α,β,γδ-Tetraphenylporphine (TPP) was used as a precolumn chelating reagent for reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separation and determination of trace Cu2+, Zn2+and Pd2+. Chelating reactions of TPP with Cu2+, Zn2+, and Pd2+have been optimized in the presence of anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). TPP and its metal chelates were successfully separated on a Nucleosil C18column (150×4.6 mm I.D., 5 μm) with acetone-acetonitrile (37.5: 62.5, v/v) as mobile phase.