Automatization of a Hydride Generation/A.A.S. System - An Improvement for Organotin Analysis

In the classic manual method for analysis of organotins by hydride generation and trapping hydride species, we need to perform exactly ten operations in a short time. Slight modifications during the manual sequence may introduce dramatic variations in the results. For this procedure, an automatic sequential generator with a "U" trap in liquid nitrogen and A.A.S. with a quartz furnace are used. The whole process for trapping organotin hydrides, adding sodium tetrahydroborate with a peristaltic pump and eluting hydrides by heating the trap progressively is sequentialy preprogrammed. The sensitivity is the same as in the manual operation but reproducibility is largely increased. The time for one analysis of a mixture with mono, di and tributyltin is reduced to 7 minutes.