Determination of polar 1H-benzotriazolen and benzothiazolen in water by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography LTQ FT Orbitrap mass spectrometry

A sensitive, reliable and robust method for the trace determination of six polar 1H-benzotriazoles and
four benzothiazoles in drinking and surface water was developed. These compounds were extracted
from water by solid-phase extraction and analyzed by Liquid Chromatography- Electrospray Mass
Spectrometry using a linear ion trap-Orbitrap hybrid instrument at high resolution of 30,000 FWHM in
the full scan acquisition mode. At least one product ion was simultaneously detected in the linear ion
trap at low mass resolution and was used for confirmation of compound identity.
The compounds studied are soluble in water, resistant to biodegradation, only partially removed in
wastewater treatment and they may pass the water treatment processes in the production of drinking water.
The analytes and four internal standards were preconcentrated by solid-phase extraction at low pH.
Positive electrospray ionization resulted in protonated molecular ions for all the 1H-benzotriazoles and benzothiazoles.