Photochemically-induced fluorescence determination of sulfonylurea herbicides using micellar media

An analytical method based on the use of UV irradiation to produce fluorescent derivatives from four non-fluorescent sulfonylurea herbicides, including chlorsulfuron, metsulfuron methyl, 3-rimsulfuron and sulfometuron methyl is described. Their photochemically-induced fluorescence (PIF) properties in several solvents (water, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), dimethyl formamide (DMF), acetonitrile, methanol, ethanol, propan-2-ol and their binary mixtures with water) and micellar solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) are reported. Physicochemical variable influencing the sensitivity of the method have been optimized. A PIF method is developed for the determination of the four herbicides under study. Micellar media are found to provide the best analytical figures of merits. Linear dynamic ranges are established over about two orders of magnitude. The limit of detection (LOD) range from 0.2 to 6 ng ml(-1) according to the compound, with relative standard deviation (RSD) between 1.2 and 3.9%. Examples of applications to the analysis of these herbicides in spiked river water samples are given. The mean recoveries range from 80 to 104%.     

Rapid and sensitive determination of phosphorus-containing amino acid herbicides in soil samples by capillary zone electrophoresis with diode laser-induced fluorescence detection

A straightforward and sensitive method has been developed for the analysis of phosphorus-containing amino acid herbicides (glufosinate and aminomethylphosphonic acid, the major metabolite of glyphosate) in soil samples. For this purpose, the analytical features of two indocyanine fluorescent dyes, sulfoindocyanine succinimidyl ester (Cy5) and 1-ethyl-1-[5-(N-succinimidyl-oxycarbonyl)pentyl]-3,3,3,3-tetramethyl-indodicarbocyanine chloride, as labeling reagents for the determination of these herbicides by CZE with diode LIF detection were investigated. Practical aspects related to the labeling chemistry and CZE separation showed that the two probes behave similarly, Cy5 being the best choice for the determination of these herbicides on account of its higher sensitivity. The optimum procedure includes a derivatization step of the pesticides at 25 degrees C for 30 min and direct injection to CZE analysis, which is conducted within about 14 min using ACN in the running buffer. The lowest detectable analyte concentration ranged from 0.025 to 0.18 microg/L with a precision of 3.6-5.4%. These results indicate that indocyanine fluorescence dyes are useful as rapid and sensitive labels for the determination of these herbicides when compared with typical fluorescein dyes such as FITC and 5-(4,6-dichloro-s-triazin-2-ylamino) fluorescein, because they provide faster labeling reactions even at room temperature and the excess of reagent practically does not interfere the determination. Finally, the Cy5 method was successfully applied to soil samples without a preliminary clean-up procedure, and the herbicides were measured without any interference from coexisting substances. The recoveries of these compounds in these samples at fortification levels of 100-500 ng/g were 90-93%.     

Microextraction by packed sorbent liquid chromatography with time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry of triazines employing a molecularly imprinted polymer†

Molecularly imprinted polymers for the determination of triazines were synthesized by precipitation using atrazine as template, methacrylic acid as functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker, and 2,2′‐azobisisobutrynitrile as initiator. The polymers were characterized by infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy and packed in a device for microextraction by packed sorbent aiming for the preconcentration/cleanup of herbicides, such as atrazine, simazine, simetryn, ametryn, and terbutryn in corn samples. Liquid chromatography coupled with time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry was used for the separation and determination of the herbicides. The selectivity coefficient of molecularly imprinted polymers was compared with that of nonimprinted polymer for the binary mixtures of atrazine/propanil and atrazine/picloram, and the values obtained were 15.6 and 2.96, respectively. The analytical curve ranged from 10 to 80 μg/kg (r = 0.989) and the limits of detection and quantification in the corn matrices were 3.3 and 10 μg/kg, respectively. Intra‐ and interday precisions were < 14.8% and accuracy was better than 90.9% for all herbicides. Polymer synthesis was successfully applied to the cleanup and preconcentration of triazines from fortified corn samples with 91.1–109.1% of recovery.     

Determination of selected herbicides and phenols in water and soils by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatography procedure or the determination of the herbicides simazine, propazine, bromacil, metoxuron, and hexazinone is elaborated. Stationary phases RP8 and RP18 and mixtures of methanol-water (2:1 and 1:1, v/v) as a mobile phase are applied for this purpose. The conditions for solid-phase extraction are established, allowing the separation of phenols and herbicides in their mixtures and the extraction of phenols (from river and coke plant water) and herbicides (from the soil samples).     

