sample preparation

▪ chemistry

Introduction

 in analytical chemistry (chemistry), the processes in which a representative piece of material is extracted from a larger amount and readied for analysis. Sampling and sample preparation have a unique meaning and special importance when applied to the field of analytical chemistry. Analytical chemistry in all its diverse forms can be looked upon as a multistep endeavour with the measurement phase but one link near the end of a chain of operations. That chain begins with sampling, an essential process that underlies all subsequent work and imparts relevance to what would otherwise be a meaningless exercise.

 Sampling is critically relevant everywhere that analytical chemistry has a role to play. Ambient sampling of the atmosphere is used to provide analytical data on seasonal or other trends that can be correlated with natural or societal processes. For example, the extent of the Antarctic ozone hole and its relation to fluorocarbon use were confirmed by this means. Near ground level, monitoring sites provide data for air-quality assessment, for the design of pollution-control strategies (environmental works), and for regulatory enforcement. Groundwater-monitoring wells are used to sample aquifers (aquifer) in order to ensure water quality. Rivers (river) and streams are sampled to track pollution from industry, agriculture, sewers, and cities. The ocean is sampled to study the carbon cycle budget for Earth, and seafloor hydrothermal vents are sampled to obtain clues about geochemistry deep in Earth's crust.

 Analytical chemistry that studies other worlds follows upon careful sampling. The Apollo (Apollo program) astronauts (astronaut) who explored the moon were trained in geological sampling. Various robotic probes have sampled Mars and Halley's Comet for automated onboard analyses. The European Space Agency's Huygens probe sampled the atmosphere and surface of Saturn's moon Titan in 2005.

      Back on Earth, manufactured products are sampled to ensure consumer safety; foods are sampled to assay nutrients (nutrient) and to monitor pesticide residues and other potentially harmful contaminants. Sampling methods are also used in connection with forensic analyses, chemical analyses in customs work, and industrial processes.

      Following close upon sampling is sample preparation, the entire process whereby the sample is readied for measurement. The sample that arrives at the laboratory is commonly called the laboratory sample. This is then converted by a set of operations to the test sample, from which an analyst selects a test portion for an analytical determination. If the test portion is a particulate solid, it may be necessary to convert it to a solution. If the analyte (i.e., the species being determined) is present at low concentration, or if interfering substances are present, it may be necessary to isolate or concentrate the analyte by one or more separation and purification steps. In some cases additives are required to mask interference, or the analyte must be chemically converted to another form to facilitate its measurement.

Sampling

Theory

      The sampling plan is the strategy employed to represent the distribution of one or multiple analytes in the object of study. The object of study may encompass objects with only spatial dimensions, such as a mineral deposit, or it may be a dynamically changing system, such as a river, which has a temporal component. In both cases the success of the sampling plan depends upon how accurately a much larger system is represented in the microcosm of the laboratory sample.

      Materials vary widely in the degree of large- and small-scale uniformity that they exhibit. It is most useful to speak of the heterogeneity of a material as a scalar function that approaches perfect homogeneity in its limit. It is also essential to speak in terms of a given analyte or suite of analytes, since some components in a material may be much more heterogeneously distributed than others.

      The most comprehensive sampling theory was formulated by French chemist Pierre Gy in the second half of the 20th century. Gy defined two types of material heterogeneity: constitution heterogeneity, which is the intrinsic heterogeneity of the material's components, and distribution heterogeneity, which is the heterogeneity that derives from the spatial mixing of the components. While this dichotomy can be usefully applied to many material types, it is best described and understood in reference to particulate solid mixtures. For example, if one considers a mixture of silt and sand to be sampled for the presence of calcium, the variation of that analyte among the silt and sand particles represents two forms of its constitution heterogeneity. The degree of uniformity in the spatial arrangement of silt and sand particles then determines the distribution heterogeneity of calcium. Appropriate grinding of such a mixture to reduce the average particle size may diminish the constitution heterogeneity, and the correct blending of such a mixture may lower its distribution heterogeneity.

      Gy developed another concept that involves the likelihood that all a material's constituents have a high and equal probability of being included in the sample. Many commonly employed sampling practices are seriously flawed in that some constituents have a zero probability of being sampled. “Grab sampling,” in which one movement of a sampling device is used to select the sample, most often falls into this category, which is called nonprobabilistic sampling. Such methods can never satisfactorily represent highly heterogeneous material. In contrast, probabilistic sampling methods are techniques in which all constituents of the material have some probability of being included. However, it is only in a correctly designed sampling plan that probabilistic sampling achieves true representation.

