Ionic liquid-based liquid-phase microextraction, a new sample enrichment procedure for liquid chromatography

Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) were used as extraction solvent in liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) coupled with liquid chromatography. Using 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([C6MIM][PF6]) as extraction solvent, some parameters related to LPME of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) and 4-tert-octylphenol (4-t-OP) were optimized. Although [C6MIM][PF6] can suspend a much larger volume of drop on the needle of the microsyringe than the conventional solvents such as 1-octanol and carbon tetrachloride, the method sensitivity was analyte dependent because of the different partition coefficients and the relatively large viscosity of [C6MIM][PF6]. The proposed procedure has a detection limit and enrichment factor of 0.3 microg l(-1) and 163 for 4-NP, and 0.7 microg l(-1) and 130 for 4-t-OP, respectively. Aqueous samples including tap water, river water, and effluent from sewage treatment plant were analyzed by the proposed method and the recoveries at 10 microg l(-1) spiked level were in the range of 90-113%.     

Simultaneous HPLC determination of phenylurea herbicides and their corresponding anilines in water after on-line preconcentration

On-line preconcentration on a short C₁₈ column, prior to HPLC with UV and electrochemical detection, has been used for determination of some phenylurea herbicides and their possible degradation products, substituted anilines, in water samples. With electrochemical detection the detection limit at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 was 5 ppt for 4-chloroaniline and 4-bromoaniline and 7 ppt for 3,4-dichloroaniline; with UV detection the detection limit was ca 300 ppt for all analytes.     

Combination of ultrasound-assisted ionic liquid dispersive liquid-phase microextraction and high performance liquid chromatography for the sensitive determination of benzoylureas pesticides in environmental water samples

This paper describes a new method for rapid and sensitive determination of diflubenzuron, flufenoxuron, triflumuron and chlorfluazuron in water samples by ultrasound-assisted ionic liquid dispersive liquid-phase microextraction in combination with HPLC. Ionic liquid 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([C(6)MIM][PF(6)]) was used as the extraction solvent for the enrichment of four benzoylurea (BU) pesticides. Factors such as volume of [C(6)MIM][PF(6)], sonication time, sample pH, extraction time, centrifuging time and salting-out effect were systematically investigated. Under the optimum conditions, an excellent linear relationship was achieved in the range of 1.0-100?μg/L. The detection limits varied from 0.21 to 0.45?μg/L and the precision of the method was below 6.9% (RSD, n=6). The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of these BU pesticides in water samples and excellent spiked recoveries were achieved. All these results demonstrated that this procedure provided a new simple, rapid, easy to operate, efficient and sensitive method for the analysis of BU pesticides in aqueous samples.     

Preparation of polyaniline coating on a stainless-steel wire using electroplating and its application to the determination of six aromatic amines using headspace solid-phase microextraction

A novel polyaniline (PANI) coating was prepared on a stainless-steel wire for solid-phase microextraction by electroplating method. For better mechanical strength, the stainless-steel wire was used instead of the fused silica fiber. The electroplating method had advantages of ease of preparation and simple equipments. The PANI fiber was evaluated by analyzing six aromatic amines (aniline, N,N-dimethylaniline, m-methylaniline, 2,4-dimethylaniline, 2-chloroaniline, 3,4-dichloroaniline) in water. After the analytical procedure was optimized, the linearity was from 4.8 to 2.75 x 10(4) microg L(-1) and the detection limits was from 0.019 to 1.06 microg L(-1). Relative standard deviations were found to be 2.02-6.00%. Good recoveries were obtained when wastewater samples were analyzed.     

Determination of phenolic compounds in wastewater by liquid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography

Liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) coupled with gas chromatography-flame ionization detection is applied to the analysis of phenolic compounds (phenol, o-cresol, m-cresol, 2,4-dimethylphenol, 2,3- dimethylphenol, and 3,4-dimethylphenol) in water samples. Experimental parameters affecting the extraction efficiency (including extraction solvent and drop volume, stirring rate, extraction time, temperature, salt concentration, and pH) are investigated and optimized. The developed protocol yields a good linear calibration curve from 5 or 20 to 10000 microg/L for the target analytes. The limits of detection are in the range of 0.94 to 1.97 microg/L, and the relative standard deviation is below 9.37%. The established method is applied to determine the phenolic pollutants in real wastewater samples from a coking plant. The recoveries of the phenolic compounds studied are from 92% to 102%, suggesting the feasibility of the LPME method for the determination of the phenolic compounds in wastewater.     

