Precision of Isolation of Aquatic Humic Matter by Xad-Resin Technology from NMR Spectroscopy's Point of View

Abstract

The most crucial question in the aquatic humus chemistry is a reliable and selective separation and fractionation of the humic solutes from other organic and inorganic constituents. The dilute solutions of natural dissolved organic matter must in a way or another be concentrated before fractionation and molecular characterization. The most popular method for this purpose is the application of non-ionic macroporous resins at preadjusted acidity. The routine is fractionate further at strongly acidic conditions the obtained mixture of hydrophobic humic solutes into so-called humic and fulvic acids. Quantitatively and in the light of elemental analysis and basic functional groups this fractionation seems to be reliable. However, from the point of view of the structural composition, the precision of the procedure was not so self-evident. The data of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has proved that it is slightly erratic to repeat from the standard homogeneous water sample the isolation-fractionation for obtaining structurally wholly identical humic and fulvic acids. This deviation was not solely as a result of the technique itself, but also of the highly sensitive nature of the humic solutes.