Sampling solids, liquids, and gases

      In a discussion of sampling it is useful to distinguish two forms of solids (solid), monolithic and particulate, as well as liquids (liquid) and gases (gas) and to treat each material type as a separate category. At the same time, it is important to recognize that mixed phases also frequently need to be sampled; gases dissolved in liquids and solids, particles suspended in liquids, and solid and liquid aerosols (aerosol) are some examples. Sometimes the object of study is in one phase form, but the sample must be in another. Thus, molten steel is sampled by casting solid forms for analysis.

      Monolithic solids, even those with a very low order of heterogeneity, are very difficult to sample rationally. However, as with all sampling, understanding the physical nature of the object of study can significantly improve the sampling plan. For example, a large ore body may extend for great distances underground in three dimensions, but mineralogical clues can direct sampling for the mapping effort. Steel castings are commonly sampled at their cross-sectional mid-radius, where they are known to be free of edge effects and centre porosity.

      Sampling of particulate solids provides the model for much sampling theory. In general, particulate system heterogeneity tends to be much greater than that of other phase systems. Thus, the single-grab sample is nearly always inadequate. For this reason the sampling of contaminated soil, for instance, may employ random, systematic, or judgment-based sampling plans in order to achieve a given set of objectives (e.g., mapping concentration gradients and locating “hot spots”). In industry a particulate commodity may be either continuously or randomly sampled as it is being transported on a conveyer belt.

      Very heterogeneous materials may need to be sampled in great bulk, amounting to 1 percent or more of the total. The resulting sample then needs to be reduced in size by some means that preserves its representative character. “Coning and quartering” is one approach. The original sample is formed into a cone-shaped pile and then flattened into a disk. The disk is divided into four quadrants. Two opposite quadrants are shoveled into a second pile, mixed together, and then coned and quartered again. This sequence continues until the selected material has been reduced to a size small enough for a useful laboratory sample.

      Sampling liquids, such as groundwater from wells, may involve the use of specialized “down-hole” sampling devices, with valves that can be remotely opened and closed, or of pneumatic or electrical pumps (pump) of various designs. Similar approaches are applied in river and ocean studies, and current and depth information are simultaneously recorded. Chemical streams in pipes need to be sampled with specially designed diverter probes that avoid turbulence and wall effects. Liquid samples often require the immediate addition of analyte-specific preservatives. For certain trace-level analyses the sample collection vessel must be composed of high-purity materials and rigorously cleaned before use.

       Earth's atmosphere at great heights is sampled with aircraft, unmanned balloons (balloon), and sounding rockets (sounding rocket). At ground level, automated monitoring sites are carefully located to avoid adventitious spikes from human activity and to obtain the most representative samples. Atmospheric samples are also obtained manually with glass vessels using some displacement medium, such as water or mercury, or with a sealable airtight sampling syringe. Sometimes a syringe is used to fill a fluoropolymer gas-sampling bag. Smokestack gases or room air is sampled by pumping the atmosphere through a liquid or particulate-solid medium that absorbs and collects the gaseous analyte. Solid and liquid aerosols are often collected by drawing the atmosphere through microporous filters. Pressurized gases can be sampled by means of a metal gas-sampling cylinder. Extreme care and special procedures are required in the case of asphyxiating, flammable, toxic, and corrosive gases.

Preparing the test sample

      The laboratory sample usually needs to be further reduced and processed to what is frequently called the test sample. This is a much smaller, but still representative, subsample with an often finer particle size, from which test portions are selected for specific analyte determinations.

      With a particulate material, if the analyte is associated with one or more constituents, it is possible to grind the laboratory sample to reduce the average particle size until the analyte can be regarded as a pointlike component of the entire laboratory sample. This particle diameter is called the liberation size and varies with the analyte and the type of material.

      Grinding (more generally called comminution) can be accomplished by various means, ranging from simple manual approaches to fully automated techniques. Ground material is often sieved, but for chemical analysis purposes the retained fraction is always returned to the grinder until it all passes the desired mesh size.

