Solid-phase/supercritical-fluid extraction for liquid chromatography of phenolic compounds in freshwater microalgae and selected cyanobacterial species

In the present paper a new extraction technique based on the combination of solid-phase/supercritical-fluid extraction (SPE/SFE) with subsequent reversed-phase HPLC is described. The SPE/SFE extractor was originally constructed from SPE-cartridge incorporated into the SFE extraction cell. Selected groups of benzoic acid derivatives (p-hydroxybenzoic, protocatechuic, gallic, vanillic and syringic acid), hydroxybenzaldehydes (4-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde) and cinnamic acid derivatives (o-coumaric, p-coumaric, caffeic, ferulic, sinapic and chlorogenic acid) were extracted. Cyclic addition of binary extraction solvent system based on methanol:water (1:1, v/v) and methanol/ammonia aqueous solution was used for extraction at 40 MPa and 80 °C. The p-hydroxybenzoic, protocatechuic, vanillic, syringic, caffeic and chlorogenic acid; 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde were identified by HPLC-electrospray mass spectrometry in SPE/SFE extracts of acid hydrolyzates of microalga (Spongiochloris spongiosa) and cyanobacterial strains (Spirulina platensis, Anabaena doliolum, Nostoc sp., and Cylindrospermum sp.). For the identification and quantification of the compounds the quasi-molecular ions [M−H]⁻ and specific fragments were analysed by quadrupole mass spectrometry analyzer. Our analysis showed that the microalgae and cyanobacteria usually contained phenolic acids or aldehydes at μg levels per gram of lyophilized sample. The proposed SPE/SFE extraction method would be useful for the analysis of different plant species containing trace amount of polar fraction of phenols.     

Chemically modified silica gel with p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde for selective solid-phase extraction and preconcentration of Cr(III), Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II) and Zn(II) by ICP-OES

Silica gel-bound amines phase modified with p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (p-DMABD) was prepared based on chemical immobilization technique. The product (SG-p-DMABD) was used as an adsorbent for the solid-phase extraction (SPE) Cr(III), Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II) and Zn(II) prior to their determination by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The uptake behaviors of SG-p-DMABD for extracting these metal ions were studied using batch and column procedures. For the batch method, the optimum pH range for Cr(III) and Ni(II) extraction was ≥ 3, for Cu(II), Pb(II) and Zn(II) extraction it was ≥ 4. For simultaneous enrichment and determination of all the metals on the newly designed adsorbent, the pH value if 4.0 was selected. All the metal ions can be desorbed with 2.0 mL of 0.5 mol L^− 1 of HCl. The results indicate that SG-p-DMABD has rapid adsorption kinetics using the batch method. The adsorption capacity for these metal ions is in the range of 0.40-1.15 mmol g^− 1, with a high enrichment factor of 125. The presence of commonly coexisting ions does not affect the sorption capacities. The detection limits of the method were found to be 1.10, 0.69, 0.99, 1.10 and 6.50 μg L^− 1 for Cr(III), Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II) and Zn(II), respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the method under optimum conditions was 5.0% (n = 8) for all metal ions. The method was applied to the preconcentration of Cr(III), Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II) and Zn(II) from the certified reference material (GBW 08301, river sediment) and water samples with satisfactory results.     

Determination of metabolites in Uncaria sinensis by HPLC and GC-MS after green solvent microwave-assisted extraction

Uncaria sinensis (Oliv.) Havil (Rubiaceae) has been used as an important Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herb for the treatment of fevers and various nervous disorders. The major bioactive secondary metabolites from different classes of chemical compounds, i.e. organic acid, flavonoid and alkaloid, present in this TCM herb, namely catechin, caffeic acid, epicatechin and rhynchophylline, were extracted by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) method with ultra-pure water as the extraction solvent. The optimal extraction conditions for this green solvent MAE method were found to be 100 °C for 20 min. The recoveries of the compounds were found to be comparable to that of heating under reflux using ultra-pure water for 60 min. The method precision (RSD, n = 6) was found to vary from 0.19% to 5.60% for the proposed method on different days for the secondary metabolites. Simultaneously, the key primary metabolites such as sucrose and phenylalanine for the biosynthesis of bioactive secondary metabolites were successfully characterized by GC-MS. Furthermore, an approach using the combination of primary and secondary metabolite profiling based on their chemical fingerprints with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was successfully developed to evaluate the quality of U. sinensis obtained from different sources. This approach was shown to be feasible in discriminating U. sinensis from different origins and thus a potential application for the quality control of other medicinal herbs.     

