Determination of 15 phthalate esters by ultra performance convergence chromatography

Ultra Performance convergence chromatography (UPC2) is cost effective, sustainable, and uses green technology that lowers the use of organic solvents. Based on this advantage, a method was developed for the determination of 15 phthalate esters by UPC2. The separation of 15 phthalate esters was achieved on an ACQUITY UPC2 HSS C18 SB column ( 150 mmx3 mm, 1.8 mu m) by a gradient elution with supercritical CO2 and acetonitrile as mobile phases. External standard method was used for the quantitative determination and the calibration curves showed good linearity in the concentration range of 0.5-10 mg/L with correlation coefficients varying from 0.9962 to 0.9998. The limits of detection were 0.05 similar to 0.11mg/L. The method could be successfully applied for the determination of the phthalate esters in plastic products etc.