Determination of metacrate in water samples using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and HPLC with the aid of response surface methodology and experimental design

An improved method for the determination of metacrate in water samples has been developed using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) prior to liquid chromatography analysis. The variables of interest, such as the volume of extraction solvent and disperser solvent, salt effect, sample volume, and extraction time in the DLLME process, were optimized with the aid of response surface methodology and experimental design (RSM). Firstly, an orthogonal array design (OAD) was used to choose the significant variables for the optimization. Secondly, the significant factors were optimized by using a central composite design (CCD) and the quadratic model between the dependent and the independent variables was built. The proposed method showed good agreement between the experimental data and predictive value, and it has been successfully employed to determine metacrate in water samples. The limit of detection was 1 ng mL⁻¹ and, repeatability of the method, described as relative standard deviation, was 5.7% (n = 5).