Extraction and Determination of Two Antidepressant Drugs in Human Plasma by Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction‒HPLC

In this study, an effective method of ultrasound-assisted ionic liquid based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (UA?IL?DLLME) coupled with HPLC was applied for extraction and determination of two antidepressant drugs: venlafaxine hydrochloride and amitriptyline hydrochloride from human plasma samples. Three ionic liquids were studied: 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium hexafluorophosphate, 1-hexyl-3- methyl imidazolium hexa-fluoro-phosphate, and 1-octyl-3-methyl imidazolium hexafluorophosphate [C8MIM][PF6]. Various factors affect the stages and efficiency of extraction, some of which are pH of sample solution, type and volume of ionic liquid, the time of ultrasonication, centrifuging time and rate, and the ionic strength of solution. In this research, optimum conditions were obtained as 55 μL of [C8MIM][PF6] selected as ionic liquid, pH 11, 2% NaCl, 4 min ultrasonication and 5 min centrifuging at 3500 rpm. Under the optimized conditions, the linearity was obtained in the range of 0.2 to 250 μg/L. The limits of detection were 0.5 μg/L for venlafaxine and 0.8 μg/L for amitriptyline. Pre-concentration factors were 1.3 × 10³ for venlafaxine and 1.2 × 10³ for amitriptyline. The UA?IL?DLLME method coupled with HPLC was successfully used for the determination of venlafaxine and amitriptyline spiked into the real samples of human plasma.     

Direct determination of chlorophenols in environmental water samples by hollow fiber supported ionic liquid membrane extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography

The 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([C8MIM][PF6]) ionic liquid was immobilized in the pores of a polypropylene hollow fiber for hollow fiber-protected liquid-phase microextraction. Analytes including 4-chlorophenol (4-CP), 3-chorophenol (3-CP), 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) were extracted into this ionic liquid membrane, and back extracted into 10microL sodium hydroxide acceptor solution in the lumen of the hollow fiber. Then, the acceptor solution was withdrawn into the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) microsyringe connected to the hollow fiber, and directly injected into the HPLC system for analysis. Some parameters that might affect the extraction efficiency were optimized, and low detection limits (0.5microgL(-1) for 4-CP, 3-CP, DCP and 1.0microgL(-1) for TCP) were obtained. Good repeatability was achieved because of the stability of the hollow fiber-supported ionic liquid membrane. The proposed procedure was applied for direct determination of the four chlorophenols in some real water samples including groundwater, river water, wastewater and tap water. All of the four chlorophenols in these water samples were under the limits of determination, and the recoveries were in the range of 70.0-95.7% at 5microgL(-1) spiked level.     

Determination of Trace Chloroanilines in Environmental Water Samples Using Hollow Fiber-Based Liquid Phase Microextraction

A liquid phase microextraction method using hollow fiber to support extraction solvent was developed for enrichment of trace level chloroanilines in environmental water samples. Target analytes, 2-chloroaniline, 3-chloroaniline, 2,3-dichloroaniline, 2,4-dichloroaniline, 3,4-dichloroaniline, and 3,5-dichloroaniline were determined using gas chromatography-flame ionization detector after extraction. Experimental conditions that affect extraction efficiency were investigated and optimized. The proposed method showed a wide linear range from lower ??g L^?1 to 1,000 ??g L^?1, low detection limits (??5.1 ??g L^?1), and reasonable relative standard deviations (RSDs < 13%). Feasibility of the method was evaluated by analyzing river water samples collected from the Hudson River and the East River in New York City.     

