Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples by gas chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry using macroporous resin solid‐phase extraction

A method for the determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water has been developed. First, we made a solid‐phase extraction column. After this, the parameters affecting the efficacy of the experimental method were optimized, including appropriate selection of a solid‐phase extraction column and cleanup conditions on columns. The separation was achieved by gas chromatography and detection with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry. The method showed satisfactory linearity (R² > 0.999) over the range assayed (0.01–1 μg/mL), and limits of quantification ranging from 0.0011 to 0.0199 μg/L. The recoveries ranged from 83 to 113%. The relative standard deviation is in the range 0.86–3.1%. The results indicated that this method had high selectivity and precision that was suitable for the simultaneous determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water.     

A novel sorbent based on carbon nanotube/amino‐functionalized sol–gel for the headspace solid‐phase microextraction of α‐bisabolol from medicinal plant samples using experimental design

A novel sol–gel coating on a stainless‐steel fiber was developed for the first time for the headspace solid‐phase microextraction and determination of α‐bisabolol with gas chromatography and flame ionization detection. The parameters influencing the efficiency of solid‐phase microextraction process, such as extraction time and temperature, pH, and ionic strength, were optimized by the experimental design method. Under optimized conditions, the linear range was between 0.0027 and 100 μg/mL. The relative standard deviations determined at 0.01 and 1.0 μg/mL concentration levels (n = 3), respectively, were as follows: intraday relative standard deviations 3.4 and 3.3%; interday relative standard deviations 5.0 and 4.3%; and fiber‐to‐fiber relative standard deviations 6.0 and 3.5%. The relative recovery values were 90.3 and 101.4% at 0.01 and 1.0 μg/mL spiking levels, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to various real samples containing α‐bisabolol.     

Separation and determination of polyurethane amine catalysts in polyether polyols by using UHPLC–Q‐TOF‐MS on a reversed‐phase/cation‐exchange mixed‐mode column

A simple, selective, and accurate ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry method was established and validated for the efficient separation and quantification of polyurethane amine catalysts in polyether polyols. Amine catalysts were primarily separated in polyether polyol‐based sample by solid‐phase extraction, and further baseline separated on a reversed‐phase/cation‐exchange mixed‐mode column (SiELC Primesep™ 200) using 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid/acetonitrile as a mobile phase in gradient elution mode at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. High‐resolution quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry analysis in electrospray ionization positive mode allowed the identification as N,N′‐bis[3‐(dimethylamino)propyl]urea, N‐[2‐(2‐dimethylaminoethoxy)ethyl]‐N‐methyl‐1,3‐propanediamine, and N,N,N′,N′‐tetramethyldipropylenetriamine. The method was validated and presented good linearity for all the analytes in blank matrices within the concentration range of 0.20–5.0 or 0.1–2.0 μg/mL with the correlation coefficients (R²) ranging from 0.986 to 0.997. Method recovery ranged within 81–105% at all three levels (80, 100, and 120% of the original amount) with relative standard deviations of 1.0–6.2%. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.007–0.051 μg/mL. Good precision was obtained with relative standard deviation below 3.2 and 0.72% for peak area and retention time of three amines, respectively.     

Determination of trace amounts of aromatic amines after magnetic solid‐phase extraction using silver‐modified Fe3O4/graphene nanocomposite

In this work, a fast and simple magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction methodology was developed utilizing Ag@magnetite nanoparticles@graphene nanocomposite as an efficient magnetic nanosorbent for preconcentration and determine of five aromatic amines in water samples. The sorbent was characterized by diverse characterization techniques. After the extraction, high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV detection was utilized to analysis the aromatic amines. The effects of different factors on the extraction process were studied thoroughly via design of experiment and desirability function. Detection limits and linear dynamic ranges were obtained in the range of 0.10–0.20 and 0.3–300 μg/L, respectively. The relative standard deviations (n = 5) were in the range of 4.3–6.5%. Eventually, the method was employed for determination of target aromatic amines in various water samples.     

