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CHROMATOGRAPHYA
Abstract
A procedure is described for the identification and determination of structural isomers of polychlorinated phenols
in drinking water. First, their acetylation and concentration on graphitized carbon cartridges are carried out.
Detection is accomplished by gas chromatography (GC) coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
(FTIR) using a direct deposition (DD) interface. In this way it is possible to accurately identify and differentiate
variably substituted isomers of chlorophenols, which is very difficult or even impossible to do by means of the
widespread gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) instrumentation. Chlorophenols occurring in water
samples have been identified according to their IR spectra and additionally the identification was confirmed by
means of the MS-MS spectra obtained with a GC-MS-MS tandem instrument.
Keywords: Water analysis; Environmental analysis; Infrared spectroscopy; Detectors, GC; Chlorophenols.
To avoid this disadvantage, the derivatization of In flow-cell interfaces (light pipe) the eluent of
the phenols is carried out to give less polar the column flows through a cell with windows
compounds with better chromatographic charac- which are transparent to IR radiation. In this
teristics, and to facilitate extraction or concen- way transmittance spectra are obtained as the
tration procedures [15]. Among the derivatiza- analytes leave the column. In this sort of inter-
tion procedures used, one of the simplest and face the key factor is volume, which ranges
most common is direct acetylation with acetic between 50 and 100% of the volume of carrier
anhydride in the presence of carbonate or bicar- gas corresponding to the peak width at half its
bonate [16,17]. maximum height [24]. A smaller volume implies
In the case of matrices like water, when large a loss of sensitivity, whereas an excessively large
sample volumes (1 1 or more) are concentrated, volume results in a degradation of the chromato-
the chromatograms obtained show such a high graphic resolution. This interface has been used
number of peaks that it is difficult to reliably in the study of environmental samples, but the
identify and determine the phenols. Neverthe- identification limits are found in the range 20-50
less, there are two possible alternatives to over- ng for species with strong absorbent groups in
come this problem. The first one consists of using the IR region [23]; therefore, it is often necessary
highly selective detectors that only monitor the to resort to techniques which permit injection of
analytes of interest; an example of this is G C - large sample volumes (higher sensitivity [25]).
microwave induced plasma atomic emission de- Another alternative may be to preconcentrate
tection (MIP-AED) coupling, which permits a the samples with high enrichment factors.
highly selective determination of chlorophenols In matrix isolated interfaces ( G C - M I - F T I R )
in water samples, when the emission line of the eluates of the column together with an argon
chlorine is monitored [13]. The second alter- matrix are deposited on a mobile metal disk
native is based on utilizing gas chromatography- placed in a vacuum chamber at 12 K. Helium is
mass spectrometry ( G C - M S ) or gas chromatog- used as the carrier gas in the chromatograph,
raphy-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy since it does not condense on the disk at this
( G C - F T I R ) couplings. In this case, although temperature, while the molecules of analyte and
they are considered universal detectors, the cor- argon do.
responding spectra to each peak are obtained. Once chromatographic separation is over, ab-
This ensures the reliable identification of sorption spectra are obtained by reflection from
phenols, provided that a suitable spectral library each of the deposits trapped on the disk. Accord-
is available. ing to the literature [26,27], this interface is about
The G C - M S coupling is widely used for peak 50 times more sensitive than those based on the
characterization in chromatography due to its flow-cell principle.
high sensitivity and rapidity. However, it cannot With interfaces of direct deposition ( G C - D D -
differentiate structural isomers [18]. G C - F T I R FTIR) the analytes eluting from the column are
coupling, on the other hand, permits - - in deposited on a mobile plate of ZnSe (which is
principle - - a solution to this problem [19,20]. transparent to infrared radiation) located in a
Several applications are found in the literature vacuum chamber cooled by liquid nitrogen. The
using the combination of these two techniques chromatograms are obtained continuously, since
for the quantitation and differentiation of struc- a few seconds after each condensed drop of the
tural isomers of polychlorinated biphenyls eluate is deposited on the window of zinc
(PCBs) [21] and other environmentally interest- selenide, its spectrum is shown. The transmitted
ing compounds [22,23]. radiation is focused by means of a series of lenses
The sensitivity obtained by G C - F T I R depends and the objective of a microscope on an MCT-
heavily on the interface used between the chro- type detector (mercury, cadmium, tellurium).