水样中氟罗沙星和磺胺喹噁啉的离子液体均匀提取

提出一种新的离子液体均匀提取方法,即向水样中加入可溶于水的离子液体1-己基-3-甲基咪唑四氟硼酸盐([C6MimBF4]),再加入过量六氟磷酸铵(NH4PF6),形成不溶于水的离子液体1-己基-3-甲基咪唑六氟磷酸盐([C6MimPF6]),水样中的氟罗沙星和磺胺喹噁啉被提取到[C6MimPF6]相,离心分离后,离子液体可直接用于HPLC分析.本法测得的氟罗沙星和磺胺喹噁啉的检出限分别为1.8和1.1μg/L.     

Ionic liquid sensitized fluorescence determination of four isoquinoline alkaloids

The fluorescence spectra of berberine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, and coptisine in ionic liquids were studied and found to increase significantly in ionic liquids, with [C(8)MIM][PF(6)] having the greatest increase. Further studies showed that these drugs could be extracted from an aqueous solution by [C(8)MIM][PF(6)] using the temperature-assisted ionic liquid dispersive liquid phase microextraction method. The enrichment factors were 81.8-82.3, and the extraction recovery was 98.5%, 98.1%, 98.3%, and 98.8% for berberine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, and coptisine, respectively. Based on the [C(8)MIM][PF(6)] preconcentration, separation, and sensitized fluorescence for these drugs, a new selective and sensitive method for the determination of concentration of these four drugs in aqueous samples was presented. At optimum conditions, the linear relationship was obtained in the ranges of 0.8-130 ng mL(-1), 0.9-160 ng mL(-1), 0.7-140 ng mL(-1), and 0.6-110 ng mL(-1), respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of the drugs in pharmaceutical preparations, urine, and plasma samples.     

Screening the extractability of some typical environmental pollutants by ionic liquids in liquid-phase microextraction

The extractability of some typical environmental pollutants in ionic liquids (ILs) was screened by using a simple one-step liquid phase microextraction procedure. It was demonstrated that 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([CnMIM][PF6], n = 4, 8), two typical ILs, could effectively extract a set of 45 typical environmental pollutants including BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phthalates, phenols, aromatic amines, herbicides, organotin, and organomecury. Analytes in 10 mL sample solution held in a 15 mL vial were extracted by a 5 microL drop of ILs suspended on the needle of a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) microsyringe; this was followed by HPLC, atomic absorption spectrometry, or cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry determination. The enrichment factors determined were in the range of 5-168 for 15 min extraction by [C4MIM][PF6] and 4-178 for 30 min extraction by [C8MIM][PF6], respectively, which indicates that ILs might be considered as potential environmentally benign alternative recyclable solvents for the enrichment of environmental pollutants.     

A sweeping-micellar electrokinetic chromatography method for direct detection of some aromatic amines in water samples

A simple and rapid sweeping method for the online improvement of detection limit of some aromatic amines has been developed in this work. The optimum sweeping and separation conditions for 4-methylaniline, 3,4-dichloroaniline, 4-chloroaniline, and 4-aminophenyl were investigated in detail. Under the optimum conditions, the detection limits of these four aromatic amines ranged from 5.4 x 10(-10) to 4.6 x 10(-8)mol/L (S/N = 3), which was about 80-1090-folds lower than those of conventional sample injections. Linear response range were in the range of 2.5 x 10(-8)-2.0 x 10(-6)mol/L with the correlation coefficient between 0.9965 and 0.9994. Baseline separation was achieved within 10 min. After validation, the developed method was applied to determine 4-methylaniline, 3,4-dichloroaniline, 4-chloroaniline, and 4-aminophenyl in river water sample with average recoveries of 79.6-88.7%.     

Trace determination of organophosphorus pesticides in environmental samples by temperature-controlled ionic liquid dispersive liquid-phase microextraction

This paper described a new approach for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides by temperature-controlled ionic liquid dispersive liquid-phase microextraction prior to high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. Methylparathion and phoxim, two of the typical organophosphorus pesticides, were used as the model analytes for the investigation of the development and application of the new microextraction method. 1-Hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [C6MIM][PF6] was used as the extraction solvent and the factors affecting the extraction efficiency such as the volume of [C6MIM][PF6], pH of working solutions, extraction time, centrifuging time, dissoluble temperature and salt effect were optimized. Under the optimal extraction conditions, methylparathion and phoxim exhibited good linear relationship in the concentration range of 1-100 ng mL(-1). The detection limits were 0.17 ng mL(-1) and 0.29 ng mL(-1), respectively. Precisions of proposed method (RSDs, n=6) were 2.5% and 2.7%, respectively. This proposed method was successfully applied in the analysis of four real environmental water samples and good spiked recoveries over the range of 88.2-103.6% were obtained. These results indicated that temperature-controlled ionic liquid dispersive liquid-phase microextraction had excellent application prospect in environmental field.     

