Performance Liquid Chromatography-ultraviolet Detection Research Articles

A green liquid phase microextraction using phthalic acid as switchable hydrophilicity solvent for the HPLC determination of sildenafil (Viagra®) in human urine

Herein, a green liquid phase microextraction protocol using phthalic acid as switchable hydrophilicity solvent (SHS) is reported for the quantification of sildenafil in authentic human urine. The analyte was extracted onto phthalic acid solid particles which were produced through acidification of the sample. Its solidification was accomplished at ambient conditions without sample cooling. The determination of the sildenafil was carried out using high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV). The microextraction parameters that affect the extraction efficiency of the drug (i.e. SHS type and its concentration, acid type and concentration, extraction time, filter type) have been studied. The optimized analytical protocol involved the mixing of 300 μL of phthalate solution (0.75 M) with 600 μL of sample, followed by the addition of 50 μL of concentrated H3PO4. The produced solid was collected using membrane syringe filter (0.45 μm) and was finally dissolved in 500 μL of CH3OH. Method validation data showed determination coefficient ≥ 0.99 for the linear range of 50 – 2000 ng/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) and the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) were 30 and 100 ng/mL, respectively. The accuracy (expressed as % recovery) of the method ranged between 88.0 – 108.9 % while the precision (expressed as % RSD) was less than 17.8 % in all cases. The robustness of the microextraction procedure and the instrumental method were investigated using Plackett-Burman experimental designs. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by analyzing both spiked and authentic human urine samples after oral administration of drug-containing pharmaceutical formulation. The developed protocol offers cost-efficiency, handling simplicity, and high throughput. Its green character was evaluated using Green Analytical Procedure Index and Blue Applicability Grade Index.

Utilization of a pH-switchable hydrophilicity solvent for the microextraction of clomipramine from human urine samples

Clomipramine (CLP) is a tricyclic antidepressant drug, and its determination in biological samples is of high importance in clinical and forensic evaluations to assure appropriate drug concentrations. In the present study, benzoic acid was employed as a pH-switchable hydrophilicity solvent (SHS) for the microextraction of CLP from authentic human urine samples prior to its determination by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV). The microextraction protocol was based on the phase transition of the SHS through pH alteration that resulted in its rapid dispersion and simultaneous phase separation. The obtained solid was collected in a syringe filter, dissolved in methanol, and analyzed. The main parameters that affected the efficiency of the microextraction procedure were studied and optimized to ensure high extraction efficiency for CLP and the analytical method was validated. Under optimum conditions, good linearity was observed between 0.05 and 5.0 μg mL−1. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were found to be 0.015 and 0.05 μg mL−1, respectively. The RSD values for intra-day repeatability and inter-day precision were 2.4–8.9 % and 1.7–9.1 %, respectively. The relative recovery values were within 90.0 and 110.0 % in all cases, demonstrating good method accuracy. The proposed SHS microextraction showed cost-efficiency, handling simplicity, and rapidity resulting in enhanced sample throughput. Moreover, the proposed method exhibited a green character and good applicability based on its evaluation by Green Analytical Procedure Index and Blue Applicability Grade Index.

Simultaneous determination of four N-lauryl amino acid surfactants in facial cleansers by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection

Significant developments have recently been achieved in the field of N-lauryl amino acid (NLAA) surfactants derived from renewable resources. Compared with conventional surfactants, NLAAs exhibit remarkable surfactant properties, exceptional biodegradability, good biocompatibility, and high safety profiles. These attributes have led to the widespread use of NLAAs in personal-care products. The detection methods employed for NLAAs include two-phase titration (TT), spectrophotometric analysis (SA), and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). However, because both TT and SA measure the total concentration of anionic active matter, identifying and quantifying individual compounds in a sample containing multiple anionic surfactants is impossible. The presence of cationic surfactants in the sample also introduces interferences, which lead to significant errors. Compared with TT and SA, HPLC offers direct and rapid testing procedures. However, compounds with no or weak UV-visible light absorption exhibit low sensitivity when detected by UV, necessitating the use of detectors such as differential refractive index detectors (RIDs), evaporative light scattering detectors (ELSDs), or charged aerosol detectors (CADs). Most HPLC users consider UV light as the fundamental configuration of the instrument, and other detectors are less commonly employed. Therefore, establishing a new HPLC method suitable for the UV detection of NLAAs is of practical significance. In this study, a novel HPLC-UV method was developed for the simultaneous detection of N-lauryl glutamine (LG), N-lauryl glycine (LC), N-lauryl alanine (LA), and N-lauryl sarcosine (LS) by optimizing the mobile-phase composition and selecting an appropriate chromatographic column and detection wavelength. The samples were mixed with acetonitrile-0.10% H3PO4 aqueous solution (60∶40, v/v) and sonicated for 10 min, then stayed at room temperature for 5 min. Subsequently, the mixture was filtered through a 0.22 μm filter membrane and separated on an Agilent Eclipse Plus C18 column (150 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm). The mobile phase used for separation consisted of acetonitrile-0.10% H3PO4 aqueous solution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 205 nm, and the injection volume was 10 μL. The results demonstrated that the four NLAAs exhibited good linearity in the range of 2.0-800.0 mg/L, with correlation coefficients (r)≥0.9995. The limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 0.17 to 0.49 mg/L, and limits of quantification (LOQs) ranged from 0.57 to 1.63 mg/L. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for precision, repeatability, and stability over 24 h were all below 2.0%. Using this method, the NLAA contents of five facial-cleanser products were determined. The results demonstrated that all five samples contained one or more NLAAs, and the total NLAA contents ranged from 64.58 to 97.01 mg/g. The five spiked-sample recoveries of the NLAAs at four different spiked levels (0.60, 4.50, 15.00, 24.00 mg/g) ranged from 94.3% to 107.4%, indicating satisfactory accuracy. However, the actual NLAA composition and label for one facial-cleanser product were not consistent with our test results. This finding demonstrates the necessity of strengthening market monitoring through testing. The proposed method has the advantages of simple pretreatment, rapid testing, good precision, high accuracy, and appropriate stability. Thus, it is suitable for the determination of NLAA contents in facial cleansers and provides an effective technical reference for the raw-material purity assessment, synthetic yield detection, and product quality control of this type of surfactant.

Preparation of metal-organic framework @molecularly imprinted polymers for extracting N-nitrosamines in salted vegetables

In this paper, the novel metal-organic framework @molecularly imprinted polymers were prepared and applied in extracting N-nitrosamines from salted vegetables. The imprinted polymers were coated on the surface of MIL-101 using multi-dummy template molecules (5-nonanol, benzhydrol and N-formylpyrrolidine). The characterization and adsorbing experiments showed that the hybrid imprinted polymers presented spherical particles with typically core-shell structure, and exhibited high adsorption capacity (maximum capacity: 46.85 mg/g) and fast equilibrium rate (only 5 min) for N-nitrosamines. Various parameters (sample loading solvent, pH, washing solvent, elution solvent and elution volume) affecting solid-phase extraction were optimized. Under the optimum conditions, the solid-phase extraction process based on the hybrid polymers combined with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection method was established and applied to analyze N-nitrosamines in different salted vegetables. The results showed that the developed method produced the linear relationship between the peak areas versus the N-nitrosamines concentrations of 0.2–10 µg/g with limit of detections from 20.6 to 76.1 ng/g. The spiked recovery of N-nitrosamines in the salted vegetable samples was in the range of 66–100.5 % with relative standard deviation from 0.1 to 3.4 %. Those results demonstrated that the established method was sensitive and efficient for directly enriching and analyzing trace N-nitrosamines in salted vegetables.