matographic column and the spectroscopic de- The software of the equipment stores the posi-
vice. The most common interfaces in the G C - tion of each component (chromatographic peak)
FTIR coupling are described below. on the slide; thus, when the chromatographic
1. Rodriguez et al. / J. Chromatogr. A 733 (1996) 405-416 407
separation ends we can again focus the radiation chlorophenol (PCP) were supplied by Aldrich
of the source on the corresponding deposit of a and Merck.
given component and obtain its spectrum with a Stock solutions of 4.0 mg/ml were prepared
better signal-to-noise ratio. This is achieved for each of the standards in methanol. These
through continuous scans and signal averaging. solutions were stored at 4C, and light protected.
According to the literature [28-31], this sort of Working solutions were prepared by mixture and
interface permits detection limits of about 300 pg appropriate dilution from the individual stocks.
for substances acting as strong absorbents in the Tap water samples were preconcentrated by
IR region. Furthermore, this limit can be im- means of graphitized carbon black cartridges,
proved by signal averaging once the chromato- Supelclean, ENVI-Carb SPE (Supelco, Belle-
grams are finished. fonte, PA, USA) of 0.25 and 0.50 g.
In this work a procedure is described for the
determination of structural isomers of chloro- 2.2. Equipment
phenols in samples of water. It is based on their
direct acetylation in the original samples with Gas chromatography-FTIR spectroscopy
alkaline acetic anhydride, followed by solid-liq- A Hewlett-Packard (HP) (Avondale, PA,
uid extraction of the derivatized compounds on USA) Model 5890 Series II plus gas chromato-
graphitized carbon cartridges and determination graph, equipped with electronic pressure control
of these derivatives by GC-DD-FTIR, GC-MS (EPC) and an on-column injector, was connected
and GC-MS-MS. The purpose of this work is to to the FTIR instrument. The chromatographic
compare the advantages and drawbacks of these column was a BP-5 (Scientific Glass Engineering,
techniques in the identification and differentia- Ringwood, Australia) (30 m x 0.32 mm I.D.)
tion of the structural isomers of chlorophenols, methylphenylsilicone capillary column, 0.25 /zm
as well as to evaluate the usefulness of the GC- film thickness. Helium (99.999%) was used as
DD-FTIR techniques for the quantitative de- carrier gas. Optimal parameters have been sum-
termination of such substances present under the marized in Table 1.
levels permitted by international legislation [3,4].
Table 1
G C - D D - F T I R conditions in the separation of chlorophenols
2. Experimental (as acetates)
Table 2
G C - M S conditions in the separation of chlorophenols (as acetates)
Chromatographic parameters
Injection port On column
Injection volume 1 /~1
Column head pressure 8 psi
Transfer line temperature 260C
Oven program
As in Table 1
a library is based on that proposed by Renberg tion; Zymark Corporation, Hopkinton, MA,
and Lindstrom [8], and recently optimized [32]. USA). The final extract is then ready for in-
In it, 2 ml of a 5% K2CO 3 solution and 2 ml of jection in one of the chromatographic systems
hexane containing 200/xl of acetic anhydride are ( G C - F F I R or GC-MS).
added to 1 ml of a methanolic solution with
different concentrations of the studied phenols.
Then the mixture is stirred for 1 min and the 3. Results and discussion
organic phase separated. The aqueous phase
(methanol-water) is extracted again with 1 ml of One of the parameters that mostly affects the
hexane (now without derivatizing agent). Both chromatographic resolution and the sensitivity of
hexane phases are combined and dried with the G C - F F I R coupling is the interface. In the
anhydrous sodium sulphate and later injected system studied, the resolution between chro-
into the corresponding chromatographic system matographic peaks is partly determined by the
( G C - F T I R or GC-MS). In this way, by de- speed at which the slide of ZnSe is moving. The
rivatizing different concentrations of phenols, we higher it is, the better the resolution will be.
obtain calibration graphs in which we draw the However, the thickness of the deposits collected
concentration of each one of the phenols versus on the slide will also be smaller, which implies a
the peak height of their corresponding acetylated sensitivity decrease. Since the above-mentioned
compounds. Calibration curves have been ob- speed may be programmed by the user, it is
tained in the range between 0.1 and 5 /xg/ml, possible - - in each concrete case - - to reach a
with seven levels of calibration in each one of compromise between resolution and sensitivity
them. according to the objectives of the analysis.
