A novel sol–gel pyridylethylthiopropyl functionalized silica-based sorbent was synthesized and utilized in an on-line column preconcentration system coupled with flame atomic absorption spectrometry for metal determination. The developed platform was used for the determination of Pb(II) and Cu(II) in beer samples, since there are limited automatic methods for routine analysis of alcoholic beverage.

For a preconcentration time of 60 s, the calculated enhancement factors were 96 for Cu(II) and 130 for Pb(II). The limits of detection were 0.33 μg L⁻¹ and 1.98 μg L⁻¹ for Cu(II) and Pb(II), respectively. Moreover, the RSDs were less than 2.9% indicating good method precision. The method was successfully employed for the analysis of commercially available beers. The Cu(II) content of the samples was 1.6–21.8 μg L⁻¹ and the Pb(II) content was 7.3–17.6 μg L⁻¹. The developed manifold exhibited operational simplicity and good performance characteristics, indicating its potential utilization for routine analysis in beer industry.