Analysis of Aniline and Aminophenols in Aqueous Solutions Using Electron Capture Gas Chromatography

Abstract

A gas chromatographic (GC) method for the simultaneous analysis of trace amounts of o , m-, and p-aminophenol and aniline in water has been developed which embodies a simple two-step derivatization procedure. Acetate derivatives of the amines, prepared by the direct addition of acetic anhydride to aqueous samples, were quantitatively extracted into methylene chloride and further reacted with trifluoroacetic anhydride. The N-acetylated and N-trifluoroacetylated products, identified by interpretation of their mass spectra, were readily separated and quantitated on packed or capillary GC columns. When a capillary column was used in conjunction with an electron capture detector (ECD), solutions containing 0.1 nmoles/100 ml each of aminophenol and aniline were easily analyzed by this procedure. The on-column detection limit for each amine was 0.33 picomoles.