Rapid, one-pot derivatization and distillation of chlorophenols from solid samples with their on-line enrichment

Abstract A microwave-assisted steam distillation (MASD) sample preparation technique for extracting chlorophenols from solid samples was studied. This open vessel microwave system based study developed as an integrated method since it has incorporated extractive distillation, derivatization and on-line enrichment. Gas chromatography (GC) with electron-capture detection was used for the analysis. The study involved optimization of MASD parameters and on-line enrichments using spiked solid samples. MASD achieved recoveries for spiked soil samples in the range of 94–101% within 20 min with a collection of only 20 ml distillate facilitating on-line enrichment. Some real samples were analyzed that included soil, wood, leather, textiles, dyes and certified reference materials of soil and wood samples. Limit of detection values of 12 ng/g for pentachlorophenol and 194 ng/g for monochlorophenol were found. Recoveries of 96.6% in the case of soil certified reference material (CRM) with RSD 2.7% and 80.6% in the case of wood CRM with RSD 3.3% were observed in this study. MASD studied found to produce very clean extracts in comparison to reference techniques.