Investigation of elutions from a surfactant immobilized solid phase extraction sorbent based upon the hydrophobicity of the trapped species

A unique solid phase extraction (SPE) sorbent having a removable “stationary phase” is presented. This removable phase consists of alkyltrimethylammonium surfactant, which is initially immobilized onto hydrophilic strong cation exchange resin. The surfactant chain through hydrophobic interactions extracts hydrophobic analytes in the same manner as conventional bonded alkyl moieties on silica-based non-polar sorbents. For the extraction of very hydrophobic species with conventional sorbents, solvents such methylene chloride and benzene are needed to break strong hydrophobic interactions for efficient elutions. These solvents however are toxic to the analyst and present a significant environmental concern. Using a removable “stationary phase”, hydrophobic interactions need not be broken between the analyte and the sorbent. In the presented approach, the surfactant (“stationary phase”) is removed via ion exchange with exchange ions in very mild aqueous-based and instrument compatible solutions. The analyte, being associated with the surfactant, is also removed in the process. Very efficient elutions of analytes, regardless of hydrophobicity, under mild and more favorable environmental conditions are a direct benefit of having a removable “stationary phase”. Rinse solution parameters explored include exchange cation type and concentration, and alcohol type and concentration. The extraction of three test molecules of varying hydrophobicity, naphthalene, pyrene and benzo(ghi)perylene, is investigated using this sorbent material.