Selective magnetic solid-phase extraction of amide herbicides from fish samples coupled with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

An efficient magnetic dummy template molecularly imprinted polymer nanocomposite was prepared using multi-walled carbon nanotubes as a support and metolachlor deschloro as a dummy template. The obtained nanocomposites were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The adsorption performance of the obtained nanocomposites was evaluated through binding experiments, including static adsorption, kinetic adsorption, and selective recognition studies. The obtained nanocomposites were successfully applied as selective sorbents for the magnetic solid-phase extraction of seven amide herbicides (alachlor, acetochlor, pretilachlor, butachlor, metolachlor, diethatyl ethyl, and dimethachlor) coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry from fish samples. Under the optimized conditions, the limit of detection was 0.01–0.1 μg/kg. The obtained recoveries of the amide herbicides from the fish samples were in the range of 88.0 to 102.1% with a relative standard deviation of less than 7.5%. This method, which eliminated the effect of template leakage on qualitative and quantitative analysis was found to be superior to the methods reported in the literature. The results indicated that it could be successfully applied to analyze amide herbicides in fish samples with satisfactory recoveries.     

液相色谱测定土壤中4种硝基苯胺类化合物

建立了索氏提取-液相色谱-紫外检测器(SE-HPLC-UV vis)测定土壤中4种硝基苯胺同系物的方法。在以Hypersil BDS C18为色谱柱,55%甲醇为流动相,流速1 mL/min,检测波长230 nm时,4种物质可以在10 min内实现良好分离。对于索氏提取,本研究指出,采用二氯甲烷作为提取剂,能极大地消除HPLC-UV vis检测中的背景干扰。在单因素实验的基础上,得出最佳的提取条件如下:温度55℃,时间8h,提取剂用量60 mL。方法回收率>90%,RSD在1.9%～4.1%之间。     

WEFTA interlaboratory comparison on total lipid determination in fishery products using the Smedes method

Lipid determination by the Smedes method was tested in an interlaboratory trial performed by nine laboratories from seven countries belonging to the West European Fish Technologists Association Analytical Methods Working Group. Five samples of fish and fishery products with different lipid contents, including two blind duplicates, were distributed among the participants. All laboratories applied a slightly modified Smedes method, which included extraction of lipids by cyclohexane and isopropanol, transfer of lipids to the cyclohexane phase by addition of water, phase separation by centrifugation, and gravimetric lipid determination. The results indicate that the RSD for reproducibility (RSD(R)) was between 4.11 and 6.31% for samples with moderate (7%) and high (14%) lipid content, depending on the sample. Larger SDs among the laboratories were obtained for a cod sample with low lipid content of 0.5%. The method is judged to be suitable as a routine method for lipid determination in fish and fishery products.     

Enantiomeric and isomeric separation of herbicides using cyclodextrin-modified capillary zone electrophoresis

Cyclodextrin-modified capillary zone electrophoresis (CD-CZE) was applied successfully to the enantiomeric and isomeric separation of three herbicides (imazaquin, diclofop and imazamethabenz). Commercially available cyclodextrins were evaluated for separation of the enantiomers and isomers of the three herbicides having varied molecular structures. The enantiomers of imazaquin and diclofop, and the isomers of imazamethabenz could be resolved with a resolution of ≥1.5. The resolution was found to depend on pH of the run buffer, cyclodextrin type and cyclodextrin concentration. By employing mixed cyclodextrins in the running buffer, the three herbicides were simultaneously separated in a single run. In addition, rapid (less than 3 min) enantiomeric separation is demonstrated using imazaquin as a model herbicide. The reported capillary electrophoresis (CE) methods are simple, rapid, efficient and reproducible and our results demonstrate that CE provides a powerful analytical tool for enantiomeric and isomeric separation of herbicides.     

