Capillary electrophoresis speciation analysis of various arsenical compounds

Separation of seven organic and inorganic arsenical species, i.e., inorganic arsenite (As III) and arsenate (As V), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), arsenobetaine (AsBet), arsenocholine (AsCh) and p-arsanilic acid (pAs) was carried out by capillary electrophoresis (CE) equipped with one of two different optical path cells, i.e., either the standard detection interface (SDI) or the high sensitive detection cell (HSDC). Separation, identification and quantification of the As species were performed by means of a capillary silica column with an alkaline borate buffer at pH 9.3 and direct UV detection at 192 nm. This methodological approach was tested with the abovementioned types of cells, and the results of the two modes were compared. In both cases, good separation was obtained, and also, repeatability in terms of migration times and peak areas was rather satisfactory. With regard to sensitivity, the HSDC allowed peak areas to be obtained, which were ca. 50 times greater than those afforded by the former cell. This also led to a substantial improvement in the limits of detection (LoDs); by a factor of 9 in the case of AsCh.