Abstract
Metabolic products of organotin compounds in mussel were studied by using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Organotin compounds in mussels collected along Tokyo bay were extracted with 1 N HBr ethanol solution and benzene mixture in presence of tropolone. The extracts were propylated with Grignard reagent before GC and GC/MS analysis. The existence of butyltin, dibutyltin, tributyltin, phenyltin, diphenyltin, triphenyltin in the extracts was shown by FPD gas chromatography. Several unidentified compounds, which responded well to FPD detector, were subject to GC/MS analysis after fractionations by silica gel column chromatography, subsequent by high performance liquid chromatography. Compounds identified by GC/MS were as follows; dibutyl(3-oxobutyl)tin, butyl(3-oxobutyl)tin, dibutyl(3-hydroxybutyl)tin, and butyl(3-hydroxybutyl)tin. These identifications were confirmed by synthesis of authentic standards. Butyltin compounds, found in this study, are also known as metabolic products of tributyltin in mammals. Oxidation of tributyltin to dibutyl(3-oxobutyl)tin seems to be favored in mussel, while debutylation is favored in mammals. In summer, dibutyl(3-oxobutyl)tin becomes one of the major organotin compounds in mussel.