Determination of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aquatic products by solid‐phase extraction and GC–MS

We propose a method for the simultaneous determination of 15 kinds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in marine samples (muscle) employing gas chromatography with mass spectrometry after saponification with ultrasound‐assisted extraction and solid‐phase extraction. The experimental conditions were optimized by the response surface method. In addition, the effects of different lyes and extractants on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons extraction were discussed, and saturated sodium carbonate was first used as the primary saponification reaction and extracted with 10 mL of ethyl acetate and secondly 1 mol/L of sodium hydroxide and 10 mL of n‐hexane were used to achieve better results. The average recovery was 67–112%. Satisfactory data showed that the method has good reproducibility with a relative standard deviation of <13%. The detection limits of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were 0.02–0.13 ng/g. Compared with other methods, this method has the advantages of simple pretreatment, low solvent consumption, maximum polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons extraction, the fast separation speed, and the high extraction efficiency. It is concluded that this method meets the batch processing requirements of the sample and can also be used to determine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in other high‐fat (fish, shrimp, crab, shellfish) biological samples.     

Modified dispersive liquid‐phase microextraction based on sequential injection solidified floating organic drop combined with HPLC for the determination of phenobarbital and phenytoin

A modified dispersive liquid phase microextraction based on sequential injection solidified floating organic drop was developed for simultaneous separation/preconcentration of trace amounts of phenobarbital and phenytoin. The important factors affecting on the extraction recovery including pH, the volume of extraction solvent, ionic strength, and the number of injections were investigated and optimized by Box–Behnken design and desirability function. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the calibration graph was linear in the concentration range of 1.0–300.0 μg/L (r² = 0.997) for phenobarbital and 2.0–400.0 μg/L (r² = 0.996) for phenytoin. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 0.35 and 1.2 μg/L for phenobarbital and 0.65 and 2.2 μg/L for phenytoin, respectively. The relative standard deviation for six replicate determinations at 10 μg/L was 3.3 and 4.1% for phenobarbital and phenytoin, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of phenobarbital and phenytoin in urine and plasma samples.     

Determination of aromatic amines in food products and composite food packaging bags by capillary electrophoresis coupled with transient isotachophoretic stacking

A capillary electrophoretic method was explored to assay aromatic amines in food samples. With an inline-coupled transient isotachophoretic stacking approach, the method has yielded about 200-fold improvement of sensitivity in UV detection of three primary aromatic amines and melamine. By using K⁺ as a leading ion and Tris⁺ as a terminating ion, a plug of 10 cm (equivalent to 0.44 μL) sample solution was allowed to introduce into a 60 cm (50 cm effective) capillary for separation, giving limits of detection down to 2.0 × 10⁻⁸ M. Baseline separation was achieved within 10 min, with relative standard deviation of 0.41–0.75% (intra-day) or 1.2–1.5% (inter-day) for migration time and 3.8–4.3% (intra-day) or 5.2–6.7% (inter-day) for peak area. The method was directly applicable to assaying the melamine in powder milk samples, with recovery in between 92.0% and 107.1%. The method could also be applied to the analysis of trace primary aromatic amines migrating from composite food packaging bags after combination of a 10-fold off-line concentration step, with limit of detection down to less than 1 μg/L. By this method, 4,4′-diaminophenylmethane and 2,4-diaminotoluene were thus found in three types of composite food packaging bags.     