      Excess grinding of some materials can lead to contamination from or analyte loss to the grinding tool. Also, overzealous grinding can result in the absorption of atmospheric gases (including moisture) by the sample and in the loss of fines. In addition, very finely ground material is sometimes impossible to mix adequately.

      Mixing of the laboratory sample is another critical operation. If the particle size is reduced in a series of steps, generally each step is followed by an interval of mixing. This can be accomplished by hand with small laboratory samples, but other samples require some form of automation.

      The effectiveness of any given mixing operation will be related to the particle size, shape, and density, as well as to external influences such as electrostatic or magnetic fields and air turbulence. If the material at a given stage represents a broad range of particle sizes and shapes, mixing must circumvent the tendency for fine particles to collect in the center of a pile while rounded particles collect at a pile's edge.

      Reducing the volume of the ground and mixed laboratory sample while keeping the sample representative is another concern. The sample can be poured through a set of riffles that uniformly splits it into two (or more) streams. One is selected for further processing, with the other(s) discarded or archived for future reference. If the laboratory sample is very large, the riffling process may be repeated several times. At the end of this process, the final selected stream is the test sample. The simplest riffles design is a stationary arrangement of alternating chutes surmounted by a wide hopper, fabricated from sheet metal. Spinning rifflers use either a rotating carousel of collection vessels and a stationary vibratory feeder or a ring of stationary collection vessels and a rotating feeder. Another approach to sample size reduction involves a tabletop version of the coning and quartering operation (see Sampling (sample preparation)), usually conducted on a large sheet of glazed paper.

      Monolithic solids (solid) also need to be converted to a suitable test sample. In the case of metal, surface oxides (oxide) may need to be ground off or dissolved by acid. The piece may need to be cut to size for spectrometric work, or millings or drillings may need to be obtained. liquid samples, even gases (gas), require thorough blending. Liquids can be stirred or otherwise agitated. Gases can be mixed by gently warming one end of the storage vessel.

Selecting the test portion

      The selection of a test portion from the test sample is the first step in any specific analytical determination. In many cases the analyst has the freedom to weigh a mass or transfer a volume. This allows him to optimize the analyte response while controlling background and interference effects. However, there is more to selecting the test portion than “fine tuning” the analytical methodology. The test portion size also bears a critical relationship to the subsampling error for a test sample with a given level of analyte heterogeneity. This means that, for any given test sample and analyte, there exists a minimum test portion size that achieves a truly representative sample.

      For analytical methods whose precision with low-heterogeneity samples is good, it is possible to calculate a laboratory sampling constant (K). Using a test portion size (w) that is known to yield good accuracy with a similar analyte level in a low-heterogeneity sample, several replicate analyses of the test sample are made, and the relative standard deviation, R, is calculated from

R = 100s/x,

      where s is the standard deviation and x is the mean. The laboratory sampling constant, K, is then calculated:

K = R²w,

      where K is the sample weight that produces a 1 percent subsampling error at a confidence interval of 68 percent. If a different test portion weight, w_o, is used, then the expected subsampling error, R_o, is given by

R_o = (K/w_o)^1/2.

      These relationships, while linked to the specific analyte and test sample, are independent of the test methodology employed.

      Unfortunately, the analyst who works with solid samples has little choice in selecting the test portion size. With solid samples, spectrometric methods are used in which the test portion is that minute portion of a solid sampled by a spark, arc, or glow discharge to create a sample plasma. In X-ray fluorescence spectrometry the test portion is typically only a few atomic layers. In the trace concentration realm the use of such small test portions on even moderately heterogeneous solids can lead to a high subsampling error. Thus, in arc and spark atomic emission it is always prudent to average a series of “burns” at diverse locations on a solid. In glow discharge and X-ray fluorescence work it is similarly wise to regrind and repolish the sample and repeat the measurement several times.

      When a trace-level analyte is concentrated in a very heterogeneously distributed constituent of a test sample, a unique situation prevails. Here, replicates of a selected test portion size that contain six or fewer particles of analyte-rich constituent will not produce a normal distribution of results. The value for a single result, x_i, derives from

x_i = H + cz,

      where H is the average concentration of analyte in the test sample matrix, c is the average concentration of analyte in the analyte-rich particles, and z is the number of analyte-rich particles in the test portion. At a test portion size where z is between 1 and 6, the data behave erratically, with a large number of test results producing a skewed Poisson distribution. However, at a test portion size where z is greater than 6, the data produce a normal (or Gaussian) distribution and an accurate mean. Unfortunately, at very minute test portion sizes, where z is zero, the data are also Gaussian because only the matrix analyte is being measured. In this case the mean is precisely wrong. This suggests a warning to trace analysts: very reproducible results at very small test portion sizes may be erroneous.

