Simultaneous determination of nine trace mono- and di-chlorophenols in water by ion chromatography atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry

A novel analytical method was proposed for the rapidly simultaneous determination of nine mono-chlorophenols (MCPs) and di-chlorophenols (DCPs) in water samples using eluent generator ion chromatography (IC) coupled with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI-MS) in the negative mode. The IC separation was carried out on an IonPac® AS11 analytical column (250 mm × 4.0 mm) using gradient KOH containing 15% acetonitrile as organic modifier at a constant flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The molecular ions m/z [M − H]− 127 and 161 were selected for the quantification in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode for MCPs and DCPs, respectively. The average recoveries were between 80.6% and 92.6%. Within-day and day-to-day relative standard deviations were less than 12.1% and 13.3%, respectively. The method allowed the nine objective compounds in water samples to be determined at μg/L levels. It was confirmed that this method could be used in routine analysis.