This study assesses how the physical characteristics of styrene-divinylbenz
ene (PS-DVB) resins affect the extent to which they are modified when they
are functionalized, and how they affect recoveries in on-line solid-phase e
xtraction (SPE) of some polar phenolic compounds, pesticides, and metabolit
es from water samples which were analyzed by liquid chromatography and UV d
etection. For this purpose, three commercial PS-DVB resins with different p
hysical characteristics (Amberchrom GC-161m and two different PLRP-S resins
) were chemically modified by placing a hydrophilic group, an o-carboxybenz
oyl moiety, on their surface; although the physical characteristics are dif
ferent, the extent of modification did not vary significantly. The results
from the SPE process with each sorbent were related to their physical and c
hemical properties. The polymers with higher surface area provided better r
ecoveries. Moreover, the recoveries for these analytes were better with the
chemically-modified polymers due to the higher polarity of these sorbents,
The best recovery values were with the sorbent obtained from the chemical
modification of Amberchrom GC-161m, the commercial sorbent with higher surf
ace area. For instance, in the analysis of 50 mL of a sample of 2 mu g L-1,
the recovery of phenol was 40% with Amberchrom GC-161m and 65% with the ch
emically-modified Amberchrom GC-161m.