Dissolution of inorganic samples

      The dissolution of inorganic samples nearly always means the preparation of an acidic aqueous solution from the test portion. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, but the most common approach is the direct application of one or more mineral acids (acid). Nonoxidizing acids, such as hydrochloric (hydrochloric acid), hydrofluoric, and sulfuric acid, are particularly useful when oxidizing conditions would produce a protective oxide film on the sample surfaces.

      Commonly employed oxidizing acids are nitric acid and perchloric acid. Nitric acid is not a strong complex former, but it does dissolve many metals (metal), and it forms an impervious passive film on many others. Perchloric acid is completely noncomplexing. It is nonoxidizing at room temperature but becomes extremely oxidizing at elevated temperatures. Oxidizing acid mixtures are generally useful dissolution media for many inorganic samples. For example, aqua regia is three parts hydrochloric acid and one part nitric acid. It is an effective solvent for platinum, palladium, and gold as well as a host of other metals and ores (ore).

      Despite the variety of acids and acid mixtures available, there are many sample types that require alternative measures. The material itself may be too acid resistant even for high-pressure acid bomb or sealed-vessel microwave approaches. The time for an acid dissolution may be excessive, or the only feasible acid approach may add interference or result in analyte loss. In these cases molten salt fusion is frequently the answer. In this technique the finely ground test portion is mixed with a powdered flux in a crucible and heated until molten. The cooled melt is then dissolved in water or an aqueous acidic solution.

Dissolution of organic samples

      With organic materials there are two distinct methodologies, depending on whether the analyte is inorganic or organic. For inorganic analytes the dissolution process generally requires the complete destruction of the organic matrix, and no single approach is universally applicable. Ignition in a high-temperature laboratory furnace is the simplest technique, but it results in the loss of many elements.

      Ignition in a sealed oxygen atmosphere is a better approach when dealing with a volatile analyte. Schöniger flask combustion involves a special Erlenmeyer flask to which is added a small volume of a suitable solution (often a dilute sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide solution) that absorbs and retains the inorganic analytes. The organic sample test portion is either directly applied to a filter paper or loaded into a gelatin capsule, which is then wrapped in a filter paper. The wrapped paper is secured in the platinum gauze clip attached to the flask stopper. The flask is flushed with pure oxygen. The filter paper is ignited, and the stopper is plunged into the flask. The flask is inverted and held securely until the combustion is complete. The flask is then shaken for several minutes. Water or additional absorbing solution is added to the collar to aid in rinsing the flask neck when the stopper is withdrawn.

      Combustion in an armoured metal oxygen bomb is another alternative. A small test portion is weighed into a sample cup suspended above a small volume of absorbing solution. An igniter wire lies across the sample. The lid is attached; the bomb is pressurized to 25 atmospheres with pure oxygen; and the sample is ignited electrically. The bomb is then cooled and is shaken periodically. The pressure is then slowly released, and the lid is removed.

      In a plasma dry asher the sample remains below about 200 °C (400 °F), while its organic content is destroyed. This technique uses a low-pressure oxygen plasma generated by high-frequency induction (induction, electromagnetic) coils to remove organic matter from the test portion.

      There are also several important wet ashing techniques. Digestion with nitric (nitric acid) and sulfuric acid and digestion with nitric and perchloric acid are approaches that are used safely and routinely with some sample types; however, with certain materials there is a severe danger of an explosion. These techniques must be avoided for high-boiling or temperature-resistant organic materials, including fats (fat), oils (oil), greases, and waxes. In general, these procedures, like all wet digestions of organic matter, should be attempted only with small test portions of known material, strictly following well-established procedures designed for the specific sample type.