Simultaneous quantification of chlorophenoxyacid herbicides based on time-resolved photochemical derivatization to induce fluorescence in micellar medium

In this paper a sensitive and simple method for the resolution of mixtures of chlorophenoxyacid herbicides using photochemical derivatization induced fluorescence has been described. These compounds do not show any fluorescence, hence photolysed to induce fluorescence after direct irradiation with ultraviolet light in presence of a cationic surfactant (cetyltrimethylammonium chloride). Critical variables such as the surfactant concentration and the irradiation time have been optimised for each compound using Sequential Response Surface Methodology (SRSM) by applying Doehlert designs in order to obtain maximum fluorescence intensity. The difference shown between the optimised irradiation times for the formation of the photoproducts allowed us to propose a time-resolved photoactivation method, for the simultaneous determination of binary mixtures, based on the use of different linear calibration curves established at various irradiation times depending on the mixture to be resolved. Satisfactory recoveries were obtained in the analysis of several mixtures of these herbicides at different ratios in spiked waters.     

Determination of herbicides in soil samples by gas chromatography: optimization by the simplex method

An analytic method for the determination of phenoxy acid herbicides and 2,4-D esters in soil samples by GC-FID is described. The esterification reaction with MeOH and H(2)SO(4) as catalyst has been used, optimizing experimental variables by the 'Simplex method'. The recoveries in soil samples were between 76 and 97% with relative S.D.s between 4 and 7% (n=4) at level of concentration of 5 and 10 mug ml(-1) for phenoxy acids and 2,4-D esters, respectively.     

Determination of two antibacterial binary mixtures by chemometrics-assisted spectrophotometry

Simple chemometrics-assisted spectrophotometric methods are described for determination of 2 antibacterial binary mixtures. The mixtures are composed of norfloxacin in combination with tinidazole and erythromycin (as ethylsuccinate ester or stearate salt) in combination with trimethoprim. The normal UV absorption spectra of each pair of drugs in the studied mixtures, in the range of 200-400 nm, showed a considerable degree of spectral overlapping: 77.5% for the norfloxacin-tinidazole mixture and 84.3% for the erythromycin-trimethoprim mixture. Resolution of the norfloxacin-tinidazole mixture and trimethoprim in the presence of erythromycin was accomplished successfully by using zero-crossing first derivative (1D), classical least-squares (CLS) regression analysis, and principal component regression (PCR) analysis methods. In addition, an alternative simple and accurate colorimetric method was developed for the determination of erythromycin in the presence of trimethoprim using 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine. All variables affecting the development of the colored chromogen were studied and optimized, and the product was measured at 526-529 and 538-542 nm for erythromycin stearate and erythromycin ethylsuccinate, respectively. For zero-crossing, first derivative technique Beer's law was obeyed in the general concentration range of 2-50 microg/mL for norfloxacin, tinidazole, and trimethoprim with good correlation coefficients (0.9994-0.9996). Overall limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) ranged from 0.59 to 2.81 and 1.96 to 9.33 microg/mL, respectively. The obtained results from CLS and PCR were compared with those obtained from a 1D spectrophotometric method. With the exception of erythromycin, overall recoveries in the average range of 97.33-103.0% were obtained with a considerable degree of accuracy when the suggested methods were applied to analysis of synthetic binary mixtures, some commercial dosage forms such as tablets and oral suspension without interference from the commonly encountered excipients and additives. For the colorimetric method, Beer's law was obeyed in the general concentration range of 7.21-28.84 microg/mL erythromycin with good correlation coefficients (0.9980-0.9996). Overall LOD and LOQ ranged from 0.73 to 1.65 and 2.43-5.49 microg/mL, respectively. Erythromycin derivatives were determined in the commercial dosage form, without interference from trimethoprim-encountered excipients and additives. The obtained results, with both chemometric and colorimetric methods, have been compared with those obtained from reported methods, and proper F- and t-values were observed, indicating no significant difference between the results of the suggested methods and reported method(s). The good percentage recoveries and proper statistical data obtained proved the efficiency of the proposed procedures for the determination of the studied drugs in their binary mixtures as well as in the commercial dosage forms with quite satisfactory precision.     