A rapid and selective separation of palladium

Palladium was separated from Al, Ru, Rh, U, Pu and also from a mixture of fission products using -benzoin-oxime as the extractant and Solvesso-100 as the diluent. The extraction is quantitative over a wide range of acidity from 0.1M to 4M HNO₃. The method has been found to be equally effective to separate Pd at trace level (carrier-free form). The stoichiometry of the complex, the interference of foreign elements in Pd separation, etc., are reported. The applicability of the method to separate palladium formed in fission rapidly from all other fission products, especially the most strongly interfering molybdenum isotopes, and the recovery of this element from high level radioactive waste are also mentioned.     

Sample preparation and gas chromatography of primary fatty acid amides

A method for the isolation of bio-active primary fatty acid amides (PFAM's) from total lipid extract by solid-phase extraction (SPE) was developed and validated. The lowest mass of amide to be loaded and recovered by this method was detected as 0.5 microg using 500 mg of normal phase adsorbent. The isolated PFAM's were separated and quantified by GC/MS and percent recoveries were calculated. An HP-5MS column was able to provide base line separation between the saturated and unsaturated PFAM's whereas clear resolution between geometric and positional isomers having the same number of carbons was obtained using a BPX70 column. The separated amides were all 18 carbon analogs of cis-9-octadecenoamide (oleamide). Detection limits in the single ion monitoring mode were found to be on the order of 10 pg in a 1 microl injection. Solid phase extraction of amides from total lipid extract before GC/MS analysis provides clean detection and interference free analysis.     

Ultrasound‐assisted extraction and solid‐phase extraction for the simultaneous determination of five amide herbicides in fish samples by gas chromatography with electron capture detection

An efficient sample extraction and clean‐up method was developed for simultaneous determination of five amide herbicides (alachlor, acetochlor, propisochlor, metazachlor, and butachlor) in fish samples. The protocol consisted of ultrasound‐assisted solvent extraction and solid‐phase extraction clean‐up. In detail, aliquots of homogenized fish flesh were thoroughly mixed with 20 mL of n‐hexane and then extracted with ultrasonication for 40 min. Each sample was centrifuged and the supernatant was collected for the subsequent clean‐up. For the sample preparation, the above supernatant was processed with a C₁₈ column with 3 mL of dichloromethane/n‐hexane (1:1, v/v) as the eluant. Then the samples were analyzed by gas chromatography with electron capture detection. The correlation coefficients of the five calibration curves were 0.9976–0.9998 (n = 3). The limits of detection (S/N = 3, n = 11) and limits of quantification (S/N = 10, n = 11) were 0.19–0.42 and 0.63–1.39 μg/kg, respectively. The recoveries of this method were 71.2–92.6% with good precision (<4.7% relative standard deviations, n = 6). The developed method was successfully applied to monitor the five amide herbicides in fish samples collected from different cities.     

Microwave-assisted water extraction of acid herbicides from soils coupled to continuous filtration, pre-concentration, chromatographic separation and UV detection

A microwave-assisted extraction procedure using water as extractant has been performed for the extraction of acid herbicides (namely, bentazone, 2,4-D, trichlopyr, 2,4,5-T and 2,4,5-Tp) from different types of soil. Two experimental designs were used for the optimization of the leaching step. The selection of water as extractant provided a clean approach by avoiding the use of organic solvents. The use of water also enhanced the extraction efficiency due to the high interaction of the microwave irradiation with polar solvents. The time required for total removal of the target compounds was 35 min. The recoveries yield were from 87.64 to 106.14% with a repeatability (expressed as relative standard deviation) ranging between 1.34 and 9.24%. A within-laboratory reproducibility, also expressed as relative standard deviation, varied from 3.97 to 10.41%. A flow-injection manifold allowed automation of the whole process by hyphenating the steps subsequent to extraction (namely, filtration, preconcentration, chromatographic separation and UV detection) for the determination of the analytes.     