Urinary l‐kynurenine quantification and selective extraction through a molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction device

l ‐Kynurenine is an endogenous metabolite generated by the catabolic pathway of l ‐tryptophan and it could be a potential biomarker to test the efficacy of several checkpoint inhibitors that have already reached the clinical trials in the antitumor therapy. Thus, a molecularly imprinted polymer specific for the recognition of this metabolite was synthesized and used as innovative system in solid‐phase extraction technique for the specific extraction and quantification of l ‐kynurenine in human urine. The off‐line system was firstly tested on l ‐kynurenine standard solutions, allowing recoveries up to 97.7% (relative standard deviation = 2.2%) and then applied to fortified and deproteinated human urine samples, where a recovery of 84.1% (relative standard deviation = 3.1%) was obtained. The method was validated and it revealed a good linearity in the range of 0.157–20 μg/mL (r² = 0.9992). The optimized procedure demonstrated a good feasibility on biological samples, allowing a ready quantification of l ‐kynurenine in the human urine, where the metabolite was found at a very low concentration (0.80 μg/mL). The extraction system developed could attract attention of pharmaceutical industries for l ‐kynurenine production as potential drug in the treatment of autoimmune disorders through its extraction and purification from biological matrixes.     

Ion‐pair‐based hollow‐fiber liquid‐phase microextraction combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography for the simultaneous determination of urinary benzene,toluene, and styrene metabolites

In the current study, a novel technique for extraction and determination of trans,trans‐muconic acid, hippuric acid, and mandelic acid was developed by means of ion‐pair‐based hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction in the three‐phase mode. Important factors affecting the extraction efficiency of the method were investigated and optimized. These metabolites were extracted from 10 mL of the source phase into a supported liquid membrane containing 1‐octanol and 10% w/v of Aliquat 336 as the ionic carrier followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis. The organic phase immobilized in the pores of a hollow fiber was back‐extracted into 24 μL of a solution containing 3.0 mol/L sodium chloride placed inside the lumen of the fiber. A very high preconcentration of 212‐ to 440‐fold, limit of detection of 0.1–7 μg/L, and relative recovery of 87–95% were obtained under the optimized conditions of this method. The relative standard deviation values for within‐day and between‐day precisions were calculated at 2.9–8.5 and 4.3–11.2%, respectively. The method was successfully applied to urine samples from volunteers at different work environments. The results demonstrated that the method can be used as a sensitive and effective technique for the determination of the metabolites in urine.     

Application of aeration‐assisted homogeneous liquid–liquid microextraction procedure using Box–Behnken design for determination of curcumin by HPLC

A simple, efficient, and rapid sample preparation method based on aeration‐assisted homogeneous liquid–liquid microextraction was developed for determination of curcumin in food samples by high‐performance liquid chromatography. The centrifuge step has been eliminated in this procedure. The effects of some variables, such as pH, volume of extraction solvent, extraction time, and salt effect, were studied through a Box–Behnken design method. Under the optimum conditions, calibration curves of curcumin were linear in the range of 0.08‐4000 μg/mL with R² = 0.997. Limit of detection and relative standard deviation were 0.019 μg/mL and 3.01%, respectively. The preconcentration factor achieved was 166. The proposed method was successfully applied to determination of curcumin in various food samples.     

Optimization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes reinforced hollow‐fiber solid–liquid‐phase microextraction for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples using experimental design

A novel design of hollow‐fiber liquid‐phase microextraction containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes as a solid sorbent, which is immobilized in the pore and lumen of hollow fiber by the sol–gel technique, was developed for the pre‐concentration and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples. The proposed method utilized both solid‐ and liquid‐phase microextraction media. Parameters that affect the extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were optimized in two successive steps as follows. Firstly, a methodology based on a quarter factorial design was used to choose the significant variables. Then, these significant factors were optimized utilizing central composite design. Under the optimized condition (extraction time = 25 min, amount of multiwalled carbon nanotubes = 78 mg, sample volume = 8 mL, and desorption time = 5 min), the calibration curves showed high linearity (R ² = 0.99) in the range of 0.01–500 ng/mL and the limits of detection were in the range of 0.007–1.47 ng/mL. The obtained extraction recoveries for 10 ng/mL of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons standard solution were in the range of 85–92%. Replicating the experiment under these conditions five times gave relative standard deviations lower than 6%. Finally, the method was successfully applied for pre‐concentration and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples.     

