Molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction of urinary diethyl thiophosphate and diethyl dithiophosphate and their analysis by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Abstract

An analytical method involving molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was developed for the analysis of organophosphates metabolites (diethyl thiophosphate – DETP and diethyl dithiophosphate – DEDTP) in human urine samples. A DETP molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized using 4-vinylpiridine as the functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the cross-linker. The conditioning step of the MISPE was conducted by running 3mL of acetonitrile, 3mL of 0.1molL−1 dibasic phosphate buffer at pH 11 and 2mL of water through the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) cartridge. The extraction step was executed using 1.0mL of a urine sample, with the pH previously adjusted to 3.0. Finally, the analytes were eluted with 3mL of acetonitrile and derivatized with 3% 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl bromide solution at room temperature for 1h. The sample was analyzed by GC–MS in the SIM (selected ion monitoring) mode. Analytical calibration curves for DETP and DEDTP were constructed using a pool of urine samples and six levels of concentration. The method was found to be linear from 10 to 500μgL−1 (r>0.99) with limits of quantification of 10μgL−1 for both analytes. The within-day and between-day precisions were evaluated (as %RSD) and all the results were <15% for both analytes. The method was accurate (relative error<±15%), with good robustness.