title: Inorganics in organics: quantification of organic phosphorus and sulfur and trace element speciation in natural organic matter using HPLC-ICPMS.
abstract: A method is presented for the chemical characterization of natural organic matter (NOM). We combined reversed-phase chromatographic separation of NOM with high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A desolvation technique was used to remove organic solvent derived from the preceding chromatographic separation. We applied our method to solid-phase extracted marine dissolved organic matter samples from South Atlantic and Antarctic surface waters. The method provided a direct and quantitative determination of dissolved organic phosphorus and sulfur in fractions of differing polarity and also allowed simultaneous speciation studies of trace elements. Dissolved organic carbon/phosphorus and carbon/sulfur ratios for the different chromatographic fractions of our two samples ranged between 341-3025 for C/P and 11-1225 for C/S. Differences in elemental distribution between the fractions were attributed to different biochemical environments of the samples. Sulfur was exclusively found in one hydrophilic fraction, while uranium showed a strong affinity to the hydrophobic fractions. Our method was designed to be easily adapted to other separation techniques. The elemental information will deliver valuable information for ultrahigh resolution molecular analyses.
authors: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany. oliver.lechtenfeld@awi.de
authors: Oliver J
authors: OJ
authors: Lechtenfeld
authors: Boris P
authors: BP
authors: Koch
authors: Walter
authors: W
authors: Geibert
authors: Kai-Uwe
authors: KU
authors: Ludwichowski
authors: Gerhard
authors: G
authors: Kattner
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis*; D013455:Sulfur / Q000032:analysis*; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals; D014131:Trace Elements; D010758:Phosphorus; D013455:Sulfur