Automated on-line in-tube solid-phase microextraction followed by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry for the determination of chlorinated phenoxy acid herbicides in environmental waters

A method for the determination of six chlorinated phenoxy acid herbicides in river water was developed using in-tube solid-phase microextraction (SPME) followed by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS). In-tube SPME is an extraction technique for organic compounds in aqueous samples, in which analytes are extracted from a sample directly into an open tubular capillary by repeated draw/eject cycles of the sample solution. Simple mass spectra with strong signals corresponding to [M-H]- and [M-RCOOH]- were observed for all herbicides tested in this study. The best separation of these compounds was obtained with a C18 column using linear gradient elution with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-water containing 5 mmol l-1 dibutylamine acetate (DBA). To optimize the extraction of herbicides, several in-tube SPME parameters were examined. The optimum extraction conditions were 25 draw/eject cycles of 30 microliters of sample in 0.2% formic acid (pH 2) at a flow rate of 200 microliters min-1 using a DB-WAX capillary. The herbicides extracted by the capillary were easily desorbed by 10 microliters acetonitrile. Using in-tube SPME-LC/ESI-MS with time-scheduled selected ion monitoring, the calibration curves of herbicides were linear in the range 0.05-50 ng ml-1 with correlation coefficients above 0.999. This method was successfully applied to the analysis of river water samples without interference peaks. The limit of quantification was in the range 0.02-0.06 ng ml-1 and the limit of detection (S/N = 3) was in the range 0.005-0.03 ng ml-1. The repeatability and reproducibility were in the range 2.5-4.1% and 6.2-9.1%, respectively.     

Derivative spectrophotometry in the analysis of mixtures of phenols and herbicides

Derivative spectrophotometry (zero-crossing technique) was applied to the determination of selected phenols and herbicides in two-component mixtures. Methyl- and chlorophenols (3-methylphenol, 2,3- and 3,4-dimethylphenol, 2,5-, 2,6- and 3,4-dichlorophenol and 2,4,5-trichlorophenol) and triazine, uracil and urea herbicides (simazine, propazine, hexazinone, bromacil and metoxuron) were examined. The RSD values ranged between 0.05 and 4% and the recoveries obtained were between 97 and 110%. The developed derivative spectrophotometric method was also applied as a complementary technique for the separation of overlapping peaks of sample compounds obtained by HPLC with diode-array detection. Metoxuron and 3-methylphenol, metoxuron and 2,5-dichlorophenol and simazine and 2,6-dichlorophenol were determined simultaneously by this method at the level of 1 x 10(-3) g l-1.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of cobalt and nickel by partial least square regression in micellar media

Diphenycarbazone has been used for the simultaneous determination of cobalt and nickel by partial least square regression method. DPC complexes of cobalt and nickel at pH 7-10 are of pink color, which are soluble in TX-100 micellar media. A partial least square multivariate calibration method for the analysis of binary mixtures of cobalt and nickel was developed. The total relative standard error for applying the PLS method was calculated. The accuracy and reproducibility of the determination method for various known amounts of Co(II) and Ni(II) in their binary mixtures were tested. The effects of diverse ions on the determination of cobalt and nickel to investigate the selectivity of the method were also studied. The proposed method was applied to the synthetic binary mixtures, alloys and pharmaceutical samples.     

Sensitive determination of paraquat and diquat at the sub-ng ml-1 level by continuous amperometric flow methods.

Two methodologies are described for the determination of paraquat and diquat. The first is based on the pre-treatment of an electrode with a surfactant solution, which improves the electrochemical determination of the herbicides. Linear calibration graphs were obtained in the ranges 10-80 and 10-100 ng ml-1 for paraquat and diquat, respectively. The limits of detection were 6.32 for paraquat and 4.80 ng ml-1 for diquat. The method was applied to the determination of the herbicides in synthetic water samples. The second methodology is based on the preconcentration of paraquat and diquat in a minicolumn packed with a cation-exchange material. The determination ranges and detection limits depend on the sample volume used (5-50 ml). Thus, 50 ml of sample provides limits of detection of 0.016 and 0.020 ng ml-1 for paraquat and diquat, respectively. The applicability of the method was demonstrated with the determination of the herbicides in both synthetic and real water samples.     

Simultaneous determination of chlorzoxazone and ketoprofen in binary mixtures and in ternary mixtures containing the chlorzoxazone degradation product by reversed-phase liquid chromatography

New, simple, rapid, and precise reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (LC) methods were developed for the simultaneous determination of chlorzoxazone (CH) and ketoprofen (KT) in binary mixtures and in ternary mixtures containing the CH degradation product, 2-amino-4-chlorophenol (CD). The analytes were separated by LC on a Lichrosphere 60 C18 column (250 x 4 mm, 5 microm). The mobile phases, methanol-water (40:60, v/v) at 1 mL/min and methanol-0.05% phosphoric acid (60:40, v/v, pH 2.81) at 1.5 mL/min, satisfactorily resolved the binary and ternary mixtures, respectively. The UV detector was operated at 280 nm for the determination of CH and at 254 nm for the determination of KT and CD. Linearity, accuracy, and precision were found to be acceptable over the concentration ranges of 20-240 and 5-60 microg/mL for CH and KT, respectively, in the binary mixtures and 50-300, 10-60, and 20-160 microg/mL for CH, KT, and CD, respectively, in the ternary mixtures. The optimized methods proved to be specific, robust, and accurate for the quality control of CH and KT in pharmaceutical preparations.     

