High-sensitivity determination of the degradation products of chemical warfare agents by capillary electrophoresis-indirect UV absorbance detection

J Chromatogr A. 2001 Jun 22;920(1-2):359-65. doi: 10.1016/s0021-9673(01)00685-9.

Abstract

Capillary electrophoresis coupled with indirect UV absorbance detection was employed for the determination of the chemical warfare agent degradation products: methylphosphonic acid, ethyl methylphosphonate, isopropyl methylphosphonate, and pinacolyl methylphosphonate. Glutamic acid was used as a buffering agent at its isoelectric point (pH 3.22). In its zwitterionic form, glutamic acid does not act as a competing co-anion in the system, thus providing buffering capacity while maintaining high sensitivity. The indirect probe (phenylphosphonic acid) concentration was lowered to 1 mM from the 10 mM in previous literature studies, further enhancing sensitivity. Detection limits of 2 microM were achieved with hydrodynamic injection and up to 100-fold lower using electrokinetic injection. The increased buffering capacity of this system over previous methods led to migration time reproducibility RSD values of 0.18 to 0.22%. This represents a 10-fold improvement in reproducibility over previous studies with comparable or improved sensitivity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Buffers
  • Calibration
  • Chemical Warfare Agents / chemistry*
  • Electrophoresis, Capillary / methods*
  • Hydrolysis
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet

Substances

  • Buffers
  • Chemical Warfare Agents