ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Analytical protocol for investigation of zinc speciation in plant tissue

Jakub Karasiński, Wanda Cegiełkowska, Marcin Wojciechowski, Małgorzata Wierzbicka, and Ewa Bulska

Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland

E-mail: jkarasinski@chem.uw.edu.pl

Abstract: A specific procedure is proposed for investigating the chemical speciation of zinc (Zn) in plant tissues, viz., the extraction of Zn compounds from Plantago lanceolata L. followed by the chromatographic separation and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) identification of these compounds. In order to separate the Zn compounds, both size-exclusion (SEC) and ionexchange liquid chromatography (IC) were used in direct sequential and reverse sequential modes. In the direct sequential mode, the entire extract undergoes SEC separation and then the individual fractions are injected onto the ion-exchange column. The molecular size distribution is evaluated by SEC coupled on-line to the UV detector. In the reverse sequential mode, the entire extract undergoes the ion-exchange chromatographic separation and then the individual fractions are injected onto the size-exclusion column. The identification of Zn incorporated into the compounds is further performed using ICP-MS. This procedure is particularly useful in speciation studies when identification of the individual components of the element is problematic due to the lack of suitable standard substances, as is the case for Zn compounds. The proposed procedure facilitates assignment of the signals to the individual components of the fractions for both types of chromatography, thus rendering the chemical speciation of Zn possible when the lack of suitable standard substances impedes the identification of individual components.

Keywords: zinc speciation – Plantago lanceolata L. – size-exclusion chromatography – ion-exchange chromatography – HPLC ICP-MS

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-013-0460-3

Chemical Papers 68 (3) 291–299 (2014)