Development of a universal sol–gel sorbent for fabric phase sorptive extraction and its application in tandem with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection for the analysis of phthalates in environmental and drinking water samples

Most sorbent-based sample preparation methods are designed to interact with a class of analytes i.e., a polar sorbent for polar analytes, a non-polar sorbent for non-polar analytes, an ion-exchange sorbent for ionized compounds. A big challenge surfaces when making a choice of an appropriate sorbent when there is a mixture of compounds of varying polarities and ionization states in the complex sample matrices. Hence, the aim of this study was to develop a universal sol–gel sorbent coating for fabric phase sorptive extraction that would effectively and simultaneously extract polar, nonpolar, organic acids and bases via different intermolecular/interionic interactions. The universal sol–gel sorbent coated fabric phase sorptive extraction membrane was created by exploiting sol–gel surface coating technology to implant different functional moieties, ion exchanging ligands and an organic polymer that results in a 3-D organic–inorganic hybrid structure on the fabric substrate with a high level of selectivity/affinity for the target compounds. The preconcentrated extracts containing the isolated phthalates after the fabric phase sorptive extraction procedure were injected into the high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) system for the quantification. The FPSE-HPLC-UV method demonstrated a linear range between 50 and 1000 ng/mL for dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, dipropyl phthalate, diallyl phthalate, benzyl butyl phthalate, 1–10000 ng/mL for di-n-heptyl phthalate, 1–5000 ng/mL for di-n-heptyl phthalate, 10–5000 ng/mL for di-n-ethyl hexyl phthalate and 100–7500 ng/mL di-n-octyl phthalate. The intra-day and inter-day reproducibility (in terms of percentage relative standard deviation, %RSD) did not exceed 13.6. This method proves to be a selective, accurate, reproducible, cheap, and fast analytical approach for the quantitative and qualitative determination of the phthalates which is useful in crafting regulations for phthalates content in beverages and juices as well as in environmental monitoring.

Synthesis of amine-functionalized magnetic porous organic polymers for effective extraction of phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals

Amine-functionalized porous organic polymers (EDA-POP-PC and EDA-POP-BT) were prepared by post-modification of POP-PC and POP-BT with ethylenediamine (EDA) for the first time. The POP-PC and POP-BT were obtained through Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction of potassium tetraphenylborate with p-phthaloyl chloride (PC) and 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl trichloride (BT), respectively. The EDA-POPs exhibited superior adsorption capacity for phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). After magnetically functionalization, the obtained M-EDA-POP-PC was employed as a magnetic adsorbent for enrichment of phenolic EDCs from real samples prior to high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection. The current strategy showed low detection limits (S/N = 3) of 0.02–0.07, 0.04–0.08 and 0.04–0.10 ng mL−1 for river water, white peach juice and lychee juice, respectively. The method recoveries were 81.7%–115% with relative standard deviations below 8.6%. The proposed strategy showed good practicality for sensitive determination of phenolic EDCs in real samples.

Synthesis of phosphate-functionalized magnetic porous organic polymer: A sorbent for sensitive determination of neonicotinoid insecticides in water and lemon juice

There is an urgent need to prepare advanced functional materials for extraction and enrichment of trace organic pollutants from different samples. In this work, two novel phosphate-functionalized porous organic polymers (DBP-POP and DPP-POP) were synthesized for the first time. Compared with phosphate-free counterpart, both phosphate-functionalized POPs showed excellent adsorption performance for the neonicotinoids due to the hydrogen bonding, π-π interaction and hydrophobic interaction. For ease of separating the sorbent from solution, magnetic DBP-POP (M-DBP-POP) was further prepared as sorbent to extract neonicotinoids from environmental water and lemon juice samples prior to their determination by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection. Under optimal conditions, the detection limits (S/N = 3) of the method were 0.01–0.08 ng mL−1 for water and 0.03–0.10 ng mL−1 for lemon juice. The recoveries were in the range of 80.0% to 113.0% with relative standard deviation less than 10.6%. This work demonstrated the feasibility of phosphate-functionalized POPs for adsorption applications.