超高效液相色谱-四极杆飞行时间质谱法快速筛查水产品中15种碱性合成色素

建立了超高效液相色谱-四极杆飞行时间质谱(UPLC-Q-TOF MS)快速检测水产品中15种碱性合成色素的方法。水产样品经乙腈(含10%(v/v)乙酸)提取,采用C₁₈复合硅胶基质分散管进行样品净化处理。目标物采用C₁₈色谱柱分离,以乙腈和0.1%(v/v)甲酸-5 mmol/L乙酸铵溶液为流动相,梯度洗脱,四极杆飞行时间串联质谱电喷雾正离子模式检测。结果表明:15种碱性色素的定量限(LOQs, S/N=10)为0.1~100 μg/kg,并在各自的线性范围内线性关系良好,相关系数(r)≥0.993。在3个加标水平下的平均回收率为80.60%~107.37%,测定结果的相对标准偏差为3.33%~6.69%(n=6)。该方法快速、简便、灵敏度高,适用于日常水产品中15种碱性合成色素的快速筛查。     

N,N-二正丙基丁酰胺对辐照磷酸三丁酯的保护效应

本文研究N,N-二正丙基丁酰胺(DPBA)对辐照磷酸三丁酯(TBP)的保护作用, 实验发现在~(60)Coγ辐照下, 它对TBP~*。具有双重能量转移效应, DPBA本身辐解, 属于“自我牺牲”机理。应用稳态原理得出辐解TBP的两种激发态分子的能量抑制方程。     

Novel chromatographic separation and carbon solid-phase extraction of acetanilide herbicide degradation products

One acetamide and 5 acetanilide herbicides are currently registered for use in the United States. Over the past several years, ethanesulfonic acid (ESA) and oxanilic acid (OA) degradation products of these acetanilide/acetamide herbicides have been found in U.S. ground waters and surface waters. Alachlor ESA and other acetanilide degradation products are listed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 1998 Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List. Consequently, EPA is interested in obtaining national occurrence data for these contaminants in drinking water. EPA currently does not have a method for determining these acetanilide degradation products in drinking water; therefore, a research method is being developed using liquid chromatography/negative ion electrospray/mass spectrometry with solid-phase extraction (SPE). A novel chromatographic separation of the acetochlor/alachlor ESA and OA structural isomers was developed which uses an ammonium acetate-methanol gradient combined with heating the analytical column to 70 degrees C. Twelve acetanilide degradates were extracted by SPE from 100 mL water samples using carbon cartridges with mean recoveries >90% and relative standard deviations < or =16%.     

Characterization of the potential new phthalides in Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. using ultra‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time of flight tandem mass spectrometry

The characterization of unknown compounds is still a great challenge currently. A strategy for deduction of potential new phthalides through the characterization of isomers based on ultra‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time of flight tandem mass spectrometry was proposed here to characterize the unknown compounds of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. (Chuanxiong). This proposed strategy consisted of four steps: (1) the high resolution MS data was collected, and the peaks were screened preliminarily by UNIFI^TM platform based on the in‐house database; (2) the fragmentation patterns and the characteristic fragments were summarized based on the representative standards; (3) the target compounds were identified based on the fragmentation rules, standards comparison and false positive exclusion; (4) the unknown components were structurally characterized according to the accurate mass and fragmentation patterns analysis. This strategy was successfully applied to the identification and deduction of phthalides in Chuanxiong. A total of 81 phthalides were detected. Fifty‐five known phthalides were identified, and 26 potential new phthalides were characterized. This research enriched the material basis of Chuanxiong, and provided a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry‐oriented method for the discovery of the potential new compounds.     

Coupling continuous subcritical water extraction,filtration, preconcentration,chromatographic separation and UV detection for the determination of chlorophenoxy acid herbicides in soils

Subcritical water extraction has been coupled with filtration, preconcentration and chromatographic analysis for the determination of acid herbicides in different types of soil. Two experimental designs were used for the optimization of the leaching step. The use of water as extractant in the continuous mode at a flow-rate of 1 ml/min and 85 degrees C was sufficient for quantitative extraction of the analytes. A static extraction time was unnecessary for reducing the extraction time to 1 h. A minicolumn containing C18-Hydra as sorbent proved an excellent material for the quantitative preconcentration of the herbicides prior to individual chromatographic separation. A flow-injection manifold was used as interface for coupling the four steps, thus allowing automation of the whole analytical process. Recoveries of the target analytes ranged between 94.2 and 113.1%, and repeatabilities, expressed as relative standard deviations, were between 0.61 and 6.83%.     