Microwave-assisted extraction of scutellarin from Erigeron breviscapus Hand-Mazz and its determination by high-performance liquid chromatography

An efficient microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique has been developed to extract scutellarin from Erigeron breviscapus for rapid determination by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The maximum yield of scutellarin reached 1.02% in 40 min under the optimal MAE conditions with 80 °C of extraction temperature and 1:10 (w/v) of the solid/liquid ratio. The MAE showed obvious advantages in terms of short duration and high efficiency to extract scutellarin in comparison with heat-flux extraction. The mechanism of the enhanced extraction by microwave assistance was discussed by detecting particle size and specific surface area of plant materials and observing cell destruction of plant material by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the plant materials were significantly destroyed due to the cell rupture after MAE treatment. Afterward, the method validation for HPLC-UV analysis was developed. Calibration range was 0.1-100 μg mL⁻¹ for scutellarin, and correlation coefficient R was 0.9993. Limit of detection was less than 0.01 μg mL⁻¹. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of scutellarin detection ranged from 1.58% to 2.96% and from 3.32% to 4.19%, respectively. The recovery of the method for scutellarin ranged from 96.7% to 101.9%.     

Development and validation of a high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of antioxidative phenolic compounds in fennel using a narrow bore reversed phase C18 column

A simple high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the separation and quantitative determination of the main antioxidant phenolic compounds from bitter fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, was developed. The use of a narrow bore reversed phase (RP) C₁₈ column and an acidic mobile phase enabled ten compounds (caffeoylquinic acids, dicaffeoylquinic acids, flavonoids and rosmarinic acid) to be separated within a 40 min time analysis. The method was validated to demonstrate its selectivity, linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness. In addition, some parameters were studied to optimize the complete extraction of the phenolic compounds. The method was applied to the evaluation of three different fennel materials: distilled and non-distilled aerial parts, as well as defatted fruits. Distilled fennel was found to contain a higher proportion of antioxidant phenolic compounds than the non-distilled plan material.     

Use of molybdate as novel complex-forming selector in the analysis of polyhydric phenols by capillary zone electrophoresis

Molybdate was examined as a complex-forming additive to the CE background electrolytes (BGE) to affect the selectivity of separation of polyhydric phenols such as flavonoids (apigenin, hyperoside, luteolin, quercetin and rutin) and hydroxyphenylcarboxylic acids (ferulic, caffeic, p-coumaric and chlorogenic acid). Effects of the buffer concentrations and pH and the influence of molybdate concentration on the migration times of the analytes were investigated. In contrast to borate (which is a buffering and complex-forming agent generally used in CE at pH ≥9) molybdate forms more stable complexes with aromatic o-dihydroxy compounds and hence the complex-formation effect is observed at considerably lower pH. Model mixtures of cinnamic acid, ferulic acid, caffeic acid and 3-hydroxycinnamic acid were separated with 25 mM morpholinoethanesulfonic acid of pH 5.4 (adjusted with Tris) containing 0.15 mM sodium molybdate as the BGE (25 kV, silica capillary effective length 45 cm × 0.1 mm I.D., UV-vis detection at 280 nm). With 25 mM 2-hydroxy-3-[4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazinyl]propanesulphonic acid/Tris of pH^* 7.4 containing 2 mM sodium molybdate in aqueous 25% (v/v) methanol as the BGE mixtures of all the above mentioned flavonoids, p-coumaric acid and chlorogenic acid could be separated (the same capillary as above, UV-vis detection at 263 nm). The calibration curves (analyte peak area versus concentration) were rectilinear (r > 0.998) for ≈8-35 μg/ml of an analyte (with 1-nitroso-2-naphthol as internal standard). The limit of quantification values ranged between 1.1 mg l⁻¹ for p-coumaric acid and 2.8 mg l⁻¹ for quercetin. The CE method was employed for the assay of flavonoids in medicinal plant extracts. The R.S.D. values ranged between 0.9 and 4.7% (n = 3) when determining luteolin (0.08%) and apigenin (0.92%) in dry Matricaria recutita flowers and rutin (1.03%) and hyperoside (0.82%) in dry Hypericum perforatum haulm. The recoveries were >96%.     

