Abstract:

An ultra performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of picric acid and its reductive transformation product picramic acid in aqueous samples. A hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) column (Acquity UPLC BEH HILIC; 100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) was used for the separation. Surface water samples could be injected into the UPLC system just after being filtered through a 0.2 μm membrane. The satisfactory recoveries of picric acid and picramic acid were in the range of 89%-107%. Waste water samples were purified by solid phase extraction (SPE), and then were analyzed. The recoveries of picric acid and picramic acid in waste water were 72%-101%. The reproducibility of the method was good with the RSDs of 4.9%-14.7%. The limits of detection (LODs) of picric acid and picramic acid were 0.1 μg/L and 0.3 μg/L, respectively. This proposed method is rapid, highly specific and suitable for the confirmation and quantitative determination of picric acid and picramic acid in surface water and waste water.

Key words: hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), picramic acid, picric acid, tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)