Under the working conditions shown in Table
2.4. Sample treatment 1, detection limits of 0.1 ~g/ml for S / N = 10
have been obtained for each of the studied
A known amount of a standard of chloro- compounds when the chromatograms corre-
phenols in methanol is added (in the case of sponding to the absorption in the region between
spiked samples) to the sample of water (Milli-Q 1750 and 1850 cm -1 were monitored (Fig. 1).
or tap water, previously filtered), and the pH is Resolution appears adequate for quantitative
adjusted to 11-11.5 with K2CO 3. Then acetic
anhydride is added (5 ml/l water) and the
mixture submitted to mechanical stirring for 15 i 0~004
cartridges, they are dried for 20 min by means of Fig. 1. Chromatogram for a standard of chlorophenols in the
an N 2 stream and further eluted with 3 ml of functional region 1750-1860 cm -1. 2CP (0.18 /Lg/ml), 3CP
hexane containing 1% tetramethylammonium (0.16 p,g/ml), 4CP (0.19 /~g/ml), 26DCP (0.18 /~g/ml),
hydroxide (countercurrent with respect to sample 25DCP (0.]9 /~g/ml), 24DCP (0.19 ~g/ml), 35DCP (0.2]
~g/ml), 23DCP (0.19/~g/ml), 34DCP (0.18/~g/ml), 246TCP
flow). The final extract is concentrated by an N 2 (0.16 /~g/m]), 236TCP (0.]8 /~g/ml), 235TCP(0.18 /~g/ml),
stream of 55 kPa at room temperature to a final 245TCP (0.18/.tg/ml), 234TCP (0.15/xg/ml), 2356TCP (0.20
volume of 0.5 ml (using a Turbo Vap II Worksta- ~g/ml), 2346TCP (0.18 ~g/ml), PCP (0.19 ~g/ml).
410 I. Rodrlguez et al. / J. Chromatogr. A 733 (1996) 405-416
purposes, with the exception of 25DCP and species were not available (although, as a rule,
24DCP, which appear to overlap fully. the existing spectra in KBr pills are equivalent to
those obtained by G C - D D - V F I R ) , an IR spec-
3.1. Qualitative analysis tral library corresponding to the derivatized
chlorophenols was developed. For this purpose,
G C - D D - F T I R system ca. 2 ng of each was injected and the spectrum
The identification of the peaks corresponding recorded with a resolution of 8 cm -1, four scans
to each of the individual chlorophenols was per spectrum being averaged in the region be-
accomplished according to their corresponding tween 4000 and 700 cm -1. The region of interest
IR spectra. We should take into account the fact is found between 2000 and 700 cm -1. As we are
that the derivatization of chlorophenols to obtain working with compounds of which many are
peaks with better chromatographic characteris- structural isomers and others belong to a
tics also modifies their IR spectra considerably. homologous series, the differences between their
The characteristic band of the hydroxyl group
above 3000 cm-1 disappears, and instead there is
a sharp, narrow band corresponding to the car-
bonyl group that has been introduced into the
molecule.