In-vial liquid–liquid microextraction-capillary electrophoresis method for the determination of phenolic acids in vegetable oils

An in-vial liquid–liquid microextraction method was developed for the selective extraction of the phenolic acids (caffeic, gallic, cinnamic, ferulic, chlorogenic, syringic, vanillic, benzoic, p-hydroxybenzoic, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic, o-coumaric, m-coumaric and p-coumaric) in vegetable oil samples. The optimised extraction conditions for 20 g sample were: volume of diluent (n-hexane), 2 mL; extractant, methanol: 5 mM sodium hydroxide (60:40; v/v); volume of extractant, 300 μL (twice); vortex, 1 min; centrifugation, 5 min. Recoveries for the studied phenolic acids were 80.1–119.5%. The simultaneous determination of the phenolic acid extracts was investigated by capillary electrophoresis (CE). Separations were carried out on a bare fused-silica capillary (50 μm i.d. × 40 cm length) involving 25 mM sodium tetraborate (pH 9.15) and 5% methanol as CE background electrolyte in the normal polarity mode, voltage of 30 kV, temperature of 25 °C, injection time of 4 s (50 mbar) and electropherograms were recorded at 200 nm. The phenolic acids were successfully separated in less than 10 min. The validated in-vial LLME-CE method was applied to the determination of phenolic acids in vegetable oil samples (extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, pure olive oil, walnut oil and grapeseed oil). The developed method shows significant advantages over the current methods as lengthy evaporation step is not required.     

Pressurized liquid extraction versus other extraction techniques in micropreparative isolation of pharmacologically active isoflavones from Trifolium L. species

As a new sample preparation technique, pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), in combination with reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) and photodiode-array (PDA) detection were used for the isolation and determination of phytoestrogenic isoflavones in hydrolyzed extracts obtained from aerial parts of five Trifolium L. (clover) species. To optimize the effectiveness of PLE procedure, variable extraction parameters: methanol and acetone (or their 75% aqueous solutions), as extraction solvents, temperatures (75, 100 and 125 °C) and the changeable number of static extraction cycles were tested. Additionally, two other micropreparative techniques: ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), and conventional solvent extraction (CSE), under optimized conditions, were also used and compared. Optimum extraction efficiency, expressed in the highest yield of biochanin A, formononetin, daidzein and genistein from plant material, with PLE, using methanol-water (75:25, v/v) as an extraction solvent, an oven temperature of 125 °C and three 5-min static extraction cycles, was obtained.     

Simultaneous distillation-extraction of high-value volatile compounds from Cistus ladanifer L

The present paper describes a procedure to isolate volatiles from rock-rose (Cistus ladanifer L.) using simultaneous distillation-extraction (SDE). High-value volatile compounds (HVVC) were selected and the influence of the extraction conditions investigated. The effect of the solvent nature and extraction time on SDE efficiency was studied. The best performance was achieved with pentane in 1 h operation. The extraction efficiencies ranged from 65% to 85% and the repeatability varied between 4% and 6% (as a CV%).The C. ladanifer SDE extracts were analysed by headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The HS-SPME sampling conditions such as fiber coating, temperature, ionic strength and exposure time were optimized. The best results were achieved with an 85 μm polyacrylate fiber for a 60 min headspace extraction at 40 °C with 20% (w/v) of NaCl. For optimized conditions the recovery was in average higher than 90% for all compounds and the intermediate precision ranged from 4 to 9% (as CV %). The volatiles α-pinene (22.2 mg g⁻¹ of extract), 2,2,6-trimethylcyclohexanone (6.1 mg g⁻¹ of extract), borneol (3.0 mg g⁻¹ of extract) and bornyl acetate (3.9 mg g⁻¹ of extract) were identified in the SDE extracts obtained from the fresh plant material.     

A practical method for sensitive determination of the fluorescent water-tracer uranine by reversed phase HPLC under alkaline conditions

A stable and highly sensitive HPLC method for uranine has been developed. Because of unstableness of silica-based octadecyl-C18 columns at high pH condition, a reversed phase HPLC analysis under alkaline conditions has not necessarily taken as a usual method. However, the application for uranine seems to be advantageous, since the fluorescence yield of uranine is markedly enhanced at high pH condition. The detection limit of the HPLC system was 0.9 pg. The analytical consideration was also paid for the solid phase extraction (SPE) prior to the HPLC analysis with careful consideration of the recently revised pK_a values of uranine. The recovery rate of uranine by SPE was found to depend on the sample volume and a few ml of seawater was applied to SPE in order to maintain the recovery rate during SPE. A combination of HPLC and SPE methods achieved detection of uranine at concentrations as low as 0.2 ng l⁻¹ (0.5 pM), which was comparable to the background concentration of uranine in coastal water off Japan. For the practical use of the detected tracer-uranine concentration values after substantial duration after release, the photodegradation of uranine in surface water was also evaluated in terms of incident solar radiation dose as an exponential rate constant of −0.135 mol photon⁻¹ m².     

