Analysis of some metal complexes by high-performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been shown to be a rapid and effective method for the separation and quantitative determination of metal complexes. In recent years a great deal of work has been devoted to this area of analysis. The behavior of several metal complexes has been determined with various chromatographic systems. This particular study is primarily concerned with the chromatographic behavior of metal cupferrates although some work was done with metal hydroxyquinoline chelates. The metals investigated as cupferrate complexes include Al (III), Be (II), CO (III), Cu(II), Fe(III), Hg (II), La (II), Ni (II), and Pb (II). The behavior of these metal chelates was determined with normal and reversed-phase chromatographic systems. Three types of HPLC columns were utilized in this study : silica gel, a C18 bonded phase packing, and a CN bonded phase packing. Several mobile phases were also employed including pure and combined solvents. The best results were obtained on the CN bonded column with a hexane and chloroform solvent. Separation of the Al (III) and Be (II) cupferrates was possible within eleven minutes. The aluminum cupferrates results were reproducible and appear to be quantitative.