An integrated approach of homogenization-ultrasound-assisted extraction followed by high-speed countercurrent chromatography for rapidly preparative separation naphthoquinones and diarylheptanes from Juglands mandshurica Maxim. exocarp

This research investigated the effectiveness of an integrated method for the extraction and separation of naphthoquinones and diarylheptanes from exocarp of Juglands mandshurica Maxim. (namely, green walnut husks). The target compounds were obtained by ultra-turrax homogenization (UTH) coupled with ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) technology followed by high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC). The UTH-UAE extraction method achieved higher efficiency with 2.49- and 2.36-fold to those by UAE, and 1.39- and 1.34-fold to those by UTH in a short time. HSCCC was adopted for further separation and purification; six target compounds, namely, regiolone (RE), juglone (JU), myricatomento-genin (MG), galleon (GA), 2-oxatrycyclo[13.2.2.13,7]eicosa-3,5,7(20),15,17,18-hexaen-10-16-diol (OE), and juglanin A (JA), were separated with more than 95.37% purities and more than 84.71% final recovery rates, respectively. In this study, the integrated strategy of extraction and separation could get high purity compounds quickly, which would provide time and solvent saved method for the natural products separation from plants.     

Determination of triazine herbicides in sheep liver by microwave-assisted extraction and high performance liquid chromatography

A multi-residue method developed for the analysis of triazine herbicides, simazine, atrazine, propazine and prometryne, in sheep liver is presented. The method is based on microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of sheep liver using methanol as extractant and analysis of extracts by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultraviolet detection. MAE operational parameters, the solvent type and volume, extraction temperature and time, were optimized in detail with respect to extraction efficiency of the target compounds from sheep liver. The recoveries of the method at two different spiked levels were assessed by analyzing spiked liver samples and were found to be in the range from 90 to 102% with good precision (<11%).     

Identification of degradation products of aspartyl tripeptides by capillary electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry

Capillary electrophoresis-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (CE-MS/MS) has been used to identify degradation products of the aspartyl tripeptides Phe-Asp-GlyNH(2) and Gly-Asp-PheNH(2) following incubation of the peptides in acidic and alkaline solution. At pH 2, the dominant decomposition products resulted from cleavage of the peptide backbone amide bonds to yield the respective dipeptides and amino acids. In addition, the cyclic aspartyl succinimide intermediate was identified by its [M+H](+) at m/z = 319 and the MS/MS spectrum exhibiting a simple fragmentation pattern with the [C(8)H(10)N](+)-ion as the principal daughter ion (a(1) of Phe-Asp-GlyNH(2)). Deamidation of the C-terminal amide as well as isomerization and enantiomerization of the Asp residue occurred upon incubation at pH 10. alpha-Asp and the isomeric beta-Asp and most of the diastereomeric forms (corresponding to D/L-Asp) could be separated by CE. All isomers could be identified based on their MS/MS spectra. Peptides with the amino acid sequence Phe-Asp-Gly containing the regular alpha-Asp bond displayed a highly intense b(2) fragment ion and a low abundant y(2) ion. In contrast, the y(2) and a(1) fragment were high abundant daughter ions in the mass spectra of beta-Asp peptides while the b(2) ion exhibited a lower abundance. Differences in the MS/MS spectra of the isomers of the peptides with the sequence Gly-Asp-Phe were obvious but less pronounced. In conclusion, CE-MS/MS proved to be a useful tool to study the decomposition and enantiomerization of peptides including the isomerization of Asp residues, due to the combination of efficient separation of isomers by CE and their identification by MS/MS.     

