2-{[1-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)methylidene]amino}benzoic acid immobilized Amberlite XAD-16 as metal extractant

2-{[1-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)methylidene]amino}benzoic acid (DMABA) was loaded on Amberlite XAD-16 (AXAD-16) via azo linker and the resulting resin AXAD-16-DMABA explored for enrichment of Zn(II), Mn(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), Cu(II), Fe(III) and Co(II). The optimum pH values for extraction are 6.5–7.0, 5.0–6.0, 5.5–7.5, 5.0–6.5, 6.5–8.0, 5.5–7.0, 4.0–5.0 and 6.0–7.0, respectively. The sorption capacity was found between 97 and 515 μmol g−1 and the preconcentration factors from 100 to 450. Tolerance limits for foreign species are reported. The kinetics of sorption is fast as t1/2 is ≤5 min. The chelating resin can be reused for 50 cycles of sorption–desorption without any significant change (<1.5%) in the sorption capacity. The limit of detection values (blank +3 s) are 1.12, 1.38, 1.76, 0.67, 0.77, 2.52, 5.92 and 1.08 μg L−1 for Zn(II), Mn(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), Cu(II), Fe(III) and Co(II), respectively. The enrichment on AXAD-16-DMABA coupled with monitoring by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) is used to determine all the metal ion ions in river and synthetic water samples, Co in vitamin tablets and Zn in milk samples.