Separation of dithiocarbamates by high-performance liquid chromatography using a micellar mobile phase

Abstract

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separation of salts of dithiocarbamates on a cyano-bonded column is described. The effect of variation of the content of organic modifier (methanol) and ionic strength on retention has been investigated. The retention mechanism depends on micelle formation in the mobile phase using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). An eluent containing CTAB has been used to separate five dithiocarbamates; these included sodium N-methyldithiocarbamate (metham-sodium) a widely used insecticide, and disodium ethylenebisdithiocarbamate (nabam) a suspected precursor of ethylenethiourea.