Recovering Ga(III) from coordination complexes using pyridine 2,6‐dicarboxylic acid chelation ion chromatography

Ion exchange chelation chromatography is an effective means to extract metals from coordination complexes and biological samples; however there is a lack of data to verify the nature of metal complexes that can be successfully analysed using such a procedure. The aim of this study was to assess the capability of pyridine 2,6‐dicarboxylic acid (PDCA) to extract and quantify Ga(III) from a range of environments using standard liquid chromatography apparatus. The PDCA chelation method generated a single Ga(III) peak with a retention time of 2.55 ± 0.02 min, a precision of <2% and a limit of detection of 110 μM. Ga(III) hydroxide complexes (highest stability constant 15.66) were used to successfully cross‐validate the chelation method with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The PDCA assay extracted 96.9 ± 1.2% of the spiked Ga(III) from porcine mucus and 100.7 ± 2.7% from a citrate complex (stability constant 10.02), but only ca 50% from an EDTA complex (stability constant 22.01). These data suggest that PDCA chelation can be considered a suitable alternative to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for Ga(III) quantification from all but the most strongly bound coordinated complexes i.e. a stability constant of <15. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.