Simultaneous Voltammetric Determination of Three Herbicides in Food and Water Samples with the Aid of Chemometrics

Differential pulse stripping voltammetry method(DPSV) was applied to the determination of three herbicides,ametryn,cyanatryn,and dimethametryn.It was found that their voltammograms overlapped strongly,and it is difficult to determine these compounds individually from their mixtures.With the aid of chemometrics,classical least squares(CLS),principal component regression(PCR) and partial least squares(PLS),voltammogram resolution and quantitative analysis of the synthetic mixtures of the three compounds were successfully performed.The proposed method was also applied to the analysis of some real samples with satisfactory results.     

Analytical potential of fluorescein analogues for ultrasensitive determinations of phosphorus-containing amino acid herbicides by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with laser-induced fluorescence detection

The analytical potential of three fluorescein analogues, fluorescein isothiocyanate isomer I (FITC), 5-(4,6-dichlorotriazinylamino) fluorescein (DTAF) and 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein N-succinimidyl ester (CFSE), as labelling reagents for the ultrasensitive determination of phosphorus-containing amino acid herbicides (glufosinate and glyphosate) and aminomethylphosphonic acid (the major metabolite of glyphosate) by nonionic surfactant micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection was investigated. Practical aspects related to label chemistry and MEKC separation showed that DTAF is the best choice for the determination of these herbicides; in addition, the most important features of these reagents for the derivatization of amino compounds are discussed. The optimum procedure includes a derivatization step of the herbicides at 40 degrees C with DTAF for 1 h and a 2-fold dilution prior to MEKC analysis, which is conducted within about 10 min using Brij-35 in the running buffer. This nonionic surfactant improves the selectivity and therefore the sensitivity of the method at low analyte concentrations by shifting the interfering peaks of the DTAF excess. The lowest detectable analyte concentration ranged from 0.06 to 0.16 microg/L with a precision of 2.1-3.2%. These results indicate that nonionic surfactant MEKC-LIF is useful as a selective, rapid and sensitive tool for the determination of these herbicides showing a great potential for their analysis in environmental samples without previous enrichment steps. The proposed method surpasses other chromatographic alternatives in terms of limit of detection and sample requirements for the analysis.     

气相色谱法同时测定玉米中12种三嗪类除草剂的残留量

建立了气相色谱-氮磷检测器同时检测玉米中12种三嗪类除草剂（西玛通、西玛津、阿特拉津、扑灭津、特丁通、特丁津、环丙津、西草净、扑草净、特丁净、甲氧丙净、环嗪酮）残留量的方法。玉米样品用乙腈萃取,强阳离子交换(SCX)固相萃取柱净化后,用DB-5弹性石英毛细管柱(30 m×0.25 mm i.d.×0.25 μm)分离样品,氮磷检测器测定。12种三嗪类除草剂在0.01～2.0 mg/L范围内线性关系关系良好,相关系数均大于0.998;最低检测限为0.01 mg/kg;添加回收率为84.0%～106.8%;相对标准偏差为0.9%～4.7%。     

Optimisation of the separation of herbicides by linear gradient high performance liquid chromatography utilising artificial neural networks

An artificial neural network (ANN) was employed to model the chromatographic response surface for the linear gradient separation of 10 herbicides that are commonly detected in storm run-off water in agricultural catchments. The herbicides (dicamba, simazine, 2,4-D, MCPA, triclopyr, atrazine, diuron, clomazone, bensulfuron-methyl and metolachlor) were separated using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography and detected with a photodiode array detector. The ANN was trained using the pH of the mobile phase and the slope of the acetonitrile/water gradient as input variables. A total of nine experiments were required to generate sufficient data to train the ANN to accurately describe the retention times of each of the herbicides within a defined experimental space of mobile phase pH range 3.0-4.8 and linear gradient slope 1-4% acetonitrile/min. The modelled chromatographic response surface was then used to determine the optimum separation within the experimental space. This approach allowed the rapid determination of experimental conditions for baseline resolution of all 10 herbicides. Illustrative examples of determination of these components in Milli-Q water, Sydney mains water and natural water samples spiked at 0.5-1 μg/L are shown. Recoveries were over 70% for solid-phase extraction using Waters Oasis^® HLB 6 cm³ cartridges.     

