Bis(5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde)-1,2-propanediimine is synthesized by the reaction of 5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 1,2-diaminopropane in ethanol. This ligand is used as a modifier of octadecyl silica disks for preconcentration of trace amounts of copper(II) ions, followed by nitric acid elution and flame atomic absorption spectrometric (FAAS) determination. The effect of parameters influencing the extraction efficiency, i.e. pH of the sample solutions, amount of the Schiff base, type and volume of stripping reagent, sample and eluent flow rates were evaluated. Under optimum experimental conditions, the capacity of the membrane disks modified by 4 mg of the ligand was found to be 247.7 (+/- 2.1) mu g of copper. The detection limit and the concentration factor of the presented method are 2.4 ng/l and greater than 400, respectively. The method was applied to the extraction, recovery and detection of copper in different synthetic and water samples. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.