Electrolytic hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of antimony, arsenic, selenium, and tin – mechanistic aspects and figures of merit

This article deals with the electrocatalytic and electrochemical mechanisms of hydride formation and their dependence on hydrogen overvoltage. A three-electrode-arrangement was used to determine the hydrogen overvoltage of different cathode materials (Pt, Au, Ag, glassy carbon, Cd, Pb, amalgamated Ag). The applicability of these cathode materials was tested for hydride formation using As(III), As(V), Sb(III), Sb(V), Se(IV), and Sn(IV). Glassy carbon is the most suitable cathode material for hydride generation with As(III), Sb(III), Se(IV), and Sn(IV). Hg–Ag is well suited for the production of stibine and arsine. As(III), As(V), Sb(III), and Sb(V) were all converted into their hydrides with efficiencies > 90%. A detection limit in the range of 0.11–0.13 μg L^–1 for As and Sb (sample volume 200 μL) was obtained for cathode materials with a high hydrogen overvoltage. The precision of replicate measurements was better than 5% calculated as variation coefficient. The accuracy of the presented method was verified by analysis of certified reference materials and tissues of cancer patients. The recovery rates for As and Se were calculated to be 93–108%.     

Automated system for on-line determination of dimethylarsinic and inorganic arsenic by hydride generation–atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A multisyringe flow-injection approach has been coupled to hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS) with UV photo-oxidation for dimethylarsinic (DMA), inorganic As and total As determination, depending on the pre-treatment given to the sample (extraction or digestion). The implementation of a UV lamp allows on-line photo-oxidation of DMA and the following arsenic detection, whereas a bypass leads the flow directly to the HG-AFS system, performing inorganic arsenic determination. DMA concentration is calculated by the difference of total inorganic arsenic and measurement of the photo-oxidation step. The detection limits for DMA and inorganic arsenic were 0.09 and 0.47 μg L(-1), respectively. The repeatability values accomplished were of 2.4 and 1.8%, whereas the injection frequencies were 24 and 28 injections per hour for DMA and inorganic arsenic, respectively. This method was validated by means of a solid reference material BCR-627 (muscle of tuna) with good agreement with the certified values. Satisfactory results for DMA and inorganic arsenic determination were obtained in several water matrices. The proposed method offers several advantages, such as increasing the sampling frequency, low detection limits and decreasing reagents and sample consumption, which leads to lower waste generation.     

Non-chromatographic hydride generation atomic spectrometric techniques for the speciation analysis of arsenic,antimony, selenium,and tellurium in water samples—a review

Hydride generation (HG) coupled with AAS, ICP–AES, and AFS techniques for the speciation analysis of As, Sb, Se, and Te in environmental water samples is reviewed. Careful control of experimental conditions, offline/online sample pretreatment methods employing batch, continuous and flow-injection techniques, and cryogenic trapping of hydrides enable the determination of various species of hydride-forming elements without the use of chromatographic separation. Other non-chromatographic approaches include solvent extraction, ion exchange, and selective retention by microorganisms. Sample pretreatment, pH dependency of HG, and control of NaBH₄/HCl concentration facilitate the determination of As(III), As(V), monomethylarsonate (MMA), and dimethylarsinate (DMA) species. Inorganic species of arsenic are dominant in terrestrial waters, whereas inorganic and methylated species are reported in seawater. Selenium and tellurium speciation analysis is based on the hydrides generation only from the tetravalent state. Se(IV) and Se(VI) are the inorganic selenium species mostly reported in environmental samples, whereas speciation of tellurium is rarely reported. Antimony speciation analysis is based on the slow kinetics of hydride formation from the pentavalent state and is mainly reported in seawater samples.     