Simultaneous Spectrophotometric Determination of Zinc and Nickel in Water Samples by Mean Centering of Ratio Kinetic Profiles

The mean centering of ratio kinetic profiles method was used for the simultaneous determination of binary mixtures of Ni(II) and Zn(II) in water samples, without prior separation steps. The method is based on the difference in the rate of the reaction of Ni(II) and Zn(II) with xylenol orange at pH 5.3. The method allows rapid and accurate determination of Ni(II) and Zn(II). The analytical characteristics of the methods for the simultaneous determination of binary mixtures of Ni(II) and Zn(II) were calculated. The linear range was 0.025‐2.400 μg mL^?1 and 0.025‐2.20 μg mL^?1 for Zn(II) and Ni(II), respectively. Interference effects of common anions and cations were studied, and the method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of Zn(II) and Ni(II) in water samples.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of levodopa and carbidopa in pharmaceutical formulations and water samples by using mean centering of ratio spectra and H-point standard addition methods

Two spectrophotometric methods are described for the simultaneous determination of binary mixtures of carbidopa and levodopa in pharmaceutical formulations, without prior separation steps, using the mean centering of ratio spectra and H-point standard addition methods (HPSAM). The methods are based on the difference in the absorption spectra for the products of the reaction of carbidopa and levodopa with 4-aminobenzoic acid in the presence of periodate ion at pH 4.0. The methods allow rapid and accurate determination of carbidopa and levodopa. The results showed that the methods were capable to simultaneous determination of 0.30-10.00 microg ml(-1) and 0.50-10.00 microg ml(-1) each of carbidopa and levodopa. The proposed methods were successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of carbidopa and levodopa in pharmaceutical samples.     

Screening method for phenoxy acid herbicides in ground water by high-performance liquid chromatography of 9-anthryldiazomethane derivatives and fluorescence detection

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for phenoxy acid herbicides using precolumn derivatization with 9-anthryldiazomethane (ADAM) is presented. The phenoxy acid herbicides investigated were (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid, (4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)acetic acid, 2-(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)propionic acid and (4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)butyric acid. These herbicides reacted with ADAM under mild conditions and were converted into the corresponding fluorescent derivatives. The ADAM derivatives were separated by reversed-phase HPLC and determined using a fluorescence detector. The detection limits were about 500 pg per injection. For the application of ADAM to the determination of these herbicides in ground waters, the recoveries were more than 93% and the average relative standard deviation was 6.0% at 0.5 microgram/l. The procedure is useful as a screening method for phenoxy acid herbicides in ground water samples.     

Simultaneous derivative spectrophotometric determination of cobalt(II) and nickel(II) by dithizone without extraction

Dithizone (Dz), a common extractive-photometric ligand for Co(II) and Ni(II), has been dissolved in the water-miscible solvent tetrahydrofurane (THF) so as to constitute a reagent for both metals in aqueous phase without extraction. Complex formation was complete for both metals at pH 12.0 (adjusted by aqueous NH(3)) within 30 min, and the complexes were stable for at least 2 h. First-derivative spectra of the metal dithizonates (singly or as binary mixtures) were preferred to ordinary spectra, because working wavelength determination was more precise and spectral overlap was less. Two wavelengths at which the spectral overlap was minimum were selected as analytical wavelengths, i.e. 620 nm for Co and 740 nm for Ni, and the calibration curves drawn with zero-to-peak values as a function of concentration were linear for these wavelengths. Thus, the total (1)D values at 620 and 740 nm of the mixtures were used to determine Co and Ni concentrations. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) for the analysis of Co (3.0 mg l(-1)) individually was 3.5%, and for its admixture with Ni (3.5 mg l(-1)) was 2.5%. The R.S.D. for the analysis of Ni (5.9 mg l(-1)) individually and for its admixture with Co (1.8 mg l(-1)) were 5.5 and 5.8%, respectively. The linear range in (1)D evaluation was between 5.0x10(-6) and 1.0x10(-4) M for Co and 2.0x10(-5)-2.0x10(-4) M for Ni. Interference analysis was performed for individual metal (Co or Ni) determinations. Finally, the method has been applied to a Ni-Cr-based dental alloy (Wiron 99) successfully.