Solid-phase extraction of polar hydrophilic aromatic sulfonates followed by capillary zone electrophoresis-UV absorbance detection and ion-pair liquid chromatography-diode array UV detection and electrospray mass spectrometry.

A comprehensive comparison of four different polymeric solid-phase extraction (SPE) materials for the extraction of 22 different aromatic sulfonates of environmental concern was performed. The investigated adsorbents were the polystyrene-divinylbenzene materials LiChrolut EN from Merck, Isolute ENV+ from International Sorbent Technology, HR-P from Macherey-Nagel and the new Oasis HLB poly(divinylbenzene-co-N-vinylpyrrolidone) copolymer from Waters. Different SPE parameters like the elution solvent and the drying step of the cartridges were optimized. Analyses were performed by capillary zone electrophoresis-UV absorbance detection (CZE-UV) and ion-pair liquid chromatography-diode array UV detection coupled in series with electrospray mass spectrometry (IP-LC-DAD-ESI-MS) in the negative ionization mode. LC-MS offers a higher separation efficiency than CZE. The best adsorbents were LiChrolut EN and HR-P followed by Isolute ENV+ and Oasis HLB. The recoveries for most of the onefold negatively charged aromatic sulfonates were >50% for the extraction from spiked ground water at 50 microg/l. Recoveries for LiChrolut EN and HR-P were approximately 20% higher than for Isolute ENV+. Very hydrophilic sulfonates containing more than one negative sulfonate group could not be extracted by any of the tested adsorbents.