Determination of As in tobacco by using electrochemical hydride generation at a Nafion® solid polymer electrolyte cell hyphenated with atomic fluorescence spectrometry

In the present work, a novel solid polymer electrolyte hydride generation (SPE-HG) cell was developed. The home-made SPE-HG cell, mainly composed of three components (Nafion®117 membrane for separating and H⁺ exchanging, a soft graphite felt cathode and a Ti mesh modified by Ir anode), was employed for detecting As by coupling to atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS). The H⁺ generated by electrolysis of pure water in anode chamber transferred to cathode chamber through SPE, and immediately reacted with As^3 + to generate AsH₃. The relative mechanisms and operation conditions for hydride generation of As were investigated in detail. The developed cell employed water as an alternative of acid anolyte, with virtues of low-cost, more than 6 months lifetime and environment friendly compared with the conventional cell. Under the optimized conditions, the limit of determination of As^3 + for sample blank solution was 0.12 μg L^? 1, the RSD was 2.9% for 10 consecutive measurements of 5 μg L^? 1 As^3 + standard solution. The accuracy of the method was verified by the determination of As in the reference Tea (GBW07605) and the developed method was successfully applied to determine trace amounts of As in tobacco samples with recovery from 97% to 103%.     

Performance of a new nebulizer system for simultaneous determination of Sb,Sn (hydride generation), V,and Zn by ICP–OES

A new nebulizer system is described that extends the analytical capability of the inductively coupled plasma technique to include the simultaneous determination of two elements Sb and Sn (hydride-forming), with two conventional elements, V and Zn. The main advantage of this system is its simultaneous determination of elements that form volatile hydrides and elements that do not, without any instrumental changes. Optimization of reaction and instrumental conditions was performed to characterize the new system. The performance of the new nebulizer system was evaluated by studying the effect of some transition metals (Ni, Cu, Co, and Fe, 1–1000 mg L^–1) on the Sb, Sn, V, and Zn emission signals (1 mg L^–1). Interferences from transition metal ions were found to be insignificant for determination of the four elements in presence of L-cysteine. Long-term and short-term stability was also evaluated. The precision, expressed as RSD for 15 replicate measurements was 0.7% for Sb, 1.7% for Sn, 2.5% for V, and 2.3% for Zn at 200 g L^–1 of each analyte. The detection limits obtained were 0.52, 1.3, 3.2, and 4.7 g L^–1 for Sb, Sn, V, and Zn, respectively. Spike and recovery experiments were performed on the NIST 1643c trace metals in water standard reference material and results were in agreement with the certified values.     

Simultaneous determination of naphazoline and pyridoxine in eye drops using excitation–emission matrix fluorescence coupled with second-order calibration method based on alternating trilinear decomposition algorithm

A novel method is developed for the direct determination of naphazoline hydrochloride(NAP) and pyridoxine hydrochloride(VB6) in commercial eye drops. By using excitation–emission matrix(EEM)fluorescence coupled with second-order calibration method based on the alternating trilinear decomposition(ATLD) algorithm, the proposed approach can achieve quantitative analysis successfully even in the presence of unknown and uncalibrated interferences. The method shows good linearity for NAP and VB6 with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. The results were in good agreement with the labeled contents. To further confirm the feasibility and reliability of the proposed method, the same batch samples were analyzed by multiple reaction monitoring(MRM) based on LC–MS/MS method.T-test demonstrated that there are no significant differences between the prediction results of the two methods. The satisfactory results obtained in this work indicate that the use of the second-order calibration method coupled with the EEM is a promising tool for industrial quality control and pharmaceutical analysis due to its advantages of high sensitivity, low-cost and simple implementation.     

Simultaneous determination of the repertoire of classical neurotransmitters released from embryonal carcinoma stem cells using online microdialysis coupled with hydrophilic interaction chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Dynamic, continuous, and simultaneous multi-analysis of transmitters is important for the delineation of the complex interactions between the neuronal and intercellular communications. But the analysis of the whole repertoire of classical transmitters of diverse structure is challenging due to their different physico-chemical properties and to their high polarity feature which leads to poor retention in traditional reversed-phase columns during LC–MS analysis. Here, an online microdialysis coupled with hydrophilic interaction chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (online MD-HILIC–MS/MS) detection method was developed for the simultaneous measurement of the repertoire of classical transmitters (acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, glutamate, GABA, and glycine). Stable isotope labeled internal standards and authentic matrix have been applied to guarantee reliable results. The method was successfully employed to reveal the characteristics of transmitter release from embryonal carcinoma stem cells. The method features simple procedure (no sample preparation), high recovery (≥73%), high accuracy (89.36% ≤ RE ≤ 116.89%), good reproducibility (2.18% ≤ RSD ≤ 14.56%), and sensitive limits of detection (2 pg for acetylcholine, serotonin, and glutamate, 10 pg for dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA, and glycine). It can be flexibly applied to determine the contents of the classical transmitters in other biological matrix samples with minor changes.     

