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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Multi-step Preparation Technique to Recover Multiple Metabolite Compound Classes for In-depth and Informative Metabolomic Analysis
Published on: July 11, 2014
Trace analysis of ethanol, MTBE, and related oxygenate compounds in water using solid-phase microextraction and gas
D A Cassada1, Y Zhang, D D Snow
1Water Sciences Laboratory, Water Center, School of Natural Resource Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln 68583-0844, USA.
Abstract:
Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry have been combined for trace-level determination of very polar compounds in water, including the widely used gasoline oxygenates ethanol and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). A relatively simple extraction method using a divinylbenzene/Carboxen/poly(dimethylsiloxane) SPME fiber was optimized for the routine analysis of ethanol and MTBE in groundwater and reagent water. A sodium chloride concentration of 25% (w/w) combined with an extraction time of 25 min provided the greatest sensitivity while maintaining analytical efficiency. Replicate analyses in fortified reagent and groundwater spiked with microgram per liter concentrations of ethanol and MTBE indicate quantitative and reproducible recovery of these and related oxygenate compounds. Method detection limits were 15 microg L(-1) for ethanol, 1.8 microg L(-1) for tert-butyl alcohol, 0.038 microg L(-1) for tert-amyl methyl ether, 0.025 microg L(-1) for ethyl-tert-butyl ether, and 0.008 microg L(-1) for MTBE.
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