High‐throughput determination of fungicides in grapes using thin‐film microextraction coupled with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

A high‐throughput and environmentally friendly method based on 96‐well plate thin‐film microextraction was established to determine 14 fungicides in grapes and grape juice using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The thin‐film microextraction optimized method consisted of 60 min of extraction at pH 6.0 with the addition of sodium chloride (2–5%). Acetonitrile/water in the ratio of 8:2 was used for desorption analytes for 60 min. Evaluation of different extractive phases showed that polyacrylonitrile–polystyrene–divinylbenzene was the optimum coating. The linearity of the method was good in the range of 0.01–0.5 μg/mL for 14 fungicides with determination coefficients (R²) from 0.990 to 0.999, which indicated good linearity for both the grape juice and grape matrixes. The limit of detection was in the range of 0.002–0.01 μg/mL. The limit of quantitation was in the range of 0.01 mg/kg according to the minimum fortified level. The average absolute recoveries of the 14 fungicides ranged from 75.0 to 118.3%. The intraday relative standard deviation (n = 4) and interday relative standard deviation (n = 4) were 5.6–13.0% and 1.6–6.4%, respectively. This study showed that this method can be used for analyzing 96 samples in parallel, and the sample preparation time was approximately 2.0 min per sample. In addition, this approach offers a green and low‐cost sample pretreatment technique for future analyses.     

Optimized determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers by ultrasound‐assisted liquid–liquid extraction and high‐performance liquid chromatography

A method based on ultrasound‐assisted liquid–liquid extraction and high‐performance liquid chromatography has been optimized for the determination of six polybrominated diphenyl ether congeners. The optimal condition relevant to the extraction was first investigated, more than 98.7 ± 0.7% recovery was achieved with dichloromethane as extractant, 5 min extraction time, and three cycles of ultrasound‐assisted liquid–liquid extraction. Then multiple function was employed to optimize polybrominated diphenyl ether detection conditions with overall resolution and chromatography signal area as the responses. The condition chosen in this experiment was methanol/water 93:7 v/v, flow rate 0.80 mL/min, column temperature 30.0°C. The optimized technique revealed good linearity (R² > 0.9962 over a concentration range of 1–100 μg/L) and repeatability (relative standard deviation < 6.3%). Furthermore, the detection limit (S/N = 3) of the method were ranged from 0.02 to 0.13 μg/L and the quantification limit (S/N = 10) ranged from 0.07 to 0.35 μg/L. Finally, the proposed method was applied to spiked samples and satisfactory results were achieved. These results indicate that ultrasound‐assisted liquid–liquid extraction coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography was effective to identify and quantify the complex polybrominated diphenyl ethers in effluent samples.     

Development of a novel mixed hemimicelles dispersive micro solid phase extraction using 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide coated magnetic graphene for the separation and preconcentration of fluoxetine in different matrices before its determination by fiber optic linear array spectrophotometry and mode-mismatched thermal lens spectroscopy

This study aims at developing a novel, sensitive, fast, simple and convenient method for separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of fluoxetine before its spectrophotometric determination. The method is based on combination of magnetic mixed hemimicelles solid phase extraction and dispersive micro solid phase extraction using 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide coated magnetic graphene as a sorbent. The magnetic graphene was synthesized by a simple coprecipitation method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The retained analyte was eluted using a 100 μL mixture of methanol/acetic acid (9:1) and converted into fluoxetine-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex. The analyte was then quantified by fiber optic linear array spectrophotometry as well as mode-mismatched thermal lens spectroscopy (TLS). The factors affecting the separation, preconcentration and determination of fluoxetine were investigated and optimized. With a 50 mL sample and under optimized conditions using the spectrophotometry technique, the method exhibited a linear dynamic range of 0.4–60.0 μg L⁻¹, a detection limit of 0.21 μg L⁻¹, an enrichment factor of 167, and a relative standard deviation of 2.1% and 3.8% (n = 6) at 60 μg L⁻¹ level of fluoxetine for intra- and inter-day analyses, respectively. However, with thermal lens spectrometry and a sample volume of 10 mL, the method exhibited a linear dynamic range of 0.05–300 μg L⁻¹, a detection limit of 0.016 μg L⁻¹ and a relative standard deviation of 3.8% and 5.6% (n = 6) at 60 μg L⁻¹ level of fluoxetine for intra- and inter-day analyses, respectively. The method was successfully applied to determine fluoxetine in pharmaceutical formulation, human urine and environmental water samples.     