黄连黄柏提取液中3种生物碱的原位生成离子液体微萃取及HPLC测定

通过加入水溶性离子液体[C6MIM][Br]和离子对试剂NaPF6在黄连和黄柏的提取液中,原位生成非水溶性离子液体[C6MIM][PF6]萃取其生物碱,离心分相后,用HPLC测离子液体相中的生物碱小檗碱、巴马汀和黄连碱,其线性相关系数分别为0.9998、0.9996和0.9997,线性范围为1~2000 μg/L,检出限皆为0.5 μg/L,加标回收率96.52%~104.34%。 这种方法可用于黄连和黄柏中的小檗碱、巴马汀和黄连碱的检测。     

Protein structure and dynamics in ionic liquids. Insights from molecular dynamics simulation studies

We present in this work the first molecular simulation study of an enzyme, the serine protease cutinase from Fusarium solani pisi, in two ionic liquids (ILs): 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([BMIM][PF6]) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate ([BMIM][NO(3)]). We tested different water contents in these ILs at room temperature (298 K) and high temperature (343 K), and we observe that the enzyme structure is highly dependent on the amount of water present in the IL media. We show that the enzyme is preferentially stabilized in [BMIM][PF6] at 5-10% (w/w) (weight of water over protein) water content at room temperature. [BMIM][PF6] renders a more nativelike enzyme structure at the same water content of 5-10% (w/w) as previously found for hexane, and the system displays a similar bell-shape-like dependence with the water content in the IL media. [BMIM][PF6] is shown to increase significantly the protein thermostability at high temperatures, especially at low hydration. Our analysis indicates that the enzyme is less stabilized in [BMIM][NO(3)] relative to [BMIM][PF6] at both temperatures, most likely due to the strong affinity of the [NO(3)]- anion toward the protein main chain. These findings are in accordance with the experimental knowledge for these two ionic liquids. We also show that these ILs "strip off" most of the water from the enzyme surface in a degree similar to that found for polar organic solvents such as acetonitrile, and that the remaining waters at the enzyme surface are organized in many small clusters.     

Determination of phenols in environmental water samples by ionic liquid-based headspace liquid-phase microextraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography

Headspace liquid-phase microextraction (HS-LPME) has been applied to efficient enrichment of phenols such as 2-nitrophenol, 4-chlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, and 2-naphthol from water samples based on 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([C4MIM][PF6]) as an extractant. Some parameters that may influence HS-LPME were investigated. The linear range was in the range of 0.5-100 microg/L, and the enrichment factors and repeatability (RSD, n = 6) of the proposed method were in the range of 17.2-160.7 and 5.4-8.9%, respectively. The detection limit for each analyte ranged from 0.3 to 0.5 microg/L. Complex matrices of environmental water samples had a small effect on the enrichment, and this problem could be resolved by the addition of sodium ethylene diamine tetraacetate (EDTA) into the samples. The spiked recoveries were in the range of 89.4-114.2%. All these facts demonstrated that the proposed method, with merits of low cost, simplicity, and easy operation, would be a competitive alternative procedure for the determination of such compounds at trace level.     