Since the IR spectra of the solid derivatized
0.06- 1167
1760
II ~ 812 3932
101 14021445
.__
1370
0 15 20 25 30 Time(minutes)
800 1200 1000
Ws~,~aumber'(em")
i o.olS-Fb
O.l~ 17'T5
Jl O ~ 9S$
101S i ~ 1371 1430 IS72 A ~_~
1800
Wmvmmbm'(em")
30
AI,- c/ Time(mlmtt~)
1444 1773 Fig. 3. Chromatogram for a sample of 1 1 of spiked water at
the following levels: 2CP (0.54 ng/ml), 3CP (0.48 ng/ml),
4CP (0.57 ng/ml), 26DCP (0.53 ng/ml), 25DCP (0.58 ng/ml),
24DCP (0.57 ng/ml), 35DCP (0.62 ng/ml), 23DCP (0.56
0~ , ng/ml), 34DCP (0.55 ng/ml), 246TCP (0.48 ng/ml), 236TCP
1200
Wavmmb~m") (0.53 ng/ml), 235TCP (0.53 ng/ml), 245TCP (0.55 ng/ml),
234TCP (0.46 g/ml), 2356TCP (0.59 ng/ml), 2346TCP (0.55
Fig. 2. IR spectra for three isomeric chlorophenols (as acetyl ng/ml), PCP (0.56 ng/ml). (a) Gram-Schmidt reconstructed
derivatives): (a) 236TCP (2.13 ng), (b) 235TCP (2.36 ng), (c) chromatogram; (b) functional group chromatogram (1750-
234TCP (1.84 ng). 1860 cm-1).
1. Rodriguez et al. / J. Chromatogr. A 733 (1996) 405-416 411
spectra are not very obvious, although they are As measure of the similarity (hit quality index,
significant enough to permit their differentiation HQI) between the library spectra and those of
(Fig. 2). the compounds whose identity is to be con-
The IR spectra obtained for water samples firmed, the Euclidean distances have been uti-
with or without the addition of phenols, after lized in such a way that HQI = 0 indicates that
derivatization and concentration through carbon there is no difference between the spectra,
cartridges, were compared with those in the whereas a value of 2 would correspond t o the
library. As shown in Fig. 3a, the chromatograms maximum difference. Values under 0.4 can be
of the water samples show a great number of considered as valid identifications; even HQI
peaks; therefore, it is recommended to monitor values slightly exceeding 0.4 can correspond to
the chromatograms corresponding to absorbance valid identifications, provided that there is a
in concrete regions of the IR spectrum (Fig. 3b). difference of 0.15 or greater from the HQI of the
Depending on the sample composition, moni- following compound.
toring in the 1150-1250 cm -1 or 1750-1860 cm -1 There can also be cases of high HQI values
region could be advantageous, although both when the spectrum that is being compared with
regions produce very similar chromatograms. In the library presents a low signal-to-noise ratio. In
the region 1150-1250 cm -1 a reduced number of this case, due to the fact that the different
strange peaks appears; the region 1750-1860 substances separated by the column remain
cm -1 (Fig. 3b) exhibits better signal-to-noise trapped on the ZnSe slide, we can focus the IR
ratios. In this way, much more selective records radiation on them and obtain their spectra by
are obtained, from which it is easier to identify averaging a greater number of scans once the
the chlorophenols. chromatographic separation is over. Noise then
0.004-
81 2346-TCP i O.~- PCP
~" 4SCANS _ 4SCANS
O-
$ ~- PCP
,4g OtSCANS
oo
0
800 1200 1800 g00 1200 1800
Waveaumber cm4 Waveaumber a n "
Fig. 4. Influence of the n u m b e r of scans per spectrum on the signal-to-noise relationship of the IR spectra of two chlorophenols,
from a sample of spiked water, 2346TCP (0.55 n g / m l ) and P C P (0.56 n g / m l ) .
412 1. Rodriguez et al. / J. Chromatogr. A 733 (1996) 405-416
decreases and identifications improve (Fig. 4, 2,5-dichlorophenol at the beginning of the peak
Table 3). and 2,4-dichlorophenol in the tail provided that
Another factor affecting the identification of we obtain the IR spectra at the beginning and in
the compounds is the presence of water in the the tail of the chromatographic peak corre-
system. Because the slide is maintained at the sponding to these two compounds with a good
temperature of liquid nitrogen, any trace of signal-to-noise relationship. At the maximum of
water arriving at the slide from the column, no the peak, we have an identical HQI for both of
matter how small it may be, is deposited as ice, them (Table 3). In this case, it is possible to
along with the analytes, thus interfering with resort to a multivariate calibration through PLS2
their IR spectra. Therefore, it is of vital impor- (available in the software of the Bio-Rad data
tance that all the connections in the chromato- station associated with the instrument) to
graphic system be free of leakage. Furthermore, achieve the quantitation of both co-eluting
the use of metal ferrules in the connections is species.