Development of an Analytical Method for the Determination of Cymoxanil in Potato Flour Samples by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

In this study, a high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection method was introduced for the detection of cymoxanil. The experimental parameters of the procedure were thoroughly evaluated. Cymoxanil was eluted by ammonium formate buffer (50.0 mM, pH 4.0):acetonitrile (55:45 v/v) as mobile phase. Under the optimal conditions, the limits of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ) were found as 7.4 – 24.8 µg kg-1, which allows trace determination of pesticides in food samples. Proposed method was then implemented for the determination of selected fungicide in potato flour samples with acceptable % recoveries in the range of 81.4–112.9%, while the values of relative standard deviation (RSD) were below 10% showing a satisfactory applicability for cymoxanil in such complex real samples matrix.

Investigating the applicability of polar fabric phase sorptive extraction for the HPLC quantitation of salivary vitamin B12 following administration of sublingual tablets and oral sprays.

In this study, a simple and rapid fabric phase sorptive extraction (FPSE) protocol combined with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) was developed for the monitoring of salivary vitamin B12 levels. Different sol-gel coated cellulose and polyester membranes were evaluated and sol-gel Carbowax 20M coated polyester membranes were chosen for the selective extraction of the target analyte from saliva samples. Face-centered central composite design (FC-CCD) was employed for the investigation and optimization of sample volume, extraction time and stirring rate, while the other experimental factors were investigated using the classical one-factor-at-a- time" (OFAT) method. Validation of the FPSE-HPLC-UV method was conducted according to the FDA guidelines for bioanalytical methodologies. The lower limit of quantification for vitamin B12 was 0.10μgmL-1 and the linear range was 0.10-10.0μgmL-1. The relative recoveries for intra-day and inter-day studies were 87.5-113.8% and 88.2-119.2%, respectively. The relative standard deviation was better than 8.2% in all cases, demonstrating good method precision. The sol-gel Carbowax 20M coated FPSE membranes were found to be reusable for up to 25 times. Finally, the proposed scheme was successfully employed for the quantitation of salivary vitamin B12 at different time points following the administration of sublingual tablets and oral sprays.

Efficient and green esterification approach for determining of sodium alkylbenzene sulfonates in dry extracts

Linear alkylbenzenesulfonate is an anionic surfactant widely used in detergents and cleaners, both in industrial and household applications as well as a component of pesticides and fertilizers. In this work, the universal effective green approach for sodium alkylbenzenesulfonate esterification to determine these substances in a form of their volatile derivatives by gas chromatography coupled with electron ionization mass-spectrometry (GC–MS) is presented. The approach provides a simple conversion of sodium alkylbenzene sulfonates to a form of alkylbenzenesulfonic acid methyl esters in 98% yield for 20 min at 24 °C. The yield was estimated using high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection. Trimethyl orthoformate (125 µl) was used as low toxicity alkylation reagent. The obtained volatile derivatives might be redissolved in n-hexane and analyzed by GC–MS in selective ion monitoring mode. The limit of quantification of 20 alkylbenzenesulfonate isomer sum was estimated as 25 ng μL–1 of the analyzed extract. The approach might be applied to food, environmental and biological objects contaminated with alkylbenzene sulfonates. The applicability of the method is shown using dry solvent-free extracts of snow, river sediments, freshwater branching sponge Lubomirskia baikalensis, the whole blood, and widely cultivated plants such as spinach Spinacia oleracea and cucumber Cucumis sativus. The presence of sodium alkylbenzene sulfonates in snow (31.1 ± 1.0 µg L–1) and sediments (208±7 µg g–1 of d.w.) of the world's deepest Lake Baikal tributaries as well as in freshwater sponge (33.6 ± 1.1 µg g–1 of d.w.) was found. The repeatability of measurement is characterized by RSD = 2.24%.

Magnetic carbonized cellulose-MIL 101(Fe) composite as a sorbent for magnetic solid phase extraction of selected organophosphorus pesticides combined with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection

