Determination of nitrophenols, nitrobenzoic acids and polar explosives by HPLC-diode array detection in ground water samples of former ammunition plants

An HPLC method with diode array detection for the determination of acidic aromatic nitro compounds (in particular nitrophenols and nitrobenzoic acids) in ground water around former ammunition plants is presented. The use of an isocratic mobile phase, buffered to a pH of 2.30 on a reversed phase column, allows the separation of several nitrophenols and nitrobenzoic acids, some of which are known as phototransformation products of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). In a ground water sample from the former ammunition site at Elsnig (Saxony, Germany) 2,4- and 3,5-dinitrophenol (18), picric acid (8) and 2,4-dinitrobenzoic acid (3) were identified in addition to a variety of explosives determined previously. The presence of these compounds was corroborated by a diode-array (DAD)-library search.