Analysis of metal complexes by capillary electrophoresis - Effect of organic additives on separation of highly hydrophobic complexes

In this paper it was demonstrated that Ru(III), Rh(III) Os(IV) and Co(II) w ere separated as their 4-(2-thiazolyazo)resorcinol (TAR) complexes by capil lary electrophoresis coupled with pre-column derivatization scheme. Some se paration parameters such as buffer acidity, buffer concentration, injection time and applied voltage were investigated and optimized. Emphasis was pla ced on the effect of organic additives introduced into running buffer on th e electrophoretic separation. Under the chosen separation conditions, a sep aration of the four metal complexes was accomplished in 20 min together wit h the ligand TAR. The detection limits (S/N = 2) of Co(II). Ru(III), Rh(III ) and Os(IV) were 92, 294, 833 and 510 ng/ml, respectively. (C) 2001 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.