Short communicationQuantification of short chain amines in aqueous matrices using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

•Simple and selective method for the quantitative analysis of C1-C6 amines.•Simultaneous separation of more than 20 short chain amines by HILIC-ESI-MS/MS.•Four stable isotope labeled internal standards used for signal normalization.•Method validation is presented.

A new liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of more than 20 C1-C6 alkyl and alkanolamines in aqueous matrices. The method employs Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography Multiple Reaction Monitoring (HILIC-MRM) with a ZIC-pHILIC column and four stable isotope labeled amines as internal standards for signal normalization and quantification of the amines. The method was validated using a refinery process water sample that was obtained from a cooling cycle of crude oil distillation. The averaged within run precision, between run precision and accuracy were generally within 2-10%, 1-9% and 80-120%, respectively, depending on the analyte and concentration level. Selected aqueous process samples were analyzed with the method.