and SeCys₂, were 2.1% and 1.6%, respectively, the sampling frequency of 8 h⁻¹ was obtained. The proposed method was applied to the speciation of SeMet and SeCys₂ in selenized yeast, human urine and serum with satisfactory results.