J. Lintschinger et al., THE ANALYSIS OF ANTIMONY SPECIES BY USING ESI-MS AND HPLC-ICP-MS, Fresenius' journal of analytical chemistry, 361(2), 1998, pp. 96-102
A new method for the separation of organic antimony as trimethylantimo
ny dichloride (TMSbCl2) and inorganic Sb(V) and Sb(III) by using anion
exchange high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with inductiv
ely-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is presented. In compari
son with previous work the detection limits for both species were sign
ificantly decreased, down to 5 ng L-1, mainly by avoiding any contamin
ation from the chromatographic device. Using an ultrasonic nebulizer (
USN) improved the detection limits for inorganic Sb species, but was u
seless for the HPLC method due to problems in the recovery of the TMSb
Cl2. Matrix interferences of the chromatographic determination were st
udied in detail and the method was applied to environmental samples as
sumed to contain organic antimony species. Additionally, the molecular
structure of the TMSbCl2 in solution was studied by using electrospra
y-ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) showing that this species occu
rs most probably as [TMSbOH](+) in aqueous solutions.