Simultaneous determination of 14 nitrophenol compounds by QuEChERS-ultra performance liquid chromatography

With an ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), a method for simultaneous determination was established for fourteen nitrophenol residues including 2, 4, 6-trinitrophenol [picric acid (PA)], 2, 4, 6-trinitroresorcinol [styphnic acid (TNR)] and 2, 4, 6-trinitrophloglucinol (TNPG) remained in soil and ground sediment of production areas of energetic materials. The sample extraction was completed in one procedure via a modified QuEChERS(quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe) pretreatment method. The samples were purified by C18 and graphitized carbon black (GCB). Fourteen nitrophenol compounds were separated by an Accucore PFP (2.1 mm×150 mm i.d., 2.6 μm)column, and the radiant elution was employed with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and 0.02 mol·L^-1 ammonium acetate buffer solution, and 0.1% formic acid, a solvent flow rate of 0.3 mL·min^-1 and an injection volume of 5 μL. Fourteen nitrophenol compounds were identified at 220 nm. Results show that fourteen nitrophenol samples were linear in the concentration range of 0.2-50 mg·L^-1 with linear correlation coefficient ofof 0.9985-0.9995. The detection limits of the components were 0.04-0.06 mg·L^-1, and the average recoveries are 81.3%-105.7% with relative standard deviations of 3.6%-5.9%. Fourteen nitrophenol compounds were separated within 22 min. The established method can be applied to the rapid determination of nitrophenols residues in soil with good repeatability and precision.