//0 S A Novel Technique for the Pre-Concentration and Extraction of Inositol Hexakisphosphate from Soil Extracts with Determination by Phosphorus-31 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Inositol hexakisphosphate (IP 6) is often the dominant form of soil organic phosphorus (P), but is rarely investigated because of the analytical difficulties encountered in its extraction, separation, and detection in environmental samples. In particular, recent advances in the study of soil organic P with 31 P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have been of limited use for the study of IP6, because the technique does not discriminate between IP 6 and other forms of P. This was addressed by developing a novel analytical procedure using the reten-tive properties of gel-filtration gels for IP 6, which allows the combined selective extraction and pre-concentration of IP 6 from soil extracts with determination by 31 P NMR. While the technique is still in the developmental stage, the results demonstrate that the gel does not interfere with 31 13 NMR analysis and retains IP6 to concentrations well above those required to give clear spectral signals. The technique ha