Determination of thiophenols with a novel fluorescence labelling reagent: analysis of industrial wastewater samples with SPE extraction coupled with HPLC.

A simple, sensitive, and selective high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using 9-(2-iodoethyl)acridone (IEA) as a novel fluorescence derivatizing agent for the simultaneous determination of six thiophenols has been developed. An efficient Pb(2+)-modified OASIS-MCX cartridge was used and could get good recoveries. IEA was successfully used to label thiophenols with high sensitivity and excellent selectivity. The effects of different solvents, pH, and surfactants on fluorescence properties of derivatives were investigated. To obtain the best labeling efficiency, derivatizing parameters including pH value, temperature, and concentration of IEA, as well as types of catalysts were also evaluated in detail. Under the optimal conditions, the separation could be achieved within 12 min with limits of detection (LODs) in the range of 0.6-5.8 μg L(-1) and relative standard deviations (RSDs) < 3.9%. This is the first time that IEA was applied to the analysis of thiophenols, and the established method has been successfully applied to the trace level detection of thiophenols in industrial wastewater samples.