Highly sensitive determination of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene and related byproducts using a diol functionalized column for high performance liquid chromatography

PLoS One. 2014 Jun 6;9(6):e99230. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099230. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

In this work, a new detection method for complete separation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT); 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT); 2,6-dinitrotoluene (2,6-DNT); 2-aminodinitrotoluene (2-ADNT) and 4-aminodinitrotoluene (4-ADNT) molecules in high-performance liquid-chromatography (HPLC) with UV sensor has been developed using diol column. This approach improves on cost, time, and sensitivity over the existing methods, providing a simple and effective alternative. Total analysis time was less than 13 minutes including column re-equilibration between runs, in which water and acetonitrile were used as gradient elution solvents. Under optimized conditions, the minimum resolution between 2,4-DNT and 2,6-DNT peaks was 2.06. The recovery rates for spiked environmental samples were between 95-98%. The detection limits for diol column ranged from 0.78 to 1.17 µg/L for TNT and its byproducts. While the solvent consumption was 26.4 mL/min for two-phase EPA and 30 mL/min for EPA 8330 methods, it was only 8.8 mL/min for diol column. The resolution was improved up to 49% respect to two-phase EPA and EPA 8330 methods. When compared to C-18 and phenyl-3 columns, solvent usage was reduced up to 64% using diol column and resolution was enhanced approximately two-fold. The sensitivity of diol column was afforded by the hydroxyl groups on polyol layer, joining the formation of charge-transfer complexes with nitroaromatic compounds according to acceptor-donor interactions. Having compliance with current requirements, the proposed method demonstrates sensitive and robust separation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Trinitrotoluene / analysis*
  • Trinitrotoluene / chemistry*

Substances

  • Trinitrotoluene

Grants and funding

This work is supported by the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Science Industry and Technology under the Project No. STZ-00480-2009-2. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.