Direct fluorescence detection of Pb2+ and Cd2+ by high-performance liquid chromatography using 1-(4-aminobenzyl)ethylenediamine-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetate as a pre-column derivatizing agent.

A highly sensitive HPLC with direct fluorescent detection (lambda(ex) = 235 nm, lambda(em) = 355 nm) was developed for Pb2+ and Cd2+ complexes with an aromatic polyaminocarboxylate, 1-(4-aminobenzyl)ethylenediamine-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetate as a pre-column derivatizing agent. A reversed phase partition column pretreated by a cationic surfactant was employed. Although this ligand forms thermodynamically stable complexes with various metal ions, only peaks of Pb2+ and Cd2+ were detected with the ligand-centered emission in the HPLC due to the emissive activity and kinetic stability in the dissociation reaction. The detection limits obtained were 1.5x10(-8) and 3.3x10(-9) mol l(-1) for Pb2+ and Cd2+, respectively.