Simultaneous and sensitive analysis of aliphatic carboxylic acids by ion-chromatography using on-line complexation with copper(II) ion

•A sensitive IC–UV method for the analysis of aliphatic carboxylic acids was developed.•Adding copper(II) ion to the mobile phase resulted in sensitive determination of carboxylic acids.•Adding acetonitrile to the mobile phase improved the separation.•The LOD of eleven examined carboxylic acids ranged from 0.06μM to 3μM.•The proposed method was applied to determine carboxylic acids in rainwater and a bread sample. A new approach to ion chromatography is proposed to improve the UV detection of aliphatic carboxylic acids separated by anion-exchange chromatography. When copper(II) ion added to the mobile phase, it forms complexes with carboxylic acids that can be detected at 240nm. The absorbance was found to increase with increasing copper(II) ion concentration. The retention times of α-hydroxy acids were also found to depend on the copper(II) ion concentration. Addition of acetonitrile to the mobile phase improved the separation of aliphatic carboxylic acids. The detection limits of the examined carboxylic acids (formate, glycolate, acetate, lactate, propionate, 3-hydroxypropionate, n-butyrate, isobutyrate, n-valerate, isovalerate, n-caproate) calculated at S/N=3 ranged from 0.06 to 3μM. The detector signal was linear over three orders of magnitude of carboxylic acid concentration. The proposed method was successfully applied to analyze aliphatic carboxylic acids in rainwater and bread.