Evaluation of a new reagent: anthraquinone-2-sulfonyl chloride for the determination of phenol in water by liquid chromatography using precolumn phase-transfer catalyzed derivatization

A new reagent, anthraquinone-2-sulfonyl chloride, is used for the derivatizaton of phenols. Several compounds with different polarities are selected to evaluate the new reagent and derivatives of these phenols that are prepared via a facile pathway. The optimal conditions for analytical derivatization and mechanism of the derivatization reaction are discussed. The derivatization procedure involves an ion-pair extraction of the deprotonated phenols with a tetrabutylammonium counter ion in the organic phase. At the interface of two phases, the derivatization reaction occurs quantitatively at room temperature within 3 min. The derivatives are stable and readily amenable to analysis by normal-phase (NP) and reversed-phase (RP) high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Excellent linearity response was demonstrated over the concentration range of 0.2-200 micromol/L at 320 nm for NP-HPLC and at 256 nm for RP-HPLC. Combined with preconcentration using a Waters Sep-Pak Plus C(18) cartridge, detection limits of phenols for water-sample analysis are as low as 1 x 10(-9) mol/L (approximately 0.1 microg/mL).