In this research project, an attempt was made to synthesize new composite based on nanomaterials and use these materials to improve the performance of magnetic solid phase extraction for the extraction of some selected organophosphorus pesticides in real samples. Therefore, the metal-organic framework MIL-101 was grown by layer-by-layer growth method on the surface of the magnetic carbonized cellulose nanoparticles. The extracted analytes were measured by HPLC after extraction. The influential variables such as: extraction time, sorbent amount, volume of desorption solvent, desorption time, ionic strength and solution pH were studied and optimized. Under the optimum condition, the linear ranges of the method were obtained in the range of 0.2–200.0μgL−1 (chlorpyrifos: 0.5-200.0μgL−1, profenofos: 0.2-100.0 μgL−1 and phosalone:0.5-200.0μgL−1). The obtained correlation coefficients (r2) were between 0.9966 - 0.9990. The limits of detection were also calculated to be between 0.06 - 0.15μgL−1 (chlorpyrifos: 0.15μgL−1, profenofos: 0.06 μgL−1 and phosalone: 0.13μgL−1) .The relative standard deviations, were obtained in the range of 1.1 to 3.4%. The method was successfully used to extract and measure the selected organophosphorus pesticides in several real samples including orange, pear, grape, peaches and agricultural water.

Development and Validation of a High Performance Liquid Chromatography Ultraviolet Detection Method for the Quantitative Determination of Vancomycin Hydrochloride

Vancomycin hydrochloride is a tricyclic glycopeptide that contains amino acids and sugars. This substance is indicated to treat serious infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria by intravenous infusion. The objective of this study was to develop and validate an analytical methodology by high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) to determine vancomycin hydrochloride content by assessing the parameters of selectivity, linearity, working range, matrix effect, robustness, precision, and accuracy. The sample used was vancomycin hydrochloride in a vial and analyzes were carried out on HPLC-UV system, with C18 reverse-phase column at 30 °C, pH=4 and diode-array detection (220 nm). The mobile phase was composed of acetonitrile and monobasic ammonium phosphate buffer (8:92 v/v), 1 mL min-1 flow, injection volume of 20 μL and 15 minute of run time. The method has been shown to be selective, free from mobile phase interference, diluent and other substances on vancomycin hydrochloride retention time; the method is linear in the range between 25 and 175 µg mL-1; matrix effect showed parallelism between the lines, thus indicating the absence of interference of the matrix constituents in analysis of the compound of interest; the method was robust with drug variations proportional to the deliberate changes caused by the change in the flow rate of the mobile phase and in the column temperature; the method showed accuracy at 25, 50, and 75 µg mL-1 concentrations, showing satisfactory recovery rate after addition of the standard. The analytical methodology described proved to be simple, fast, safe and was considered valid.

Multi-magnetic center ionic liquids for dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with in-situ decomposition based back-extraction for the enrichment of parabens in beverage samples

In this paper, several new multi-magnetic center magnetic ionic liquids (MMILs) were prepared with paramagnetic component simultaneously contained in both the cation and anion and used as extractants to establish a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) approach followed by in-situ MMIL decomposition based back-extraction for the enrichment and determination of four parabens in beverages. The appropriate MMIL was selected by investigating the extraction performances of the obtained MMILs combined with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV), and some other experimental factors were explored. Under the optimized DLLME conditions, the four parabens exhibited coefficients of determination (R2) above 0.9987 in the linear range of 0.1-500 ng·mL−1 for ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben and 0.2-500 ng·mL−1 for methylparaben. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) were respectively within 0.03-0.06 ng·mL−1 and 0.1-0.2 ng·mL−1, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) for intra-day and inter-day precision were below 10.8%. Moreover, the application of the developed MMIL-based DLLME method in beverage samples exhibited recoveries within 81.3%-112.1% with RSDs of 0.3%-13.1% at three different spiked levels.

Biomass-derived magnetic porous activated carbon for magnetic solid-phase extraction of herbicides from water samples

ABSTRACT Highly porous biomass-derived activated carbon was prepared by carbonisation of cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus L.) stone followed by chemical activation with zinc chloride (ZnCl2) at 700°C. The resulting activated carbon was magnetised using a thermal process. The physicochemical properties of the magnetic activated carbon (AC/Fe3O4) were characterised by N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. The magnetic material exhibited a high specific surface area of 959 m2/g and a maximal saturation magnetisation of 28.5 emu/g. The AC/Fe3O4 was then used as an adsorbent for the magnetic solid-phase extraction of target herbicides (hexazinone, propachlor and prometryn) from environmental water samples followed by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection. After optimising the main parameters in the extraction procedure, the extraction recoveries and preconcentration factors in the ranges of 71–84% and 18–21 were obtained, respectively. Good linearities were achieved with the coefficients of determination ranging from 0.9978 to 0.9997. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations were less than 5.2%. Limits of detection were obtained between 0.05 and 0.28 µg/L. Finally, the proposed method was applied for the determination of the target herbicides in the environmental waters and satisfied recoveries between 71 and 101% were obtained from spiked samples.