Microwave-assisted extraction of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polychlorinated naphthalenes concentrated on semipermeable membrane devices

Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) has been evaluated as an alternative to dialysis for the extraction of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) sampled by semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs), using gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS-MS).For MAE optimization a two level full factorial design 2³, plus a centre point, which involves 11 randomized runs was used. The results showed that the temperature had a significant influence on the extraction of the nine PBDEs and four PCNs tested. Also, the solvent volume had a positive influence on the extraction of PBDEs and PCNs, but only in latter compounds, it achieves statistical significance. The time had only statistical significance for the most volatile specie studied, PCN-54. The selected MAE conditions (60 mL of hexane-acetone, 1:1 (v/v), 85 °C, 1 min, two cycles) lead to recoveries between 72 and 91% for PBDEs and between 96 and 103% for PCNs. The applicability of the MAE extraction was tested in field SPMDs deployed for 20 days in a sewage treatment plant.The MAE method developed is about 300 times faster than the conventional dialysis and remarkably reduces the solvent consumption.     

Square wave anodic stripping voltammetric determination of Pb2+ using acetylene black paste electrode based on the inducing adsorption ability of I-

In the study, we developed a simple, rapid and sensitive method for the determination of tiopronin (TP) in human plasma, which was based on derivatization with p-bromophenacyl bromide (p-BPB) followed by liquid-liquid extraction and reverse-phase HPLC-UV detection. For the first time, the p-BPB was introduced into the derivatization of TP. The thiol group of TP was trapped with p-BPB to form a TP-p-BPB adduct, which can be very suitable for UV detection. From acidified plasma samples, the derivatized TP was extracted with 5 mL dichloromethane. Effective chromatographic separation was achieved using a C18 column (DIAMONSIL 150 mm × 4 mm i.d., 5 μm) based on an acetonitrile-water-trifluoroacetic acid (40:59.88:0.12, v/v/v) elution at a flow-rate of 1 mL/min. The IS and the derivatized TP were detected at 263 nm. No endogenous substances were found to interfere. The limit of quantification for derivatized TP (TP-p-BPB) in plasma was 40 ng/mL. The calibration curve for the derivatized TP showed linearity in the range 0.04-4 μg/mL with a regression coefficient corresponding to 0.9991 and the coefficient of the variation of the points of the calibration curve being lower than 10%. Extraction recoveries of the derivatized TP in plasma were greater than 72%. The method was suitably validated and successfully applied to determination of TP in human plasma samples.     

Determination of senkirkine and senecionine in Tussilago farfara using microwave-assisted extraction and pressurized hot water extraction with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Tussilago farfara (Kuan Donghua) is an important Chinese herbal medicine which has been shown to contain many bioactive compounds and widely used to relieve cough and resolve phlegm. However, besides therapeutic bioactive compounds, this herb has been found to contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), mainly senkirkine and traces of senecionine. In this report, conditions for microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) were optimized for the extraction of the PAs. The results were compared against heating under reflux. It was found that the binary mixture of MeOH:H₂O (1:1) acidified using HCl to pH 2-3 was the optimal solvent for the extraction of the PAs in the plant materials. Liquid chromatography (LC) with ultra-violet (UV) detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) in the positive mode was used for the determination and quantitation of senkirkine and senecionine in the botanical extract. The proposed extraction methods with LC/MS allow for the rapid detection of the major and the minor alkaloids in T. farfara in the presence of co-eluting peaks. With LC/MS, the quantitative analysis of PAs in the extract was done using internal standard calibration and the precision was found to vary from 0.6% to 5.4% on different days. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) for MAE and PHWE were found to vary from 0.26 μg/g to 1.04 μg/g and 1.32 μg/g to 5.29 μg/g, respectively. The method precision of MAE and PHWE were found to vary from 3.7% to 10.4% on different days. The results showed that major and minor alkaloids extracted using MAE and PHWE were comparable to that by heating under reflux. Our data also showed that significant ion suppression was not observed in the analysis of senkirkine and senecionine in the botanical extracts with co-eluting peaks.     