Application of static and dynamic liquid-phase microextraction in the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Two modes of liquid-phase microextraction (LPME), static and semi-automated dynamic, have been developed for the HPLC analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In static LPME, a small drop (3 microl) of organic solvent was held at the tip of a microsyringe needle and exposed to the sample containing the analytes, permitting extraction to occur. In semi-automated dynamic LPME, a syringe pump was used to automate the repetitive procedure of filling a microsyringe barrel that functioned as a microseparatory funnel, with fresh aliquots of sample, and expelling them after extraction. The factors influential to both techniques such as the type of organic solvent, extraction time, sampling volume, number of samplings, salt concentration and temperature were investigated. Static LPME provided high enrichment (60- to 180-fold) and simplicity. The analytical data exhibited a relative standard deviation range of 4.7-9.0%. Dynamic LPME provided higher (>280-fold) enrichment within nearly the same extraction time (approximately 20 min) and better precision (< or = 6.0%). Both methods allow the detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at microg/l levels in water by HPLC. Water samples collected from two rivers were analyzed using the methods, respectively. The results demonstrated that both modes of LPME were fast, simple and accurate.     

Ultrasound assisted ionic liquid dispersive liquid phase extraction of lovastatin and simvastatin: A new pretreatment procedure

A fast and novel sample preparation procedure: ultrasound assisted ionic liquid (IL) dispersive liquid extraction for the concentration of lovastatin and simvastatin in aqueous samples was developed. An IL ([C₆MIM][PF₆]) was used as the extraction solvent, and the factors affecting the extraction efficiency such as initial temperature, the volume of IL, pH of water samples, cooling time, and salt concentration were optimized. In combination with HPLC‐UV, both lovastatin and simvastatin exhibited a good linear range of 1–100 ng/mL. The limits of detection (LODs) of lovastatin and simvastatin were 0.17 and 0.29 ng/mL, respectively. Precisions of the proposed method (RSDs, n = 9) were 4.12 and 4.52%, respectively. This method has been successfully applied for the analysis of target compounds in three real water samples and good spiking recoveries were obtained in the range of 90.0–102.2% for lovastatin and 80.5–112.0% for simvastatin. These results indicated that ultrasound assisted IL dispersive liquid phase extraction would have good application prospect in the pretreatment of environmental samples.     

Ion association in [bmim][PF6]/naphthalene mixtures: an experimental and computational study

Mixtures of room temperature ionic liquids (IL) with neutral organic molecules provide a valuable testing ground to investigate the interplay of the ionic and molecular-dipolar state in dense Coulomb systems at near ambient conditions. In the present study, the viscosity eta and the ionic conductivity sigma of 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF6])/naphthalene mixtures at T = 80 degrees C have been measured at 10 stoichiometries spanning the composition range from pure naphthalene to pure [bmim][PF6]. The viscosity grows nearly monotonically with increasing IL mole fraction ( x), whereas the conductivity per ion displays a clear peak at x approximately 15%. The origin of this maximum has been investigated using molecular dynamics simulations based on a classical force field. Snapshots of the simulated samples show that the conductivity maximum is due to the gradual transition in the IL component from an ionic state at high x to a dipolar fluid made of neutral ion pairs at low x. At concentrations x < 0.20 the ion pairs condense into molecular-thin filaments bound by dipolar forces and extending in between nanometric droplets of IL. These results are confirmed and complemented by the computation of dynamic and transport properties in [bmim][PF6]/naphthalene mixtures at low IL concentration.     

Determination of triclosan and triclocarban in environmental water samples with ionic liquid/ionic liquid dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction prior to HPLC-ESI-MS/MS

A hydrophobic ionic liquid was finely dispersed in aqueous solution along with a hydrophilic ionic liquid. Following centrifugation, the two phases aggregate to form relatively large droplets. Based on this phenomenon, a method termed ionic liquid/ionic liquid dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction was developed. It was applied to the enrichment of triclosan (TCS) and triclocarban (TCC) from water samples prior to HPLC with electrospray tandem MS detection. The type and volume of the hydrophobic ionic liquid (the extraction solvent) and the hydrophilic ionic liquid (the disperser solvent), salt content, and extraction time were optimized. Under optimum conditions, the method gives a linear response in the concentration ranges from 0.5 to 100???g L^?1 for TCC and from 2.5 to 500???g L^?1 for TCS, respectively. The limits of detection are 0.23 and 0.35???g L^?1, and the repeatability is 5.4 and 6.4% for TCC and TCS, respectively. The method was validated with four environmental water samples, and average recoveries of spiked samples were in the range from 88% to 111%. The results indicate that the method is a promising new approach for the rapid enrichment and determination of organic pollutants.