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Enantioselective separation of defined endocrine-disrupting nonylphenol isomers

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Abstract

Nonylphenol is in the focus of worldwide endocrine-disrupter research and accounted for as a priority hazardous substance of the Water Framework Directive of the European Union. Technical nonylphenol consists of a very complex mixture of isomers and enantiomers. As estrogenic effect and degradation behavior in environmental processes of single nonylphenols are heavily dependent on the structure of the nonyl side chain, it is absolutely necessary to consider the nonylphenol problem from an isomer and enantiomer-specific viewpoint. In this study, an enantiomer-specific separation of eight defined synthesized nonylphenol isomers by five different special chiral cyclodextrin columns was performed underivatized and after methylation, silylation, and acylation. This work demonstrates that three columns out of the investigated five show an excellent separation behavior for the studied different nonylphenol isomers and can be used for the enantiomer-specific determination of nonylphenols in food, other biological matrices, and environmental samples in the future.

Enantiomeric pair of 4-NP170 (4-[1-ethyl-1,3,3-trimethylbutyl]phenol)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Food Chemistry, University of Bonn, Endenicher Allee 11-13, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Ismail-Hakki Acir & Klaus Guenther

  2. Institute of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Bioanalytics, University of Bonn, Endenicher Allee 11-13, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Matthias Wüst

Authors
  1. Ismail-Hakki Acir
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  2. Matthias Wüst
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  3. Klaus Guenther
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Correspondence to Klaus Guenther.

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Acir, IH., Wüst, M. & Guenther, K. Enantioselective separation of defined endocrine-disrupting nonylphenol isomers. Anal Bioanal Chem 408, 5601–5607 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9661-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9661-2

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