Determination of novel complexing agents in pulp and paper mill effluents and in lake water by liquid chromatography

A simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with UV detection was developed for the determination of new diethanolamine derivative complexing agents. The quantitation of three complexing agents was accomplished as their Cu(II) complexes and their separation on a reversed phase C18 column using 0.01 M tetrabutyl ammoniumhydroxide and methanol as isocratic mobile phase. The limit of detection (LOD) ranges from 0.1 to 2.0 mg/l and the method has a wide linear range, from LOD to 150 mg/l. The method was successfully applied for the analysis of lake water and wastewater effluent from pulp and paper mill spiked with studied complexing agents.