Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic Separation of Inorganic Mercury And Methylmercury Driven By Their Different Coordination Chemistry Towards Thiols

Journal Article · Tue Jun 02 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · J. Chromatogr. A1156:331,2007

OSTI ID:953962

Percy, A J; Korbas, M; George, G N; Gailer, J

Since mercuric mercury (Hg{sup 2+}) and methylmercury (CH{sub 3}Hg{sup +}) display different toxicological properties in mammals, methods for their quantification in dietary items must be available. Employing Hg-specific detection, we have developed a rapid, isocratic, and affordable RP-HPLC separation of these mercurials using thiol-containing mobile phases. Optimal separation was achieved with a 50 mM phosphate-buffer containing 10 mM L-cysteine at pH 7.5. The separation is driven by the on-column formation of complexes between each mercurial and L-cysteine, which are then separated according to their different hydrophobicities. The developed method is compatible with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry and was applied to analyze spiked human urine.

• Research Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 953962
• Report Number(s): SLAC-REPRINT-2009-430
• Journal Information: J. Chromatogr. A1156:331,2007, Journal Name: J. Chromatogr. A1156:331,2007 Journal Issue: 1-2 Vol. 1156; ISSN 0021-9673
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
COMPLEXES
DETECTION
EMISSION
HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY
LIQUIDS
MAMMALS
MERCURY
METHYLMERCURY
OPTIMIZATION
Other
OTHER
PLASMA
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPECTROSCOPY
THIOLS
URINE