A sensitive and simple method for the preconcentration of copper (II) ions has been reported. The method is based on the adsorption of copper ion N-1, N-2-bis(4-fluorobenzylidene)ethane-1,2-diamine loaded on Sepabeads. The sorpted copper content was eluted by 8 ml of 4M nitric acid in acetone. The influences of the analytical parameters including pH and sample volume were investigated. The interference effects of matrix ions on the retentions of the copper (II) ions were also examined. The recovery of understudy analyte was generally higher than 95%. The method has been successfully applied to the evaluation of copper contents in some real samples including water samples, vegetable samples and milk samples. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.