Quality evaluation of Fufang Jinqiancao granules based on ultra performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection quantitative fingerprint combined with chemical pattern recognition

Fufang Jinqiancao granules have a large market demand due to the fact that they contain diuretics, inhibit urinary calculi formation, and exhibit both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. In the current study, a fast and efficient quantitative ultra performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (UPLC-UV) fingerprinting method was established to analyze the Fufang Jinqiancao granules, while a chemical pattern recognition technology was used to evaluate the quality of the granules over different years. More specifically, the UPLC-UV system consisted of a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm), acetonitrile (mobile phase A), and a 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution (mobile phase B), wherein a gradient elution protocol was followed. Ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, Agilent Infinity Ⅱ 1290-6545) was used in combination with reference substances and literature comparisons to identify the common peaks present in the quantitative fingerprint. The fingerprints of 35 batches of Fufang Jinqiancao granules were established by means of the quantitative UPLC-UV fingerprinting method, and the fingerprint data obtained for these samples were further analyzed by chemical pattern recognition techniques, including hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). The quality difference markers, namely mangiferin and isomangiferin, were screened, and their contents were determined. It was found that 12 common peaks existed in the fingerprint of the Fufang Jinqiancao granules, and the similarities of all 35 batches of samples were greater than 0.952. In addition, for the purpose of HCA, the 35 batches were divided into two categories, of which sample years 2018 and 2019 belonged to one category, and sample years 2020 and 2021 belonged to another category. Notably, PCA gave the same clustering trends as HCA. Based on the obtained results, the mangiferin and isomangiferin components responsible for the differences between the 2018, 2019 and 2020, 2021 samples were further screened by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Moreover, the contents of the 35 batches of samples were determined using the two differential markers mangiferin and isomangiferin as indicators. The obtained results indicated that the chromatographic peaks of all 35 batches had acceptable resolutions, with mangiferin exhibiting a good linear relationship in the range of 5.3291-133.2276 mg/L, and isomangiferin exhibiting a similar linear relationship in the range of 4.1847-104.6170 mg/L. The average recovery of mangiferin was 101.7%-105.6%, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.63%-1.43%, while that of isomangiferin was 103.4%-105.5%, with an RSD of 0.60%-1.18%. Importantly, all RSD values were less than 1.43%, thereby indicating that our method meets the requirements of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020 Edition). Among the 35 batches of samples, the contents of mangiferin and isomangiferin were higher in the 2020 and 2021 samples, and the content fluctuation range was smaller. Overall, the development of an accurate and reliable quality control method for Fufang Jinqiancao granules, and a reasonable and effective quality evaluation of Fufang Jinqiancao granule samples from different years was realized. We therefore expect that this study will provide a reference for establishing a more systematic and comprehensive quality control system.

Analysis of parabens in environmental water samples by covalent organic framework-based magnetic solid-phase extraction-high performance liquid chromatography