Isotachophoretic determination of creatinine in meat and meat products

A capillary isotachophoretic method (CITP) to determine the creatinine concentration in meat and meat products is described. A clear separation of the creatinine from other components of an acidic extract of sample was achieved within 20 min. Method characteristics (linearity, accuracy, precision and detection limit) were determined. The developed method was successfully applied to analyze real samples and to determine creatinine and creatine content (indirect determination after acidic hot extraction) in meat and meat products.     

Solvent-bar microextraction of herbicides combined with non-aqueous field-amplified sample injection capillary electrophoresis

Solvent-bar microextraction (SBME) based on two-phase (water-to-organic) extraction was for the first time used as the sample pretreatment method for the non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) of herbicides of environmental concern. Due to the compatibility of the extractant organic solvent and the NACE separation system, the extract could be introduced directly to the CE system after SBME. Through investigations of the effect of sample pH, extraction time, agitation speed and salt addition on extraction efficiency, the most suitable extraction conditions were determined: sample solution at a pH of 1, without added salt, and stirring at 700 revolutions per minute for 30 min. SBME as applied here was also compared with single-drop microextraction and hollow fiber-protected liquid-phase microextraction. SBME showed the highest extraction efficiency. In addition, field-amplified sample injection with pre-introduced organic solvent plug removal using the electroosmotic flow as a pump (FAEP) was used to enhance the sensitivity further in NACE. Based on studies of the effect of different organic solvents, different lengths of the organic plugs and different volumes of sample injection on stacking efficiency under the most suitable separation conditions, methanol was found to be the most efficient solvent for on-line preconcentration. Combined with SBME, FAEP-NACE achieved limits of detection of between 0.08 ng/mL and 0.14 ng/mL for the studied analytes. This preconcentration approach for NACE was demonstrated to be amenable to aqueous environmental samples by applying it to spiked river water.     

High Efficient Extraction of Phthalates in Aquatic Products by a Modified QuEChERS Method

A simple, environmentally friendly and high efficient extraction method was proposed for the determination of five phthalates in aquatic products by gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry detector (GC-MS). When this method was adopted, samples were pretreated by modified QuEChERS(quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) method. An environmentally friendly extractant(ethanol aqueous solution) replaced toxic acetonitrile for extracting phthalates in the protein-matrix samples. Fluorescence quenching spectra of bovine serum albumin(BSA) with phthalates show that there was a high-affinity interaction between phthalate and protein, decreasing the extraction efficiency of phthalates from fish samples. However, in the 80%(volume fraction, φ) ethanol aqueous solution, a slow but full protein denaturation takes place, which would cause the unfolding of protein and the release of phthalates. Meanwhile, the fat-soluble impurities are extracted less in φ(ethanol) 80% aqueous solution than in either φ(ethanol) 100% or hydrophobic solvents in the liquid-liquid extraction procedure. Therefore the purification steps were greatly simplified. Overall recoveries were 81.77%―90.5% with limits of detection between 2.53 and 9.61 μg/L, and relative standard deviation values at 1.15%―4.85%. The proposed approach was satisfactorily applied to the determination of phthalates in real aquatic products, such as fish, shrimp and oyster.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic-nuclear magnetic resonance investigation of the isomerization of alachlor-ethanesulfonic acid

The metabolism of the acetanilide herbicide alachlor in soils leads to the formation of alachlor-ethanesulfonic acid (alachlor-ESA) as one of the major transformation products of this compound. The unique structure of alachlor and its metabolites allows the formation of two diastereomers (s-trans and s-cis) due to the hindered rotation of the amide bond connected to a rigid aromatic ring. Although these stereoisomers do interconvert by rotation about the amide bond, the rate of interconversion is slow allowing separation of the isomers on the chromatographic time scale. Once separated, the unique nuclear magnetic resonance signals of each isomer can be used to monitor the rate of isomerization. This paper reports the on-line separation and detection of the rotational diastereomers using high-performance liquid chromatography-nuclear magnetic resonance (HPLC-NMR) to efficiently measure the isomerization rate of alachlor-ESA.