Magnetic micro‐solid‐phase extraction based on magnetite‐MCM‐41 with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for the determination of antidepressant drugs in biological fluids

A new facile magnetic micro‐solid‐phase extraction coupled to gas chromatography and mass spectrometry detection was developed for the extraction and determination of selected antidepressant drugs in biological fluids using magnetite‐MCM‐41 as adsorbent. The synthesized sorbent was characterized by several spectroscopic techniques. The maximum extraction efficiency for extraction of 500 μg/L antidepressant drugs from aqueous solution was obtained with 15 mg of magnetite‐MCM‐41 at pH 12. The analyte was desorbed using 100 μL of acetonitrile prior to gas chromatography determination. This method was rapid in which the adsorption procedure was completed in 60 s. Under the optimized conditions using 15 mL of antidepressant drugs sample, the calibration curve showed good linearity in the range of 0.05–500 μg/L (r ² = 0.996–0.999). Good limits of detection (0.008–0.010 μg/L) were obtained for the analytes with good relative standard deviations of <8.0% (n  = 5) for the determination of 0.1, 5.0, and 500.0 μg/L of antidepressant drugs. This method was successfully applied to the determination of amitriptyline and chlorpromazine in plasma and urine samples. The recoveries of spiked plasma and urine samples were in the range of 86.1–115.4%. Results indicate that magnetite micro‐solid‐phase extraction with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry is a convenient, fast, and economical method for the extraction and determination of amitriptyline and chlorpromazine in biological samples.     

Continuous solid-phase extraction method for the determination of amines in human urine following on-line microwave-assisted acid hydrolysis

Humans are exposed to endogenous or exogenous formation of aromatic amines (AAs) and N-nitrosamines (NAms), which are considered to be potent carcinogens. The objective of this study was to monitor AAs and NAms in human urine to obtain a way to assess exposure. However, while NAms can be directly detected in urine samples, AAs require hydrolysis to convert their conjugates into free amines. A semiautomatic flow-base method is proposed for the simultaneous determination of aliphatic and aromatic NAms, anilines and chloroanilines in human urine in one analytical run. Conjugated AAs are released from urine by on-line microwave-assisted acid hydrolysis without degradation of NAms; all amines were then preconcentrated using solid-phase extraction. Separation/determinations are carried out by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry operating in selected ion monitoring mode. The method is fast (∼15 min for 25 mL of sample) and provides low limits of detection (from 2 to 26 ng/L) with good precision (relative standard deviation within and between days less than 7%). Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to check AAs and NAms in the human urine of exposed and unexposed researchers. The kinetics of amine excretion in the urine of the researchers exposed is calculated after termination of the exposure and shows half-life times between 1.3 and 2.1 h, and that the dosage absorbed was eliminated within 6 h after exposure.     

Simultaneous extraction and determination of antibiotics in soils using a method based on quick,easy, cheap,effective, rugged,and safe extraction and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

The increasing use of antibiotics has caused substantial environmental problems, which are a matter of great concern. The aim of this work was to develop a quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method for 20 antibiotic residues in soil. The developed method is based on extraction with acetonitrile and phosphate buffer, clean up with dispersive solid‐phase extraction adsorbent using primary secondary amine, octadecylsilane, followed by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry determination. We optimized different extraction methods and the ratio of cleanup adsorbents to achieve good recoveries at seven spiking levels that ranged from 61.4 to 118.9% with a relative standard deviation below 20% (n  = 5). The method quantification limit was in the range of 2–5 μg/kg for most analytes. Good linear regression coefficients greater than 0.990 were obtained. This method was applied for the analysis of real agricultural soil samples, confirming the feasibility of the method.     

