Electrostatic ion chromatography of polarizable anions in saline waters with N-{2-[acetyl(3-sulfopropyl)amino]ethyl}-N,N-dimethyldodecanaminium hydroxide (ammonium sulfobetaine-1) as the stationary phase and a dilute electrolytic solution as the mobile phase

A new type of zwitterionic surfactant, N-{2-[acetyl(3-sulfopropyl)amino]ethyl}-N,N-dimethyldodecanminium hydroxide (ammonium sulfobetaine-1), with a greater distance between the two charged groups, was used as the stationary phase for electrostatic ion chromatography (EIC) of polarizable anions (e.g., thiocyanate, iodide and nitrate) in saline water samples. The targeted species (polarizable anions) were baseline separated using this type of zwitterionic surfactant as the stationary phase, but the highly polarizable species (iodide and thiocyanate) were eluted faster (compared with the results obtained using N-dodecyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulfonate, C12N3S, with a shorter distance between the two charged groups, as the stationary phase). In other words, the extent of binding of the highly polarizable anion (iodide and thiocyanate) was found to be smaller when using ammonium sulfobetaine-l as the stationary phase. This provides a rapid but effective method for the analysis of highly polarizable anions in saline water samples. The results for the successful detection of iodide in seawater demonstrates the usefulness of this new type of zwitterionic surfactants for EIC. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.