Parabens are a class of antimicrobial preservatives that are widely used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food products because of their ease of production, antimicrobial effect, and low price. The widespread use of these parabens, poses potential risks to human health. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a simple and rapid method for the detection of parabens. The large number of substrate interferences in complex samples is an important factor affecting the sensitivity of analytical methods. Magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) has received much attention because of its advantages of easy operation, short extraction time, small sample amount, low cost, and environmental friendliness. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with high crystallinity, high specific surface area, adjustable pore size, regular porosity, as well as high chemical and thermal stability are now widely used in separation and analysis. Therefore, a sample pretreatment method combining MSPE and COF for the analysis of parabens in complex matrices is very promising. A magnetic covalent organic framework, Fe3O4@TbBd, was successfully synthesized by the Schiff base reaction of 1,3,5-triformylbenzene (Tb) and benzidine (Bd) at room temperature using Fe3O4 nanoparticles as magnetic cores. Characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements, etc. revealed that the magnetic COF has high magnetic responsiveness, as well as good thermal and chemical stability, which make it an ideal adsorbent for the MSPE of parabens. Some factors related to the extraction efficiency, including the amount of adsorbent, extraction time, pH, desorption solvent, desorption time, and number of desorption were systematically investigated. A method involving MSPE and high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) based on the Fe3O4@TbBd was developed for the determination of four parabens (ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, and benzylparaben) in environmental water samples. Under the optimal extraction conditions, the method showed good linearities. The limits of detection and limits of quantification were 0.2-0.4 μg/L and 0.7-1.4 μg/L for the four analytes, respectively. The recoveries at three spiked levels were in the range of 86.1%-110.8% with intra-day and inter-day RSDs of less than 5.5% and 4.9%, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the determination of parabens in East Lake water, Yangtze water, and domestic wastewater. Ethyl paraben and propyl paraben were detected in domestic wastewater at the levels of 1.8 μg/L and 0.4 μg/L, respectively. The recoveries of the parabens at different spiked levels ranged from 80.7% to 117.5%, with RSDs of 0.2%-8.8%. The method has good potential for the determination of parabens in environmental water samples because of its operational simplicity, short extraction time, high sensitivity, and environmental friendliness.

Aryl ketones-derived porous organic polymer for enrichment and sensitive detection of phenylurea herbicides in water, tea drink and mushroom samples

Three aryl ketones-derived porous organic polymers (ATP-POPM, ATP-POPP and ATP-POPO) were fabricated through the aldol condensation reaction of acetylated triphenylsilane precursor (ATP) with different aromatic aldehydes for the first time. The ATP-POPM exhibited superior extraction capacity toward phenylurea herbicides (PUHs). A sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of six PUHs in water, tea drink and mushroom samples was developed with ATP-POPM as solid phase extraction adsorbent prior to high performance liquid chromatography ultraviolet detection. Under the optimized conditions, the linear response of PUHs was 0.09–80.0 ng mL−1 for water, 0.18–100.0 ng mL−1 for tea drinks and 4.50–200.0 ng g −1 for mushroom samples. The detection limits (S/N=3) of the method were 0.03–0.10 ng mL−1, 0.06–0.18 ng mL−1, 1.50–4.50 ng g −1 for water, tea drink and mushroom, respectively. The method recoveries for spiked samples were in the range of 80.7%–116.0%, with relative standard deviations less than 10.3%. The results proved that the established method was sensitive and suitable to detect PUHs with acceptable accuracy and precision. This work provided a powerful tool to synthesize promising adsorbent by aldol condensation reaction for detecting six PUHs simultaneously in real samples.

Combination of in-situ electro synthesized Zn–Al-LDH@ pencil graphite fiber and three phase hollow fiber LPME for microextraction of some antibiotics in urine samples and quantification via HPLC-UV

In the present study, a combination of two useful extraction techniques including fiber solid phase microextraction based on the new synthesized sorbent and the porous hollow fiber liquid phase microextraction is reported. The selective anion-exchangeable Zn–Al-layered double hydroxide as a fiber was electrodeposited on the surface of pencil graphite substrate through simple and cost-effective method. The prepared fiber was characterized and put into the lumen of the porous hollow fiber, which was filled by alkaline solution. The obtained optimum condition for the method was as follows: donor phase HCl concentration of 0.10 mM, acceptor phase NaOH concentration of 7.60 mM and extraction time of 16 min. It is necessary to adjust the concentration of the donor phase in order to extract acidic analytes from an aqueous sample into an organic phase. The method was used for the quantification of three antibiotics including amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin and cefixime. The extracted antibiotics were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV). In the optimal conditions, the linearity of the proposed method was in the range of 0.50–500.00 μg L−1 for selected analytes in water and urine matrices. All calibration curves showed determination of coefficient higher than 0.9958. The limits of detection and limits of quantification were calculated to be between 0.08 and 0.16 μg L−1 and 0.28–0.56 μg L−1, respectively. In order to define the precision of the method, the inter-day and intra-day relative standard deviations were determined between 3.25 and 5.73% in the three selected concentrations. The enrichment factors (EFs) were between 46.20 and 55.81 for selected drugs. Moreover, the calculated absolute recoveries were between 69.30 and 83.71%. The relative recoveries were obtained in the range of 93.00–105.00%. The proposed method was also employed for analysis of various urine samples containing the selected drugs. The obtained recoveries indicated that the method was useful and applicable in complicated biological samples.