required because graphite permits the passage of
water by diffusion. These water interferences GC-MS system
become increasingly important with increasing In order to confirm the identification of chloro-
temperature in the chromatographic system and phenols in water samples through their IR spec-
decreasing speed of the slide (Fig. 5). tra, similar samples were injected into the G C -
We have not been able to separate 2,5- and MS system. The mass spectra obtained were
2,4-dichlorophenol with the chromatographic col- compared with those in the NIST90 library. As
umn used. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify found in the literature [18,35], it is impossible to
Table 3
Identification of chlorophenols in a spiked water sample, using an IR library made in the laboratory
l/b
spectra of the chlorophenols was created by
means of which the chlorophenols added to a
++I
Milli-Q water sample at levels of 0.5 ng/ml could
be identified in a highly selective way. The
exception was the region of monochlorophenols,
where mass 100 corresponding to the fragmenta-
tB~,e 97
198 II I
1000 2000 3000 4000
135
distinguish the structural isomers of chloro- 198 b t
phenols with the same molecular mass.
An MS-MS system, however, allows for error-
free identification of such substances if the frag-
mentation is properly adjusted. Therefore, the 141 178 178
ions with the highest intensities in the electron- 198 I ~ 168 178 1118 198 ~ 218
impact mass spectra are first submitted to isola-
tion and then to fragmentation. In this way the
mass-mass spectra of the derivatized chloro- I 198
phenols are obtained. These ions correspond to
the masses of the non-derivatized compounds
(128 and 162 m/z, respectively) in the case of
mono- and dichlorophenols and to those of a
lapl
mass m + 2 of the non-derivatized compounds m I ~ t+~ i,l,to-~x~t~ I, ~ 178 t?l ~,
(198, 232, 266 re~z, respectively) for tri-, tetra- 78 BB 98 188 110 1211 ~ !,18 ~ 168 1711 l m 19B 2110 2/B
and pentachlorophenol. The fragmentation and Fig. 6. M S - M S spectra for three isomeric chlorophenols: (a)
storage conditions of the ions obtained (product 246TCP (16 pg), (b) 245TCP (18 pg), (c) 234TCP (15 pg).
414 I. Rodriguez et al. / J. Chromatogr. A 733 (1996) 405-416
Table 4
MS-MS spectra for chlorophenols
tion of the parent ion must be monitored so that possible application in quantitative analysis has
the chromatograms could be fully selective (Fig. also been evaluated. For this purpose, chromato-
7). grams of the absorption in the IR region between
1750 and 1860 cm -1 have been chosen; this is the
3.2. Quantitative analysis by means of a G C - region corresponding to the vibration of the
D D - F T I R system carbonyl group, which is a strong absorbent in
the IR region.
Although the theoretically most interesting In order to study the linearity of the system
aspect of the G C - D D - F T I R combination is the response as a function of the concentration,
identification of unknown substances through calibration curves were run for each of the
their IR spectra at concentration levels unread- derivatized chlorophenols, as stated in the Ex-
able with flow-cell interfaces (light pipe), its perimental section, in the range between 0.1 and
5/zg/ml. The calibration graph is linear through-
100%
out this concentration range (Table 5).
After obtaining the calibration graphs, the
recoveries obtained on carbon cartridges for
MilliQ water samples were studied. The results
7.1 m
are shown in Table 6. It should be noted that 2,5-
h m
Total and 2,4-dichlorophenols were determined
through a multivariate calibration, since their
chromatographic separation was not possible.
7..q
'v
10
v
IS 20
.9, i
4. Conclusions
i'll(m)
Table 5
Study of the linearity of the response of the G C - D D - F T I R system
The range of concentration studied was between 0.1 and 5 /zg/ml. Determinated at seven concentration levels. Each level was
analyzed in duplicate.
Acknowledgement [16] H. Lee, R.L. Hong-You and A.S.Y. Chau, J. Assoc. Off.
Anal. Chem., 67 (1984) 789-794.
[17] H. Lee, R.L. Hong-You and A.S.Y. Chau, J. Assoc. Off.
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