Search for plant-induced technetium species with size-exclusion and reversed-phase ion-pair chromatography

Abstract

Abstract In this work an attempt is made to have a closer look at technetium species (TcX) induced by spinach plants, grown on TcO − 4 containing nutrient solutions. To this end, size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) and reversed-phase ion-pair chromatography (RP-IPC) were used: The performance was established with model compounds, i.e., anionic Tc-DTPA and cationic Tc-cyclam, used as mimics for TcX. Under the conditions applied, the information retrieved from high performance RP-IPC was minimal due to strong interactions of the technetium species with the Nucleosil C18 stationary phase. However, in low-pressure SEC non-size effects allowed differentiation of TcX into two distinct classes of technetium compounds, i.e., TcX1 and TcX2. From retention behavior in SEC, it was possible to speculate on the chemical properties of these two technetium species.