title: Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of inorganic mercury and methylmercury driven by their different coordination chemistry towards thiols.
abstract: Since mercuric mercury (Hg(2+)) and methylmercury (CH(3)Hg(+)) display different toxicological properties in mammals, methods for their quantification in dietary items must be available. Employing Hg-specific detection, we have developed a rapid, isocratic, and affordable RP-HPLC separation of these mercurials using thiol-containing mobile phases. Optimal separation was achieved with a 50mM phosphate-buffer containing 10mM L-cysteine at pH 7.5. The separation is driven by the on-column formation of complexes between each mercurial and L-cysteine, which are then separated according to their different hydrophobicities. The developed method is compatible with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry and was applied to analyze spiked human urine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Percy
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Korbas
authors.forename: Graham N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gailer
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008628:Mercury / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000652:urine; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D008628:Mercury; D003545:Cysteine