Slurry sampling for the determination of arsenic, cadmium, and lead in mainstream cigarette smoke condensate by graphite furnace–atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry

The slurry sampling technique has been applied for the determination of As, Cd, and Pb in mainstream cigarette smoke condensate (MS CSC) by graphite furnace-atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The MS CSC of the 1R4F Reference Cigarette was collected by electrostatic precipitation and was subsequently prepared as two slurry samples with and without the dispersing agent Triton X-100. Comparison of results determined by ICP-MS analyses of the 1R4F MS CSC slurry samples with those from the conventional microwave digestion method revealed good agreement. The precision of Triton X-100 slurry sampling and of microwave-assisted digestion was better than 10% RSD, and both were superior to slurry sampling without use of Triton X-100. The accuracy of the analytical results for the Triton X-100 slurry sample was further verified by graphite furnace-atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS). For GF-AAS, the method limits of detection are 1.6, 0.04, and 0.5 microg x L(-1) for As, Cd, and Pb, respectively. For ICP-MS, the method limits of detection are 0.06, 0.01, and 0.38 microg x L(-1) for As, Cd, and Pb, respectively. The MS CSC of the 1R4F Reference Cigarette was collected in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) smoking regime (35 mL puff volume of 2-s puff duration at an interval of 60 s) and the concentrations of As, Cd and Pb were 6.0+/-0.5, 69.3+/-2.8, and 42.0+/-2.1 ng/cigarette, respectively.     

Simultaneous determination of gallic acid,methyl gallate,and 1,3,6-tri-O-galloyl-β-d-glucose from Turkish galls in rat plasma using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and its application to pharmacokinetics study

Turkish galls (TG) is a traditional Uygur medicine typically used in clinics for dental disease and chronic ulcerative colitis. In this study, a novel liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of gallic acid, methyl gallate, and 1,3,6-tri-O-galloyl-β-d -glucose in rat plasma, which are the major bioactive compounds of TG. After a feasible protein precipitation using acetonitrile for sample preparation, chromatographic separation was performed with a BDS Hypersil C18 column (2.1 × 100 mm, 5 μm) at 30°C, and water containing 10 mmol of ammonium acetate and acetonitrile was used as the mobile phase with a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The MS detector was operated in the selective reaction monitoring with negative-ionization mode. The results of the method validation, including selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision, extraction recovery, matrix effect, and stability of the compounds in the biosamples, were all within the current acceptance criteria. The established method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetics study of three analytes in rats after an oral administration of TG extract and laid the foundation for studying the active components and mechanism of TG in vivo.     

Development of an ion-exchange method for separation of radioiodine from tellurium and antimony and its application to the production of 124I via the 121Sb(α,n)-process

A novel anion-exchange chromatographic method for separation of radioiodine from an antimony target irradiated with ³He- or α-particles was developed, with separation yield of radioiodine amounting to 90 ± 5 % and its decontamination factor from the Te and Sb radionuclides to ~10⁴. The optimized separation method developed was then applied to the production of ¹²⁴I via the ¹²¹Sb(α,n)¹²⁴I process using a highly enriched ¹²¹Sb target. Quality control tests showed that the separated ¹²⁴I occurred >99 % as iodide and the longer lived impurities ¹²⁶I and ¹²⁵I amounted to 0.16 % and <0.05 %, respectively. The trace level of inactive Sb impurity was determined by ICP–OES.     