      When organic samples are dissolved for the determination of organic analytes, of course, much milder conditions are employed. Perhaps the simplest, dissolution in water, is sometimes useful for short-chain-length alcohols (alcohol), aldehydes (aldehyde), anhydrides (anhydride), ketones (ketone), esters (ester), ethers (ether), organic acids (acid), and simple carbohydrates (carbohydrate). There are a few general rules concerning organic compound solubilities, although there are many exceptions. A solvent is considered inert in a dissolution if it can be quantitatively distilled or evaporated away from the solute. All others are considered reaction solvents. The compounds in a homologous series tend to show decreasing solubility in inert solvents with increasing molecular weight. Thus, methanol, ethanol, and n-propanol (propyl alcohol) are completely miscible with water; n-butanol (butyl alcohol) and n-pentanol show diminishing solubility; and the longer-chain normal alcohols are all insoluble in aqueous solution. Chain branching tends to moderate this effect. For example, isobutanol is more soluble in water than is n-butanol.

      A compound tends to be most soluble in the solvent that it most closely resembles structurally. For example, n-octane is insoluble in water but completely soluble in high-molecular-weight straight-chain alcohols. The presence of two or more hydroxyl groups tends to favour solubility in water.

      Polymeric materials, both natural and man-made, present special problems if the analyst wishes to preserve their complex features in solution. Sometimes this can be achieved only by a simultaneous dissolution and derivatization, which preserves some gross structural features. Some polymers, however, can be dissolved and reconstituted intact from solvents. Examples are polyvinyl chloride from dimethylacetamide and polystyrene from methylisobutyl ketone.

Isolation (separation and purification) and preconcentration

      In many modern analytical procedures, once the test portion has been dissolved, it is diluted to some fixed volume and measured. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes it is necessary to remove or mask interferences, perhaps even to completely isolate the intended analyte from its sample matrix and dissolution medium.

      Many isolation techniques involve the use of heat to change the analyte into a gaseous species and are conveniently referred to as thermal evolution techniques. For inorganic analytes it is possible to distinguish those that can sometimes be isolated directly from the undissolved test portion. This category includes the instrumental methods that use reactive gases (gas) and those that use inert gases. The most common reactive gas is oxygen, which is used to convert carbon to carbon monoxide and sulfur to sulfur dioxide as the test portion is rapidly heated in either a resistance or an induction furnace. Noble gases (noble gas), such as helium and argon, are commonly used as carriers to transport nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen from the test portion as it is rapidly heated.

      The distillation of inorganic elements from an aqueous solution is applicable to a number of different species, both for the removal of interferences and for the collection of analytes. The volatilization of interferences can be accomplished from a beaker on a hot plate. The distillation and isolation of volatile analytes, however, requires a special enclosed apparatus, which usually includes a water-cooled condenser.

      In organic work, thermal evolution techniques include fractional distillation and gas chromatography. In the former, careful temperature control allows the collection of constant-boiling species from simple mixtures.

      In general, gas chromatography allows much higher resolution separations and is widely used in both preparation and analysis. Analytical gas chromatography is normally a combined separation and measurement approach. There are also methods that use a “pre-column” to remove the bulk of the sample matrix while passing the analyte components onto a separating column. For example, in headspace analysis the equilibrated atmosphere above the surface of a liquid is sampled and injected into a gas chromatograph. It is a thermal evolution method in the sense that the distribution of analyte between the liquid and gas phases is temperature dependent.

      Solvent extraction is another isolation technique widely used in both inorganic and organic analysis. When two immiscible or partially miscible solvents are agitated together, a dissolved chemical species may preferentially migrate to one of the two liquid phases. Use of this phenomenon is practical only for electrically neutral species. One of the two solvents is usually water.

      It is also often critical that the analyte be adjusted to a specific oxidation state prior to extraction. Similarly, it may be necessary to adjust the oxidation state of a potential interferent to ensure that it is not extracted. Masking (sample preparation) agents are frequently added to convert interferents to nonextractable species.

       ion exchange can also be used to isolate the analyte. It is most frequently applied as a form of column chromatography in which ions in a (usually aqueous) solution passed through a resin-packed glass column switch places with ions bound on ion-exchange resin beads. Ion-exchange separations are based on the fact that different ions will have different affinities for the resin. Thus, an ion with lower affinity will be displaced by an ion of greater affinity. The displaced ion is then washed off the column and perhaps collected. Often most of the sample matrix ions are initially bound to the resin, and then each type of ion is selectively removed by washing the column with various electrolytes (electrolyte).

