Sensitive determination of aliphatic amines in water by high-performance liquid chromatography with chemiluminescence detection

A sensitive method has been developed for liquid chromatographic determination of short aliphatic amines in water samples. Analytes are preconcentrated and dansylated on solid sorbents (C18 solid-phase extraction cartridges). The dansyl derivatives are chromatographed and post-column mixed with peroxyoxalate (TCPO) and H2O2 in order to perform chemiluminescence detection. Optimal results have been obtained using a sample volume of 5 ml. The method has been applied to the quantification or screening of several aliphatic amines: methylamine, ethylamine, butylamine, diethylamine, pentylamine and hexylamine. The screening procedure has been developed including also polyamines (putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine and spermine). The results obtained by using chemiluminescence (CL) detection have been compared with other detection systems (fluorescence and UV). The sensitivity can increase from 3 to 75 times respect UV detection and from 2 to 10 times respect fluorescence detection depending on the amine. The detection limits achieved were between 0.15 and 0.9 μg/l.