Liquid-phase microextraction with porous hollow fibers, a miniaturized and highly flexible format for liquid-liquid extraction

Since 1999, substantial research has been devoted to the development of liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) based on porous hollow fibers. With this technology, target analytes are extracted from aqueous samples, through a thin supported liquid membrane (SLM) sustained in the pores in the wall of a porous hollow fiber, and further into a microL volume of acceptor solution placed inside the lumen of the hollow fiber. After extraction, the acceptor solution is directly subjected to a final chemical analysis by liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), capillary electrophoresis (CE), or mass spectrometry (MS). In this review, LPME will be discussed with focus on extraction principles, historical development, fundamental theory, and performance. Also, major applications have been compiled, and recent forefront developments will be discussed.     

Development of a simple in-vial liquid-phase microextraction device for drug analysis compatible with capillary gas chromatography, capillary electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple, inexpensive and disposable device for liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) is presented for use in combination with capillary gas chromatography (GC), capillary electrophoresis (CE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). 1-4 ml samples of human urine or plasma were filled into conventional 4-ml vials, whereafter 15-25 microl of the extraction medium (acceptor solution) was filled into a short piece of a porous hollow fiber and placed into the sample vial. The drugs of interest were extracted from the sample solutions and into the small volumes of acceptor solution based on high partition coefficients and were preconcentrated by a factor of 30-125. For LPME in combination with GC, the porous hollow fiber was filled with 15 microl n-octanol as the acceptor solution. Following 30 min of extraction, the organic acceptor solution was injected directly into the GC system. For LPME in combination with CE and HPLC, n-octanol was immobilized within the pores of the hollow fiber, while the internal volume of the fiber was filled with either 25 microl of 0.1 M HCl (for extraction of basic compounds) or 25 microl 0.02 M NaOH (for acidic compounds). Following 45 min extraction, the aqueous acceptor solution was injected directly into the CE or HPLC system. Owing to the low cost, the extraction devices were disposed after a single extraction which eliminated the possibility of carry over effects. In addition, because no expensive instrumentation was required for LPME, 10-30 samples were extracted in parallel to provide a high number of samples per unit time capacity.     

Developments in hollow fiber based liquid-phase microextraction: principles and applications

Hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) offers an efficient alternative to classical techniques for sample preparation and preconcentration. Features include high selectivity, good enrichment factors, and improved possibilities for automation. HP-LPME relies on the extraction of target analytes from aqueous samples into a supported liquid membrane (SLM) sustained in the pores of the wall of a porous hollow fiber, and then into an acceptor phase (that can be aqueous or organic) in the lumen of the hollow fiber. After extraction, the acceptor solution is directly subjected to a chemical analysis. HP-LPME can be performed in either the 2- or 3-phases mode. In the 2-phase mode, the organic solvent is present both in the porous wall and inside the lumen of the hollow fiber. In the 3-phase mode, the acceptor phase can be aqueous and this results in a conventional 3-phase system compatible with HPLC or capillary electrophoresis. Alternatively, the acceptor solution is organic and this represents a 3-phase extraction system with two immiscible organic solvents that is compatible with all common analytical instruments. In HP-LPME methods based on the use of SLMs, the mass transfer occurs by passive diffusion, and high extraction yields as well as efficient extraction kinetics are obtained by applying a pH gradient. In addition, active transport can be performed by using carrier or applying an electrical potential across the SLM. Due to high analyte preconcentration, excellent sample clean-up, and low consumption of organic solvent, HF-LPME has a large application potential in areas such as drug analysis and environmental monitoring. This review focuses on the fundamentals of extraction principles, technical implementations, and future trends in HF-LPME.

Liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction of nitrophenols with a hollow fiber membrane prior to capillary liquid chromatography

A simple liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction device utilizing a 2 cm x 0.6 mm I.D. hollow fiber membrane was used to preconcentrate nitrophenols from water sample prior to capillary liquid chromatography (cLC) analysis. The extraction procedure was induced by the pH difference inside and outside the hollow fiber. The donor phase outside the hollow fiber was adjusted to pH approximately 1 with HCl; the acceptor phase was NaOH solution used at various concentrations. Organic solvent was immobilized into the pores of the hollow fiber. With stirring, the neutral nitrophenols outside the fiber were extracted into the organic solvent, then back extracted into 2 microl of basic acceptor solution inside the fiber. The acceptor phase was then withdrawn into a microsyringe and injected into the cLC system directly. This technique used a low-cost disposable extraction "device" and is very convenient to operate. Up to 380-fold enrichment of analytes could be achieved. This procedure could also serve as a sample clean-up step because large molecules and basic compounds were not extracted into the acceptor phase. The RSD (n=6) was less than 6.2%, while the linear calibration range was from 1 to 200 microg/ml with r>0.998. The procedure was applied to the analysis of seawater.     

Direct determination of chlorophenols in water samples through ultrasound-assisted hollow fiber liquid–liquid–liquid microextraction on-line coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography

In this study we on-line coupled hollow fiber liquid–liquid–liquid microextraction (HF-LLLME), assisted by an ultrasonic probe, with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In this approach, the target analytes – 2-chlorophenol (2-CP), 3-chlorophenol (3-CP), 2,6-dichlorophenol (2,6-DCP), and 3,4-dichlorophenol (3,4-DCP) – were extracted into a hollow fiber (HF) supported liquid membrane (SLM) and then back-extracted into the acceptor solution in the lumen of the HF. Next, the acceptor solution was withdrawn on-line into the HPLC sample loop connected to the HF and then injected directly into the HPLC system for analysis. We found that the chlorophenols (CPs) could diffuse quickly through two sequential extraction interfaces – the donor phase – SLM and the SLM – acceptor phase – under the assistance of an ultrasonic probe. Ultrasonication provided effective mixing of the extracted boundary layers with the bulk of the sample and it increased the driving forces for mass transfer, thereby enhancing the extraction kinetics and leading to rapid enrichment of the target analytes. We studied the effects of various parameters on the extraction efficiency, viz. the nature of the SLM and acceptor phase, the compositions of the donor and acceptor phases, the fiber length, the stirring rate, the ion strength, the sample temperature, the sonication conditions, and the perfusion flow rate. This on-line extraction method exhibited linearity (r² ≥ 0.998), sensitivity (limits of detection: 0.03–0.05 μg L⁻¹), and precision (RSD% ≤ 4.8), allowing the sensitive, simple, and rapid determination of CPs in aqueous solutions and water samples with a sampling time of just 2 min.     

Microextraction across supported liquid membranes forced by pH gradients and electrical fields

The present work has for the first time compared extraction of basic analytes across a supported liquid membrane (SLM) based on (1) passive diffusion in a pH gradient sustained over the SLM and (2) electrokinetic migration in an electrical field sustained over the SLM. For the passive diffusion experiments, performed as liquid-phase microextraction (LPME), five basic drugs were extracted under strong agitation from alkaline samples (10mM NaOH), through 2-nitrophenyl octylether immobilized in the pores of a porous hollow fibre of polypropylene (SLM), and into 25 microl of 10mM HCl as the acceptor solution. The experiments based on electrokinetic migration, performed as electro membrane isolation (EMI), were conducted under strong agitation from acidic samples (10mM HCl), through the same SLM as in LPME, and into 25 microl of 10mM HCl as the acceptor solution. Whereas LPME relied on diffusion and to some extent also convection as the principal mechanisms of mass transfer, mass transfer in EMI also included a strong contribution from electrokinetic migration. Thus, extraction kinetics was improved by a factor between 6 and 17 utilizing EMI instead of LPME. This major difference in terms of speed was especially pronounced from small sample volumes (150 microl), and suggest that EMI may be a very interesting future concept for miniaturized sample preparation. In addition to improved extraction kinetics, extraction rates were strongly compound dependent in EMI, opening the possibility to control the extraction selectivity by the extraction time.     