Ultratrace determination of lead,cadmium and copper in environmental and biological samples by atomic absorption spectrometry after their separation and preconcentration using octadecyl silica membrane disks modified with a new n–s schiff base

Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) ions were separated and preconcentrated by solid-phase extraction on octadecyl-bonded silica membrane disks modified with a new S–N-containing Schiff base (bis-2-thiophenal propandiamine) (BTPD) followed by elution and atomic absorption spectrometric detection. The method was applied as a separation and detection method for lead(II), cadmium(II) and copper(II) in environmental and biological samples. Extraction efficiency and the influence of sample matrix, flow rate, pH, and type and minimum amount of stripping acid were investigated. The maximum capacity of the membrane disks modified by 4?mg of BTPD was found to be 668 ± 10, 480 ± 8 and 454 ± 7?µg of lead, cadmium and copper, respectively. The limit of detection of the proposed method is 0.25, 0.01 and 0.02?ng/mL for lead, cadmium and copper, respectively.     

Development of a simplified method for the simultaneous determination of retinol, α-tocopherol,and β-carotene in serum by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization

A new and simple method for the determination of fat-soluble vitamins (retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and beta-carotene) in human serum was developed and validated by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (LC-APCI-MS-MS). Different solvent mixtures were tested to obtain deproteinization and extraction of the analytes from the matrix. As a result, a volume of 240 microL of a 1:1 (v/v) ethanol/ethyl acetate mixture added to 60 microL of serum was found to be suitable for both protein precipitation and antioxidants solubilization, giving the best recovery for all three analytes. Deproteinized samples (20 microL) were injected after dilution, without the need for concentration or evaporation to dryness and reconstruction of the sample. Vitamins were separated on a C-8 column using a 95:5 (v/v) methanol/dichloromethane mixture and ionized in the positive-ion mode; detection was performed in the selected-reaction monitoring mode. Linearity of the LC-APCI-MS-MS method was established over 5 orders of magnitude for retinol and alpha-tocopherol, whereas in the case of beta-carotene it was limited to 4 orders. Lower limits of quantitation were 1.7, 2.3, and 4.1 nM for retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and beta-carotene, respectively. Serum concentrations of retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and alpha+beta-carotene determined in a group of healthy volunteers were 2.48, 38.07, and 0.50 microM, respectively, in samples collected in winter ( n=122) and 2.69, 45.88, and 0.90 microM during summer ( n=66).     

A new four-step Runge–Kutta type method with vanished phase-lag and its first, second and third derivatives for the numerical solution of the Schrödinger equation

The construction of new four-step Runge–Kutta type method of sixth algebraic order with vanished phase-lag and its first, second and third derivatives is presented in this paper. We present a comparative error and stability analysis for the produced new method. In order to test the efficiency of the obtained method, an application to the resonance problem of the Schrödinger equation is described.     

Simultaneous determination of the advanced glycation end product <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis><Superscript>ɛ</Superscript>-carboxymethyllysine and its precursor,lysine, in exhaled breath condensate using isotope-dilution–hydrophilic-interaction liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

Analysis of biomarkers in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a non-invasive method for investigating the effects of different diseases or exposures, on the lungs and airways. N ^ɛ-carboxymethyllysine (CML) is an important biomarker of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). A method has been developed for simultaneous determination of CML and its precursor, the amino acid lysine, in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). After addition of labelled internal standards (d-4-CML; d-4-lysine), the EBC was concentrated by freeze-drying. Separation and detection of the analytes were performed by hydrophilic-ion liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass-spectrometric detection (HILIC–MS–MS). The limits of quantification were 10 pg mL⁻¹ EBC and 0.5 ng mL⁻¹ EBC for CML and lysine, respectively. The relative standard deviation of the within-series precision was between 2.8 and 7.8% at spiked concentrations between 40 and 200 pg mL⁻¹ for CML and between 6 and 20 ng mL⁻¹ for lysine. Accuracy for the analytes ranged between 89.5 and 133%. The method was used for the analysis of EBC samples from ten healthy persons from the general population and ten persons receiving dialysis. CML and lysine were detected in all EBC samples with median values of 19 pg mL⁻¹ CML and 11.9 ng mL⁻¹ lysine in EBC of healthy persons and 25 pg mL⁻¹ CML and 9.5 ng mL⁻¹ lysine in EBC of dialysis patients.     