      A common means of partially or completely isolating the analyte is the precipitation reaction, which requires the formation of a low-solubility, easily filterable product. Complete precipitation of the analyte may require the addition of a “carrier” species that “co-precipitates” with the analyte under the same reaction conditions. The carrier is chosen to have no effect in subsequent manipulations with the analyte. Sometimes, however, co-precipitation occurs with an interferent element from the sample matrix. In this case some chemical strategy must be applied to avoid co-precipitation.

      Sometimes the analyte precipitates in such finely divided form that it is impossible to filter by ordinary means. In this case warming, boiling, or adding reagents may be necessary to agglomerate the analyte to filterable size. The quantitative transfer of a precipitate to a filter is a manipulative art that becomes more critical at higher analyte concentrations.

Masking

      Sometimes it is not necessary to isolate the analyte chemically in order to deal with interferences. Masking agents are additives that undergo some reaction in the sample solution that complexes (or precipitates) potential interfering elements and converts them to a form that does not interfere with subsequent analyte manipulation or measurement. Masking agents are used in molecular absorption spectrophotometry, gravimetry, titrimetry, and voltammetry.

      In a larger sense, any additive that facilitates the analytical process by removing some impediment to an accurate measurement may be considered a masking agent. Matrix modifiers are substances added to prevent analyte loss and volatilize away interferences during the char cycle of electrothermal atomic absorption measurement. Ionization suppressors are additives that are readily ionized in flame atomic absorption measurement; they reduce the ionization of the analyte and thus enhance sensitivity. Commonly used ionization suppressors are lanthanum, sodium, and strontium compounds.

Derivatization

      In many analytical procedures it is necessary to convert the analyte chemically to another form to make its measurement possible. While infrared absorption techniques for organic analytes are usually direct methods, nearly all quantitative ultraviolet and visible absorption spectrophotometric methods are derivatizations in which the nonabsorbing analyte reacts with a reagent to form a strongly absorbing complex. Many gas chromatographic (gas chromatography) procedures involve the conversion of nonvolatile analytes into thermally stable, volatile derivatives. For example, fats (fat) can be transesterified into fatty acid methyl esters (ester), which can be readily separated and measured.

Thomas R. Dulski

Additional Reading

The following are arranged in order of increasing complexity: Pierre M. Gy, Sampling for Analytical Purposes (1998); Francis F. Pitard, Pierre Gy's Sampling Theory and Sampling Practice, 2 vols. (1989); and Pierre M. Gy, Sampling of Heterogeneous and Dynamic Material Systems (1992). All three texts cover Gy's unique formalism, which places sampling on firm scientific ground. Many have applied Gy's theory to a broad range of sampling situations, including Patricia L. Smith, A Primer for Sampling Solids, Liquids, and Gases: Based on the Seven Sampling Errors of Pierre Gy (2001); R.W. Gerlach et al., “Gy Sampling Theory in Environmental Studies,” Journal of Chemometrics, 16(7):321–328 (2002); and K.H. Esbensen and Pentti Minkkinen (eds.), “50 Years of Pierre Gy's Theory of Sampling: Proceedings of the First World Conference on Sampling and Blending (Esbjerg, Denmark),” Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems, 74(1):1–238 (2004).Rudolf Bock, A Handbook of Decomposition Methods in Analytical Chemistry (1979), contains a balanced treatment of dissolution for both inorganic and organic sample materials. Zdenek Sulcek and Pavel Povondra, Methods of Decomposition in Inorganic Analysis (1989), covers a wide variety of sample types. Howard M. Kingston and Lois B. Jassie (eds.), Introduction to Microwave Sample Preparation: Theory and Practice (1988), is a valuable primer on microwave dissolution techniques.Thomas R. Dulski, A Manual for the Chemical Analysis of Metals (1996), contains useful information on inorganic separations, and Trace Elemental Analysis of Metals: Methods and Techniques (1999), includes separation, masking, and derivatization applications in the trace inorganic realm. William Rieman III and Harold F. Walton, Ion Exchange in Analytical Chemistry (1970), is a well-balanced mix of ion-exchange theory and applications. Keihei Ueno, Toshiaki Imamura, and K.L. Cheng, CRC Handbook of Organic Analytical Reagents (1992), lists hundreds of compounds used to form derivatives for the ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometric measurement of many analytes. Karl Blau and John M. Halket (eds.), Handbook of Derivatives for Chromatography, 2nd ed. (1993), is a valuable reference for organic analysis by derivatization and gas chromatography.Thomas R. Dulski

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