New CE-ESI-MS analytical method for the separation, identification and quantification of seven phenolic acids including three isomer compounds in virgin olive oil

A sensitive and expeditious CE-ESI-MS analytical method for the separation, identification and determination of seven selected antioxidants (cinnamic and benzoic acids), including three isomers of coumaric acid (ortho-, meta- and para-) has been developed. In order to obtain the analytical separation, capillary electrophoresis and CE-MS interface parameters (e.g., buffer pH and composition, sheath liquid and gas flow rates, sheath liquid composition, electrospray voltage, etc.) were carefully optimized.The polar fraction containing the selected phenolic acids was obtained using a previously optimized SPE pretreatment. An MS detector in order to extract structural information about the target compounds and facilitate their qualitative analysis was used in the negative ion mode. The proposed off-line SPE CE-ESI-MS method was validated by assessing its precision, LODs and LOQs, linearity range and accuracy.The optimized and validated method was used in order to quantify the selected antioxidants in various samples of virgin olive oil and extra-virgin olive oil obtained from the main olive varieties cropped in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Salicylic acid was used as internal standard throughout in order to ensure reproducibility in the quantitative analysis of the oil samples.The results confirmed the presence of hydroxyphenyl acetic, p-coumaric, ferulic and vanillic acids in substantial amounts (μg g⁻¹ level) in all samples.     

Quantitative determination of chlorogenic acid in Honeysuckle using microwave-assisted extraction followed by nano-LC-ESI mass spectrometry

The chlorogenic acid (CA) in Honeysuckle is determined and identified by nano-liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (nano-LC-ESI/MS) after extraction with microwave-assisted extraction (MAE). As a new sample preparation method for Honeysuckle, the MAE procedure is optimized, validated and compared with conventional methods including reflux extraction (RE) and ultrasonic extraction (USE). It is found that MAE gives the best result due to the highest extraction efficiency within shortest extraction time (only 4 min). Here, CA is determined by nano-LC-ESI/MS based on the calibration curve of its authentic standard. The method linearity, detection limit, precision and recovery are studied. The results show that the combined MAE and nano-LC-ESI/MS method has a linearity (R² 0.991, 0.8-20 ng mL⁻¹), a low limit of detection (0.5 ng mL⁻¹), good precision (R.S.D. = 2.54%) and a recovery (84.8%). The experiment has demonstrated that the nano-LC-ESI/MS following MAE is a fast and reliable method for quantitative analysis of CA in Honeysuckle.     

Micelle-mediated extraction of tanshinones from Salvia miltiorrhiza bunge with analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography

The feasibility of employing non-ionic surfactant oligoethylene glycol monoalkyl ether (Genapol X-080) as an alternative and effective solvent for the extraction of tanshinones from Salvia miltiorrhiza bunge was studied for the first time. Various experimental conditions were investigated to optimize the extraction. Under optimum conditions, i.e. 10% Genapol X-080 (w/v), liquid/solid ratio of 20:1 (ml g⁻¹), ultrasonic-assisted extraction for 45 min, the extraction recovery of the tanshinones reached the highest value. When compared with commonly used solvents, 10% Genapol X-080 yielded almost the same extraction efficiency as methanol and dichloromethane-methanol (1:4). For the pre-concentration of tanshinones by cloud-point extraction (CPE), sodium chloride was added to the solution to facilitate the phase separation and increase the pre-concentration factor by reducing the volume of the surfactant-rich phase.     

Combination of off-line solid-phase extraction and on-column sample stacking for sensitive determination of parabens and p-hydroxybenzoic acid in waters by non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis

For the first time, a procedure based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) for the simultaneous extraction of a group of parabens (methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl and benzyl p-hydroxybenzoates) and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA), from environmental water samples has been developed. Analysis of the extracts was performed by non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) coupled with diode array detection (DAD), using large-volume sample stacking (LVSS) based on the electroosmotic flow pump as on-column preconcentration technique. Several water samples, such as tap, river, and wastewater samples, were analyzed using both SPE-NACE-DAD and SPE-LVSS-NACE-DAD methods. It has been observed that in addition to SPE parameters such as sorbent material, sample pH, breakthrough volume, addition of an organic solvent and elution solvent, also sample characteristics, such as organic matter content, have influence on SPE extraction yields, especially in the case of PHBA. The presence of PHBA and some parabens was detected at trace levels in surface water samples. Concentrations up to 8.4 ng mL⁻¹ were found in raw wastewater, with the highest levels corresponding to methylparaben, propylparaben, and their main degradation product, PHBA.     