Towards the chiral metabolomics: Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry based dl-amino acid analysis after labeling with a new chiral reagent, (S)-2,5-dioxopyrrolidin-1-yl-1-(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate,and the application to saliva of healthy volunteers

A novel triazine-type chiral derivatization reagent, i.e., (S)-2,5-dioxopyrrolidin-1-yl-1-(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate (DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu), was developed for the highly sensitive and selective detection of chiral amines and amino acids by UPLC–MS/MS analysis. The enantiomers of amino acids were easily labeled with the reagents at room temperature within 40 min in an alkaline medium containing triethylamine. The diastereomers derived from proteolytic amino acids, except serine, were well separated under isocratic elution conditions by reversed-phase chromatography using an ODS column (R_s = 1.2–9.0). dl-Serine was separated by use of an ADME column which has relatively higher polar surface than the conventional ODS column. The characteristic product ions, i.e., m/z 195.3 and m/z 209.3, were detected from all the diastereomers by the collision-induced dissociation of the protonated molecule. A highly sensitive detection on the amol–fmol level was obtained from the selected reaction monitoring (SRM) chromatogram. The chiral amines (e.g., adrenaline and noradrenaline) labeled with DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu were also well separated and sensitively detected by the present procedure. The method using DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu was used for the determination of dl-amino acids in the human saliva from healthy volunteers. Various l-amino acids were identified in the saliva. Furthermore, d-alanine (d-Ala) and d-proline (d-Pro) were also detected in relatively high concentrations (>5%). The ratio was higher in male saliva than in female saliva. However, the difference in the ratio of d-Ala for one day was not very high and the effect of foods and beverage seemed to be negligible. Based on the results using l-Ala-d₃, the d-Ala in saliva seemed to be produced due to the racemization with some enzymes such as racemase. The racemization reaction was reversible, i.e., d-Ala-d₃ was also racemized to l-Ala-d₃ in saliva. Thus, care should be taken during the analysis of dl-amino acids in saliva. The present method using DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu may be applicable for the determination of chiral amine metabolomics, because the resulting derivatives produce the same product ions without relation to the compounds and show highly sensitive detection in the SRM mode of MS/MS. Consequently, DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu seems to be a useful chiral derivatization reagent for the determination of amines and amino acids in biological samples.     

A simple assay for the simultaneous determination of rosuvastatin acid,rosuvastatin-5<Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>-lactone,and <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-desmethyl rosuvastatin in human plasma using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)

A simple and sensitive assay was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of rosuvastatin acid (RST), rosuvastatin-5S-lactone (RST-LAC), and N-desmethyl rosuvastatin (DM-RST), in buffered human plasma using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). All the three analytes and the corresponding deuterium-labeled (d6) internal standards were extracted from 50 μL of buffered human plasma by protein precipitation. The analytes were chromatographically separated using a Zorbax-SB Phenyl column (2.1 mm × 100 mm, 3.5 μm). The mobile phase comprised of a gradient mixture of 0.1% v/v glacial acetic acid in 10% v/v methanol in water (solvent A) and 40% v/v methanol in acetonitrile (solvent B). The analytes were separated at baseline within 6.0 min using a flow rate of 0.35 mL/min. Mass spectrometry detection was carried out in positive electrospray ionization mode. The calibration curves for all three analytes were linear (R ≥ 0.9964, n = 3) over the concentration range of 0.1–100 ng/mL for RST and RST-LAC, and 0.5–100 ng/mL for DM-RST. Mean extraction recoveries ranged within 88.0–106%. Intra- and inter-run mean percent accuracy were within 91.8–111% and percent imprecision was ≤15%. Stability studies revealed that all the analytes were stable in matrix during bench-top (6 h on ice–water slurry), at the end of three successive freeze and thaw cycles and at −80°C for 1 month. The method was successfully applied in a clinical study to determine the concentrations of RST and the lactone metabolite over 12-h post-dose in patients who received a single dose of rosuvastatin.