Speciation of arsenic and selenium compounds by ion-pair reversed-phase chromatography with electrothermic atomic absorption spectrometry. Application of experimental design for chromatographic optimisation

An off-line system is proposed consisting of ion-pair reversed-phase liquid chromatography, collections of fractions at the outflow of the column and furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The so-called system allowed determination of both arsenic and selenium species mainly found in the environment and in mammals (arsenite, arsenate, monomethylarsonate, dimethylarsinate, selenite, selenate, selenocystamine, selenocystine, selenomethionine and selenoethionine). In order to study the retention behaviour of these compounds and to estimate the optimal conditions for the chromatographic separation, central composite designs were used to evaluate the influence of the eluent parameters such as pH, tetrabutylammonium phosphate (TBA) concentration and sodium hydrogenphosphate amounts. The retention factors of each species and the selectivity were established as response criteria. Response surfaces and isoresponse curves were drawn from the mathematical models and enabled one to determine the optimal conditions and to visualise the method robustness. The predicted optimal zone was situated at pH 5.5-6.5, 4.0 mM Na2HPO4 and 3.0-4.0 mM TBA. Regression models suggested linearity for the studied compounds in the range 25-200 microg selenium and arsenic per litre investigated.     

Fully automated high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for the analysis of free catecholamines in urine

A totally automated and reliable high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the routine determination of free catecholamines (norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine) in urine. The catecholamines were isolated from urine samples using small alumina columns. A standard automated method for pH adjustment of urine before the extraction step has been developed. The extraction was performed on an ASPEC (Automatic Sample Preparation with Extraction Columns, Gilson). The eluate was collected in a separate tube and then automatically injected into the chromatographic column. The catecholamines were separated by reversed-phase ion-pair liquid chromatography and quantified by fluorescence detection. No manual intervention was required during the extraction and separation procedure. One sample may be run every 15 min, ca. 96 samples in 24 h. Analytical recoveries for all three catecholamines are 63-87%, and the detection limits are 0.01, 0.01, and 0.03 microM for norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine, respectively, which is highly satisfactory for urine. Day-to-day coefficients of variation were less than 10%.