A novel, simple, sensitive and effective method has been developed for selective extraction and pre-concentration of copper on N,N-(4-methyl-1,2-phenylene)diquinoline-2-carboxamide-naphthalene. After pre-concentration, copper was eluted from sorbent with hydrochloric acid, and then flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) was used for its determination. The effect of pH, sample flow rate and the volume and concentration of eluent on the recovery of the analyte was investigated and the optimum conditions were established. A pre-concentration factor of 400, and an adsorption capacity of 6.9 mg g(-1) of the solid-phase sorbent or 82.8 mg g(-1) of ligand was achieved using the optimum conditions. The calibration graph was linear in the range of 1.0-4000 ng mL(-1) with the detection limit of 1.0 ng mL(-1). A R.S.D. value of 2.4% was obtained by this method for 400 ng mL(-1) of Cu2+ solution. This procedure has been successfully applied to separate and determine the ultra trace levels of copper in the environmental samples, free from the interference of some diverse ions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.