Micelle-mediated extraction for concentrating hydrophobic organic compounds

An extraction method based on polymer-induced phase separation of aqueous micellar solutions of octyl-beta-D-thioglucoside (OTG) was assessed for concentrating hydrophobic analytes. Various hydrophobic compounds such as polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbons, alkylbenzenes, alkylphenols, chlorobenzenes, chlorophenols, phthalic eaters, pesticides, and steroid hormones could be efficiently concentrated into a small volume of surfactant-rich phase, while hydrophilic matrix components remained in the bulk aqueous phase. The surfactant-rich phase containing concentrated OTG could be directly introduced into the hygro-organic mobile phase of high-performance liquid chromatagraphy with ultra-violet photometric detection. The application of this method greatly enhanced the signal intensity in the chromatogram while reducing the interference of matrix components. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.