DETERMINATION OF BUTYLTIN ION SPECIES BY ION-EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRIC AND SPECTROFLUOROMETRIC DETECTION

Separation of mono-, di- and tributyltin (TBT) ions was accomplished b y ion-exchange chromatography (Zorbax SCX 250 X 4.6 mm, 10 mum particl e size) using a relatively little (30%) methanol containing eluent wit h 5% acetic acid and 0.05 M ammonium citrate. This low methanol conten t allowed sensitive detection by inductively coupled plasma mass spect rometry (ICP-MS) and micellar spectrofluorimetry after post-column rea ction with morin in a Brij-35 micellar solution. Detection limits (3si gma) for TBT were 0.2 and 1.5 ng (as Sn), respectively, for 100 mul in jection. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP- AES) was also tested as detection system with much lower sensitivity. The spectrofluorimetric method was applied to the determination of TBT in blind aqueous solutions supplied by the Community Bureau of Refere nce (BCR) of the EC after preconcentration on ODS cartridges and eluti on with a methanol-water-acetic acid mixture (80:17:3, v/v/v). The rel ative standard deviation ranged from 3 to 7% for 5 independent analyse s of each of 4 samples and the accuracy obtained by the proposed metho d was satisfactory.