β-Cyclodextrin epichlorohydrin copolymer as a solid-phase extraction adsorbent for aromatic compounds in water samples Original Research Article

A novel solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure for trace aromatic compounds in water samples has been developed using 12 aromatic compounds as model compounds and GC–MS and UV spectrophotometry for detection. The method is based on the fact that β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) epichlorohydrin (ECH) copolymer (β-CDEP) can extract non-ionized aromatic compounds quantitatively from aqueous samples. The polymer used is a colorless, transparent and insoluble solid with a maximum capacity of 0.82 μmol aromatic compounds per gram. It was synthesized by co-polymerization of β-CD and ECH and characterized by FT-IR and UV. β-CDEP does not contain double bonds, and therefore it does not have appreciable absorbance in the UV region. The optimum pH range for the extraction of aromatic compounds is 2.5–5.0. The method has high extraction efficiency with the recoveries between 90 and 101% for aromatic compounds at 0.02–1.67 ppm levels, and the analytes can be easily eluted by methanol washing after preconcentration.