Mass spectra of sulfonephthalein pH indicator dyes and their impurities

Abstract

Sulfonephthalein pH indicator dyes have historically been noted for impurities originating from the synthesis process, which lead to batch to batch differences in pH measurements. Uncertainties up to 0.1 pH units have been attributed to impurities in these reagents. In an effort to understand the extent of impurities in these dyes and the potential impact on the expanded uncertainty of spectrophotometric pH measurements, we have examined seven commercially available sulfonephthalein pH indicators using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS): bromocresol green (BCG), bromocresol purple (BCP), bromothymol blue (BTB), cresol red (CR), meta-cresol purple (MCP), phenol red (PR), and thymol blue (TB). Peaks eluting from the LC were subjected to fragmentation by mass spectrometry. The resulting dataset will aid in efforts to improve the synthesis or purification of these dyes.