Solid‐phase extraction using chloropropyl functionalized sol–gel hybrid sorbent for simultaneous determination of organophosphorus pesticides in selected fruit samples

A new sol–gel hybrid methyltrimethoxysilane‐chloropropyltriethoxysilane was prepared as sorbent for solid‐phase extraction. The extraction efficiency of the prepared sol–gel hybrid methyltrimethoxysilane‐chloropropyltriethoxysilane was assessed by using three selected organophosphorus pesticides, namely, chlorpyrifos, profenofos, and malathion. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was used for detection of organophosphorus pesticides. Several vital parameters were optimized to identify the best extraction conditions. Under the optimum extraction conditions, solid‐phase extraction‐methyltrimethoxysilane‐chloropropyltriethoxysilane method showed good linearity range (0.05‐1 μg/mL) with coefficient of determination more than 0.995. The limits of detection obtained were in the range of 0.01–0.07 μg/mL and limits of quantification ranging from 0.03 to 0.21 μg/mL. The limits of detection obtained for the developed method were 2.3–6.5× lower than the limits of detection of commercial octadecyl silica sorbent. Real samples analysis was carried out by applying the developed method on red apple and purple grape samples. The developed method exhibited good recoveries (88.33–120.7%) with low relative standard deviations ranging from 1.6 to 3.3% compared to commercial octadecyl silica sorbent, which showed acceptable recoveries (70.3–100.2%) and relative standard deviations (6.3–8.8%). The solid‐phase extraction‐methyltrimethoxysilane‐chloropropyltriethoxysilane method is presented as an alternative extraction method for determination of organophosphorus pesticides.     

Dispersion‐assisted quick and simultaneous extraction of 30 pesticides from alcoholic and non‐alcoholic drinks with the aid of experimental design

The presence of pesticides in food items and beverages is a big threat to humankind, and their quantitative estimation with high precision and accuracy is always a challenge for analytical chemists. Hence, a simple and rapid method is proposed for the simultaneous determination of 30 pesticides in beverages (alcoholic and non‐alcoholic drinks). The proposed method hyphenated with triple quadrupole liquid chromatography mass spectrometry has only 2 min chromatographic runtime for the analysis of all the pesticides. All the factors affecting the extraction yield have been optimized using an experimental design; and under optimized conditions, the developed method has been validated. The detection limits for all the pesticides were in the range of 0.001–0.348 μg/L with good linearity in the concentration range of 0.01–80.0 μg/L. The coefficient of determination was in the range of (R²) ≥ 0.977 to 0.999 for all the pesticides. The method was also checked for the precision of the relative standard deviation, which was below 4.75 (intra‐day) and 8.96% (inter‐day). The recovery of the method was 92–138%.     

Online solid‐phase extraction with high‐performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry for the determination of five tannins in traditional Chinese medicine injections

A rapid analytical method based on online solid‐phase extraction with high‐performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry has been established and applied to the determination of tannin compounds that may cause adverse effects in traditional Chinese medicine injections. Different solid‐phase extraction sorbents have been compared and the elution buffer was optimized. The performance of the method was verified by evaluation of recovery (≥40%), repeatability (RSD ≤ 6%), linearity (r² ≥ 0.993), and limit of quantification (≤0.35 μg/mL). Five tannin compounds, gallic acid, cianidanol, gallocatechin gallate, ellagic acid, and penta‐O‐galloylglucose, were identified with concentrations ranging from 3.1–37.4 μg/mL in the analyzed traditional Chinese medicine injections.