Liquid Chromatographic Method for the Determination of Nonyl Phenol Surfactant Present in the Commercial and Spray Formulations of Aminocarb (Matacil®) Insecticide

Abstract

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method, using a Partisil^ř ODS-2 column, a mobile phase consisting of 95 % methanol in water and UV detection at 278 nm, has been developed for the determination of p-nonyl phenol surfactant present in the commercial formulations and spray-mixes of aminocarb insecticide. Nonyl phenol content in five commercial formulations and four spray-mixes was analysed with good reproducibility after removing the insecticide by alkaline hydrolysis and extracting the surfactant with n-heptane. Minimum quantification limit for the analyte was 0.03 μg in 10−üL injection volume. The method is flexible and should be applicable to analyse a variety of nonionic ethoxylated nonyl phenol surfactants present in many industrial and consumer products.