Fast field analysis of short-chain aliphatic amines in water using solid-phase microextraction and a portable gas chromatograph.

A novel method is firstly presented for field and rapid analysis of short-chain aliphatic amines in water as their pentafluorobenzaldehyde (PFBAY) derivative using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and portable GC. In the proposed method, short-chain aliphatic amines in water rapidly reacted with PFBAY, and then were headspace extracted and concentrated by SPME. The formed amines derivatives were analyzed by portable GC. The SPME parameters of fiber selection, extraction temperature, extraction time, and stirring rate were studied. The method validations including LOD, recovery, precision, and linearity were studied. It was found that the proposed method required the whole analysis time 22 min, and provided low LOD of 1.2-4.6 ng/mL, good recovery of 91-106%, good precision of RSD value 3.5-9.3%, and linear range 20.0-500 ng/mL (r(2) >0.99). The obtained results demonstrated that the SPME-portable GC is a simple, rapid, and efficient method for the field analysis of short-chain aliphatic amines. Finally, the proposed method was further applied to the quantification of ethylamine, propylamine, and butylamine in environmental water.