Supported liquid membranes in hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction (LPME)--practical considerations in the three-phase mode

In this work, three-phase liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) based on a supported liquid membrane (SLM) sustained in the wall of a hollow fiber was investigated with special focus on optimization of the experimental procedures in terms of recovery and repeatability. Recovery data for doxepin, amitriptyline, clomipramine, and mianserin were in the range of 67.8-79.8%. Within-day repeatability data for the four basic drugs were in the range of 4.1-7.7%. No single factor was found to be responsible for these variations, and the variability was caused by several factors related to the LPME extractions as well as to the final HPLC determination. Although the volume of the SLM varied within 0.4-3.1% RSD depending on the preparation procedure, and the volume of the acceptor solution varied within 4.8% RSD, both recoveries and repeatability were found to be relative insensitive to these variations. Thus, the handling of microliters of liquid in LPME was not a very critical factor, and the preparation of the SLM was accomplished in several different ways with comparable performance. Reuse of hollow fibers was found to suffer from matrix effects due to built-up of analytes in the SLM, whereas washing of the hollow fibers in acetone was beneficial in terms of recovery, especially for the extraction of the most hydrophobic substances. Several of the organic solvents used in the literature as SLM suffered from poor long-term stability, but silicone oil AR 20 (polyphenylmethylsiloxane), 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE), and dodecyl acetate (DDA) all extracted with unaltered performance even after 60 days of storage at room temperature.     

Three-phase system in solvent bar microextraction: An approach for the sample preparation of ionizable organic compounds prior to liquid chromatography

In this article, a simple new solvent microextraction technique is described for the extraction of ionizable organic compounds. This involves performing simultaneous forward- and back-extraction across an organic film immobilized in the pores of a porous polypropylene hollow fiber. Four chlorophenoxyacetic acid herbicides were chosen as model compounds. The target compounds are extracted from the stirred acidic aqueous sample (adjusted to 0.5 M HCl; donor phase) through a thin film of an organic solvent residing in the pores of a polypropylene hollow fiber; they are then finally extracted into another alkaline aqueous phase (1 M NaOH; acceptor phase). Both ends of the fiber are pressure-sealed. The acceptor phase was analyzed by liquid chromatography (LC). This method gave good enrichment (by a factor of 438-553) of the analytes in 40 min extraction time with reasonably good reproducibility. The analytical potential of the method was demonstrated by applying the method to spiked river water sample.     

Enantioselective determination of chloroquine and its n-dealkylated metabolites in plasma using liquid-phase microextraction and LC-MS

A selective method using three-phase liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) in conjunction with LC-MS-MS was devised for the enantioselective determination of chloroquine and its n-dealkylated metabolites in plasma samples. After alkalinization of the samples, the analytes were extracted into n-octanol immobilized in the pores of a polypropylene hollow fiber membrane and back extracted into the acidic acceptor phase (0.1 M TFA) filled into the lumen of the hollow fiber. Following LPME, the analytes were resolved on a Chirobiotic V column using methanol/ACN/glacial acetic acid/diethylamine (90:10:0.5:0.5 by volume) as the mobile phase. The MS detection was carried out using multiple reaction monitoring with ESI in the positive ion mode. The optimized LPME method yielded extraction recoveries ranging from 28 to 66%. The method was linear over 5-500 ng/mL and precision (RSD) and accuracy (relative error) values were below 15% for all analytes. The developed method was applied to the determination of the analytes in rat plasma samples after oral administration of the racemic drug.     

Two‐phase and three‐phase liquid‐phase microextraction of hydrochlorothiazide and triamterene in urine samples

This paper reports the applicability of two‐phase and three‐phase hollow fiber based liquid‐phase microextraction (HF‐LPME) for the extraction of hydrochlorothiazide (HYD) and triamterene (TRM) from human urine. The HYD in two‐phase HF‐LPME is extracted from 24 mL of the aqueous sample into an organic phase with microliter volume located inside the pores and lumen of a polypropylene hollow fiber as acceptor phase, but the TRM in three‐phase HF‐LPME is extracted from aqueous donor phase to organic phase and then back‐extracted to the aqueous acceptor phase, which can be directly injected into HPLC for analysis. Under optimized conditions preconcentration factors of HYD and TRM were obtained as 128 and 239, respectively. The calibration curves were linear (R² ≥ 0.995) in the concentration range of 1.0–100 µg/L for HYD and 2.0–100 µg/L for TRM. The limits of detection for HYD and TRM were 0.5 µg/L. The intra‐day and inter‐day RSD based on four replicates were obtained as ≤5.8 and ≤9.3%, respectively. The methods were successfully applied for determining the concentration of the drugs in urine samples. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction with automated movement of the acceptor and the donor phase for the extraction of phenoxyacetic acids prior to liquid chromatography detection

