Abstract: A sensitive and rapid capillary electrophoresis method with laser-induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF) was developed for the determination of carbamate pesticides (including (3,5-dimethylphenyl) N-methylcarbamate (XMC), and mercaptodimethur). In alkaline solution, carbamate was hydrolyzed to methylamine, which can be derivatized by 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) and detected by CE-LIF. Several parameters which influence the hydrolysis, derivatization and electrophoresis separation, such as pH, concentration of buffer solution and concentration of NBD-Cl, were investigated. The detection limits of the three carbamates were 3.0×10^-9、1.0×10^-9 and 3.0×10^-9 mol/L, respectively. The proposed method was successfully employed to determine the rate constants and activation energies for carbamates hydrolysis.

Key words: capillary electrophoresis, laser-induced fluorescence, carbamate pesticides, rate constant, activation energy