Rapid analysis of pseudolaric acids in Cortex Pseudolaricis and related medicinal products by high performance liquid chromatography

A simple, rapid, reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the quantitative analysis of pseudolaric acids in Cortex Pseudolaricis and its related medicinal products. With a C₁₈ analytical column (4.6 mm × 150 mm i.d.), five pseudolaric acids, namely pseudolaric acids A-C, pseudolaric acid A-O-β-d-glucopyranoside and pseudolaric acid B-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, were well separated within 7 min. Acetonitrile and 0.10% acetic acid were used as the mobile phase in a gradient program. The UV detection wavelength was set at 260 nm. The detection limits and quantification limits ranged in 8.26-16.66 ng/ml and 27.54-55.53 ng/ml, respectively. The intra- and inter-day variations were less than 1% for all five compounds. The recovery of all spiked pseudolaric acids ranged from 99.1% to 101.9%. Compared to existing analytical methods, this new method not only used two more important chemical markers but also provided a fivefold reduction in analysis time. In addition, the extraction method of herb sample was also modified by an orthogonal array experiment on three variable parameters: extraction time, solvent volume, and extraction cycles. The optimized extraction method was much simpler and could be efficiently used to analyse large set of herbal materials and related medicinal products. Nineteen herb samples collected from different regions of China and five related products were examined with this new analytical method. The results showed that this method is effective in distinguishing adulterants and unqualified products.     

Simple hollow fiber renewal liquid membrane extraction method for pre-concentration of Cd(II) in environmental samples and detection by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A hollow fiber renewal liquid membrane (HFRLM) extraction method to determine cadmium (II) in water samples using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS) was developed. Ammonium O,O-diethyl dithiophosphate (DDTP) was used to complex cadmium (II) in an acid medium to obtain a neutral hydrophobic complex (ML₂). The organic solvent introduced to the sample extracts this complex from the aqueous solution and carries it over the poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) membrane, that had their walls previously filled with the same organic solvent. The organic solvent is solubilized inside the PDMS membrane, leading to a homogeneous phase. The complex strips the lumen of the membrane where, at higher pH, the complex Cd-DDTP is broken down and cadmium (II) is released into the stripping phase. EDTA was used to complex the cadmium (II), helping to trap the analyte in the stripping phase. A multivariate procedure was used to optimize the studied variables. The optimized variables were: sample (donor phase) pH 3.25, DDTP concentration 0.05% (m/v), stripping (acceptor phase) pH 8.75, EDTA concentration 1.5 × 10⁻² mol L⁻¹, extraction temperature 40 °C, extraction time 40 min, a solvent mixture N-butyl acetate and hexane (60/40%, v/v) with a volume of 100 μL, and addition of ammonium sulfate to saturate the sample. The sample volume used was 20 mL and the stripping volume was 165 μL. The analyte enrichment factor was 120, limit of detection (LOD) 1.3 μg L⁻¹, relative standard deviation (RSD) 5.5% and the working linear range 2-30 μg L⁻¹.     

A rapid method for simultaneous determination of 14 phenolic compounds in Radix Puerariae using microwave-assisted extraction and ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-DAD-TOF-MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of 14 phenolic compounds in the root of Pueraria lobata (Wild.) Ohwi and Pueraria thomsonii Benth. Operational conditions of MAE were optimized by central composite design (CCD). The optimized result was 65% ethanol as extraction solvent, 17 mL of extraction volume, 100 °C of extraction temperature and 2 min of hold time. A Zorbax SB C₁₈ (50 mm × 4.6 mm I.D., 1.8 μm) and gradient elution were used during the analysis. The chromatographic peaks of 14 investigated compounds in samples were successfully identified by comparing their retention time, UV spectra and TOF mass data with the reference substances. All calibration curves showed good linearity (r > 0.9997) within the test ranges. The intra-day and inter-day variations were less than 1.77% and 2.88%, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to determine the investigated compounds in 10 samples of Radix Puerariae Lobatae and Radix Puerariae Thomsonii, respectively. The result indicated that MAE and UHPLC-DAD-TOF-MS system might provide a rapid method for the quality control of Radix Puerariae.