Chromatographic behavior of pyrithiones

Pyrithione biocides are currently viewed as a major prospect for the replacement of tributyltin antifoulants in ship paints. The chromatographic behavior of 1-hydroxy-2-pyridinethione (pyrithione, PT), bis(2-pyridinyl)disulfide 1,1'-dioxide (PT2), and the metal complexes zinc [Zn(PT)(2)], iron [Fe(PT)(3)] and copper [Cu(PT)(2)] pyrithione, were investigated by means of UV-vis spectroscopy, ESI-MSn, HPLC-DAD and HPLC-ESI-(MSD)-D-n. This revealed transformations of the analytes, which affect the development of adequate methods for species or environmental analysis of pyrithiones. PT transforms into copper- or iron-containing complexes and/or the oxidation product PT2, depending on the type of the stationary phase used in chromatographic analysis. Speciation complicates direct chromatography of [Zn(PT)(2)] and [Fe(PT)(3)] (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.