A simple liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction with automated movement of the acceptor and the donor phase (LLLME/AMADP) technique is described for the quantitative determination of five phenoxyacetic acids in water using a disposable and ready to use hollow fiber. The target compounds were extracted from the acidified sample solution (donor phase) into the organic solvent residing in the pores of the hollow fiber and then back extracted into the alkaline solution (acceptor phase) inside the lumen of the hollow fiber. The fiber was held by a conventional 10-microl syringe. The acceptor phase was sandwiched between the plunger and a small volume of the organic solvent (microcap). The acceptor solution was repeatedly moved in and out of the hollow fiber assisted by a programmable syringe pump. This repeated movement provides a fresh acceptor phase to come in-contact with the organic phase and thus enhancing extraction kinetics leading to high enrichment of the analytes. The microcap separates the aqueous acceptor phase and the donor phase in addition of being partially responsible for mass transfer of the analytes from donor solution (moving in and out of the hollow fiber from the open end of the fiber) to the acceptor solution. Separation and quantitative analyses were then performed using liquid chromatography (LC) with ultraviolet (UV) detection at 280 nm. Various parameters affecting the extraction efficiency viz. type of organic solvent used for immobilization in the pores of the hollow fiber, extraction time, stirring speed, effect of sodium chloride, and concentration of donor and acceptor phases were studied. Repeatability (RSD, 3.2-7.4%), correlation coefficient (0.996-0.999), detection limit (0.2-2.8 ng ml(-1)) and enrichment factors (129-240) were also investigated. Relative recovery (87-101%) and absolute recoveries (4.6-13%) have also been calculated. The developed method was applied for the analysis of river water.     

Development and application of microporous hollow fiber protected liquid-phase microextraction via gaseous diffusion to the determination of phenols in water

A new organic solvent-free microextraction technique termed liquid-gas-liquid microextraction (LGLME) was developed. In this technique, a small amount (6 microl) of aqueous acceptor solution (0.5M NaOH) is introduced into the channel of a 2.65 cm polypropylene hollow fiber. The hollow fiber is then immersed in an aqueous sample donor solution. The aqueous acceptor phase in the channel of the hollow fiber is separated from the sample solution by the hydrophobic microporous hollow fiber wall with air inside its pores. The analytes (phenols) passed through the microporous hollow fiber membrane by gas diffusion and were then trapped by the basic acceptor solution. After extraction, the acceptor solution was withdrawn into a microsyringe and injected into a capillary electrophoresis sample vial for subsequent analysis. Limits of detection of between 0.5 and 10 microg/l for eight phenols could be achieved. The relative standard deviations (n=6) of this technique between 2.7 and 7.6%. The technique also provides good enrichment factors for all the eight analytes.     

Hollow‐fiber‐supported liquid membrane microextraction of amlodipine and atorvastatin

A simple, environmentally friendly, and efficient method, based on hollow‐fiber‐supported liquid membrane microextraction, followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography has been developed for the extraction and determination of amlodipine (AML) and atorvastatin (ATO) in water and urine samples. The AML in two‐phase hollow‐fiber liquid microextraction is extracted from 24.0 mL of the aqueous sample into an organic phase with microliter volume located inside the pores and lumen of a polypropylene hollow fiber as acceptor phase, but the ATO in three‐phase hollow‐fiber liquid microextraction is extracted from aqueous donor phase to organic phase and then back‐extracted to the aqueous acceptor phase, which can be directly injected into the high‐performance liquid chromatograph for analysis. The preconcentration factors in a range of 34–135 were obtained under the optimum conditions. The calibration curves were linear (R² ≥ 0.990) in the concentration range of 2.0–200 μg/L for AML and 5.0–200 μg/L for ATO. The limits of detection for AML and ATO were 0.5 and 2.0 μg/L, respectively. Tap water and human urine samples were successfully analyzed for the existence of AML and ATO using the proposed methods.     