Boron-doped titania for separation and purification of lactoferrin in dairy products

Lactoferrin (LF), a natural iron regulating glycoprotein, exists in animal milk and plays multiple beneficial roles. Bovine LF is obtained by separation and purification from cow's milk, and has been added as a food additive to functional foods and infant formula now. Therefore, accurate analysis of LF in these foods is very important, but there are challenges such as poor selective extraction and separation efficiency. In this work, considering the cis-diol in LF, boron-doped titania (B-doped TiO2) material was prepared for selectively enrich LF from dairy products. In order to increase the saturation capacity of extracted LF, the amount of boron for doping was optimized, and maximum binding capacity of 63.9 mg g−1 was achieved when the atomic ratio of B to Ti was 1.65 with improved affinity in terms of KD value. In addition, the primary parameters affecting extraction efficiency such as extraction time, extraction pH, desorption time, and desorption solution were also optimized. The method of dispersive solid phase extraction based on B-doped TiO2 combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (UHPLC-UV) was developed and validated. The material greatly reduced the cost of sample pretreatment and the method also was applied to detect the LF in different dairy products such as liquid milk, fermented milk, and infant formula. This method could be used for routine analysis, separation and purification of LF.

Efficient enrichment of pesticides from environmental water samples by cobalt-nickel double metal hydroxide nanocage/multiwalled carbon nanotube composites

建立高效、灵敏的农药分离、富集和检测方法具有重要意义。该实验采用一步法合成了钴基沸石咪唑骨架/多壁碳纳米管(ZIF-67/MWCNTs)复合物,并以该复合物为模板通过溶剂热法合成了钴镍笼状双金属氢氧化物/多壁碳纳米管(CoNi-LDH/MWCNTs)复合材料,将CoNi-LDH/MWCNTs用作固相微萃取(SPME)的纤维涂层富集环境水样中的6种农药,结合高效液相色谱(HPLC)测定了环境水样中的6种农药。通过扫描电镜、能谱分析、红外光谱、粉末X射线衍射和N2吸附/脱附对所制备的各种材料进行了表征。利用正交设计试验优化SPME的萃取条件,包括萃取温度、萃取时间、搅拌速率、解吸时间和盐浓度。在最优化的条件下,该方法具有较宽的线性范围(百菌清为0.015~200 μg/L,戊唑醇为0.140~200 μg/L,毒死蜱为0.250~200 μg/L,仲丁灵为0.077~200 μg/L,溴氰菊酯为1.445~200 μg/L,哒螨灵为0.964~200 μg/L)、较低的检出限(0.004~0.434 μg/L)和良好的重复性。单个纤维和不同批次纤维间的相对标准偏差(RSD)分别为0.5%~5.7%和0.5%~4.8%。在10.0 μg/L和50.0 μg/L 2个水平下的加标回收率为83.9%~108.2%, RSD< 5.3%。此外,与其他涂层纤维相比,CoNi-LDH/MWCNTs涂层对农药具有更高效的富集能力,这归因于它的高比表面积以及CoNi-LDH/MWCNTs涂层与目标分析物之间存在的π-π堆积作用、疏水作用、阳离子-π相互作用和氢键作用。该方法可以实现环境水样中农药残留的高选择性、高灵敏度及高准确性的分析测定。