Abstract
Recent years have seen the increased utilization of ionic liquids (ILs) in the development and optimization of analytical methods. Their unique and eco-friendly properties and the ability to modify their structure allows them to be useful both at the sample preparation stage and at the separation stage of the analytes. The use of ILs for the analysis of pharmaceuticals seems particularly interesting because of their systematic delivery to the environment. Nowadays, they are commonly detected in many countries at very low concentration levels. However, due to their specific physiological activity, pharmaceuticals are responsible for bioaccumulation and toxic effects in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems as well as possibly upsetting the body’s equilibrium, leading to the dangerous phenomenon of drug resistance. This review will provide a comprehensive summary of the use of ILs in various sample preparation procedures and separation methods for the determination of pharmaceuticals in environmental and biological matrices based on liquid-based chromatography (LC, SFC, TLC), gas chromatography (GC) and electromigration techniques (e.g., capillary electrophoresis (CE)). Moreover, the advantages and disadvantages of ILs, which can appear during extraction and separation, will be presented and attention will be given to the criteria to be followed during the selection of ILs for specific applications.
Highlights
Analytical chemistry focused on the development of methods for the qualitative and quantitative determination of compounds with different chemical structures is a huge, dynamically developing field of science
Among the capillary columns investigated, a very polar column, SLB-ionic liquids (ILs) 111, with an ionic liquid as the stationary phase was found to be superior for the separation of O-VOCs, as it has a high selectivity towards n-alkanes and oxygenated volatile organic compounds
ILs as molecules with unique properties have been the subject of increased interest in recent years
Summary
Analytical chemistry focused on the development of methods for the qualitative and quantitative determination of compounds with different chemical structures is a huge, dynamically developing field of science. In solid-phase microextraction (SPME), commercially available fibers are not always suitable for the target compounds, while for single-drop microextraction (SDME), the stability of the drop in the sample may be a problem [3,4] These limitations, as well as the need for even greater process control by affecting the retention time, and improving the extraction efficiency and resolution of analytes, are responsible for the attempt to include new structures in the extraction process, which can help to achieve these goals [5]. Other chromatographic conditions, such as the column temperature and the flow rate of the mobile phase as well as the parameters of detection should be carefully selected This is a particular challenge for pharmaceutical determinations because their diverse structures and rich (despite extraction) matrices, and the necessity to detect many analytes at the same time, are just some of the reasons for difficulties in their separation. This extension was made in order to fully present the capabilities of ILs and show current trends in the determination of different active biological substances
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