Liquid-phase microextraction utilising plant oils as intermediate extraction medium--towards elimination of synthetic organic solvents in sample preparation

Hollow fibre based liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) using fatty oils and essential oils as the organic phase was evaluated to develop sample preparation technology eliminating the use of hazardous organic solvents. Basic drugs were extracted from different aqueous samples (0.2 to 1 mL) through approximately 15 microL of either almond oil, arachis oil, olive oil, soy-bean oil, anise oil, fennel oil, lavender oil, or peppermint oil (organic phase) immobilised within the pores of a polypropylene hollow fibre and into 20 microL of 10 mM HCOOH (acceptor phase) present inside the lumen of the hollow fibre. The extraction performance of the essential oils was comparable with the solvents normally used in LPME (dihexyl ether, n-octanol, and dodecyl acetate) in terms of extraction recovery and extraction speed. Whereas all essential oils tested were compatible with human urine, only anise oil was successful for plasma. The fatty oils provided lower recoveries than the essential oils due to higher viscosity, but all the fatty oils were compatible both with urine and plasma samples. In spite of the multi-component nature of the oils tested, they were not found to seriously contaminate the acceptor phases during extraction. In conclusion, fatty oils and essential oils may serve as alternative organic phase in LPME, eliminating the use of hazardous organic solvents.     

Experiences with carrier-mediated transport in liquid-phase microextraction

Different organic borates, phosphates, sulphates, and carboxylic acids are evaluated as extraction carriers in three-phase liquid-phase microextraction (LPME). Hydrophilic basic drugs form ion-pairs with the carriers and are extracted as ion-pair complexes into an organic liquid membrane of n-octanol or peppermint oil immobilized in the pores of a polypropylene hollow fiber. From this point, the basic drugs are released into a 20-microL solution of 50mM HCl placed inside the lumen of the hollow fiber (acceptor solution). Simultaneously, the carrier is neutralized by protons from the acceptor solution (protonated to maintain the charge balance). Both water-soluble and water-insoluble carriers are tested. One promising candidate among the water-soluble carriers is 1-heptanesulfonic acid. This is added to the sample solution to a final concentration of 25mM and served to ion-pair the analytes within the sample solution. Among the less water-soluble candidates, a mixture of di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) and tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) serve as efficient carriers. Ten percent (w/w) of each of DEHP and TEHP are added to the organic liquid membrane, and these carriers principally worked through ion-pairing with the analytes at the interface between the sample solution and the organic liquid membrane. Several carriers are found to be compatible with human plasma samples, and bromthymol blue is particularly efficient in combination with these protein-containing matrices. Following optimization of the conditions for bromthymol blue, including saturation of the plasma samples with sodium sulphate, extraction recoveries between 45% and 75% are obtained for eight model drugs after 60 min of extraction. With bromthymol blue as the carrier, highly acceptable validation data are obtained for phenylpropanolamine and practolol extracted from human plasma.     

Determination of phenols in water using liquid phase microextraction with back extraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography.

Liquid phase microextraction with back extraction (LPME/BE) combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was studied for the determination of a variety of phenols in water samples. The target compounds were extracted from 2-ml aqueous sample adjusted to pH 1 (donor solution) through a microliter-size organic solvent phase (400-microl n-hexane), confined inside a small PTFE ring, and finally into a 1-microl basic aqueous acceptor microdrop suspended inthe aforementioned solvent phase from the tip of a microsyringe needle. After extracting for a prescribed time, the microdrop was taken back into the syringe and directly injected into an HPLC for detection. Factors relevant to the extraction procedure were studied. At the optimized extraction conditions, a large enrichment factor (more than 100-fold) can be achieved for most of the phenols within 35 min. The detection limit range was 0.5-2.5 microg/l for different analytes in aqueous samples. The results demonstrate the suitability of the LPME/BE approach to the analysis of polar compounds in aqueous samples.     

