HPLC-DAD Purification and Characterization of Meta-Cresol-Purple for Spectrophotometric Seawater pH Measurements
1
Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genova, Via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy
2
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Univesità Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Marisa Almeida
Water 2021, 13(21), 3030; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13213030
Received: 23 September 2021
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Revised: 18 October 2021
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Accepted: 26 October 2021
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Published: 28 October 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Oceans and Coastal Zones)
High-quality pH measurements are essential for observing ocean acidification and interpreting its chemical and ecological effects. Spectrophotometric measure is the preferred method for pH analysis of seawater because of its high reproducibility and excellent precision. Meta-cresol purple (mCP) is one of the most used indicator dyes for spectrophotometric pH determination. Impurities in indicator salts can significantly bias spectrophotometric pH determinations, and therefore the use of purified mCP is recommended. This work describes the use of a fast, simple, and green-friendly High-Performance-Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) procedure for purification of mCP dye solution. A C18 reversed phase column was used, and different compositions of the mobile phase were considered. The selected mobile phase was 85% Milli-Q water and 15% CH3CN pH 8.0 that allowed reasonable run time and a suitable purified mCP retention time (4.65 ± 0.005 min). Aliquots of purified mCP were mixed and evaporated by rotary evaporator that resulted in the fastest preconcentration procedure among those considered in this study. Purified mCP was used for measuring the pH in seawater samples collected in the Ross Sea (Antarctica) and the values ranged between 8.202 and 7.983, with the highest values at the surface.
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Keywords:
pH; meta-cresol purple; HPLC; ocean acidification; Ross Sea
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MDPI and ACS Style
Rivaro, P.; Vivado, D.; Falco, P.; Ianni, C. HPLC-DAD Purification and Characterization of Meta-Cresol-Purple for Spectrophotometric Seawater pH Measurements. Water 2021, 13, 3030. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13213030
AMA Style
Rivaro P, Vivado D, Falco P, Ianni C. HPLC-DAD Purification and Characterization of Meta-Cresol-Purple for Spectrophotometric Seawater pH Measurements. Water. 2021; 13(21):3030. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13213030
Chicago/Turabian StyleRivaro, Paola, Davide Vivado, Pierpaolo Falco, and Carmela Ianni. 2021. "HPLC-DAD Purification and Characterization of Meta-Cresol-Purple for Spectrophotometric Seawater pH Measurements" Water 13, no. 21: 3030. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13213030
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