Parameters affecting electro membrane extraction of basic drugs

Thirty-five different basic drugs were extracted by electro membrane extraction (EME), from acidified samples containing HCl as the BGE, through an organic solvent immobilized in the pores in the wall of a porous hollow fiber (supported liquid membrane, SLM), and into an acidified acceptor solution (HCl) in the lumen of the hollow fiber by the application of an electrical potential difference of 50 V. With 2-nitrophenyl pentyl ether (NPPE) as the SLM, and with 10 mM HCl as BGE in the sample and acceptor solution, singly charged basic drugs with log P >2 were extracted with recoveries in the range 30-81% within 5 min. For doubly charged basic drugs, extraction was effectively enhanced by decreasing the concentration of HCl in the sample from 10 to 0.1 mM, reducing the ionization of the analytes. For medium polar analytes (1 < log P < 2), an ion balance of 0.01 was combined with addition of tris-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) to the SLM, and this provided recoveries in the range 36-70%. The ion balance was defined as the concentration ratio of BGE between the sample and the acceptor solution. For the most polar drugs (log P <1), EME was accomplished with an ion balance of 0.01 and with di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) added to the SLM, but in spite of this, recoveries were in the range of only 4-17%.     

Liquid-phase microextraction of protein-bound drugs under non-equilibrium conditions

Recently, we introduced an inexpensive and disposable hollow fiber-based device for liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) where ionic analytes typically were extracted and preconcentrated from 1-4 mL aqueous samples (such as plasma and urine) through an organic solvent immobilized in the pores of a polypropylene hollow fiber and into a 10-25 microL volume of acceptor phase present inside the lumen of the hollow fiber. Subsequently, the acceptor phase was directly subjected to the final analysis by a chromatographic or electrophoretic method. In the present work, attention was focused on LPME of the basic drugs amphetamine, pethidine, promethazine, methadone and haloperidol characterized by substantial differences in the degree of protein binding. Drug-protein interactions in plasma resulted in reduced recoveries and substantially increased extraction times compared with extraction of the drugs from a pure water matrix. However, by addition of 5-50% methanol to the plasma samples, recoveries were comparable with LPME from water samples and ranged between 75 and 100%. The addition of methanol was found not to speed up the LPME process and extractions from plasma were performed in 45 min to reach equilibrium. Because approximately 55-70% of the final analyte concentrations were achieved within the initial 10 min of the LPME process, validation was accomplished after 10 and 45 min of LPME. In general, the results with 10 and 45 min were almost comparable, with precision data in the range 1.2-11.1% (RSD) and with linearity in the concentration range 20-1000 ng mL(-1) (r = 0.999). In conclusion, excellent LPME results may be achieved in a short time under non-equilibrium conditions with a minor loss of sensitivity. In cases of drug-protein interactions, methanol may be added to ensure a high extraction recovery.     

Electro membrane isolation of nerve agent degradation products across a supported liquid membrane followed by capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection

In the present study, electro membrane isolation (EMI) of four nerve agent degradation products has been successfully explored. In the procedure, a polypropylene sheet membrane folded into an envelope with an open end with its wall pores impregnated with 1-octanol was employed as the artificial supported liquid membrane (SLM). The envelope containing the extractant or aqueous acceptor phase (at pH 6.8) was immersed in the sample or donor phase (also aqueous at a pH of 6.8) for extraction. This ensured that the target analytes were fully ionized. A voltage was then applied, with the negative electrode placed in the donor phase with agitation, and the positive electrode in the acceptor phase. The ionized analytes were thus driven to migrate from the donor phase across the SLM to the acceptor phase. The factors influential to extraction: type of organic solvent, voltage, agitation speed, extraction time, pH of the donor and acceptor phase and concentration of humic acids were investigated in detail. After extraction, the acceptor phase was collected and directly injected for capillary electrophoretic (CE) analysis. Combined with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C(4)D), the direct detection of these compounds could be achieved. Moreover, large-volume sample injection was employed to further enhance the sensitivity of this method. Limits of detection (LODs) as low as ng/mL were reached for the studied analytes, with overall LOD enhancements of four orders of magnitude.