Application of multiwalled carbon nanotubes for solid-phase extraction of organophosphate pesticide

Multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) was developed as a new sorbent for solid-phase extraction (SPE) of organophosphate (OP) pesticides. A combination of SPE with square-wave voltammetric (SWV) analysis resulted in a fast, sensitive, and selective electrochemical method for determination of OP pesticide using methyl parathion (MP) as a representative. Because of the strong affinity of MWCNT for phosphoric group, nitroaromatic OP compounds can strongly bind to the MWCNT surface. The macroporosity and heterogeneity of MWCNT allow extracting a large amount of MP less than 5 min. The stripping response was highly linear over the MP range of 0.05–2.0 μg/mL, with a detection limit of 0.005 μg/mL. The determination of MP in garlic samples showed acceptable accuracy. The fast extraction ability of MWCNT makes it promising sorbent for various solid-phase extractions.     

Efficient stripping voltammetric detection of organophosphate pesticides using NanoPt intercalated Ni/Al layered double hydroxides as solid-phase extraction

We developed a simple strategy for designing a sensitive electrochemical stripping voltammetric sensor for organophosphate pesticides (OPs) based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) using nanosized Pt intercalated Ni/Al layered double hydroxides (labeled as NanoPt-LDHs). By assembling NanoPt with LDHs together, the resulting NanoPt-LDHs are highly efficient to capture OPs. It dramatically facilitates the enrichment of OPs onto their surface and realizes the sensitive stripping voltammetric detection of methyl parathion (MP) as a model of OPs. The stripping analysis shows highly linear over MP concentration ranges of 0.001–0.15 and 0.3–1.0 μg mL^? 1 with a detection limit of 0.6 ng mL^–1 (S/N = 3). The combination of NanoPt, LDHs, SPE, and square-wave voltammetry (SWV) provides a fast, simple, and sensitive electrochemical method for OPs.     

Stripping voltammetric analysis of organophosphate pesticides based on solid-phase extraction at zirconia nanoparticles modified electrode

A sensitive electrochemical stripping voltammetric method for analyzing organophosphate (OP) compounds was developed based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) at zirconia (ZrO₂) nanoparticles modified electrode. ZrO₂ nanoparticles were proved as a new sorbent for SPE of OP pesticides. Because of the strong affinity of ZrO₂ for the phosphoric group, nitroaromatic OPs can strongly bind to the ZrO₂ nanoparticle surface. The combination of SPE with square-wave voltammetry (SWV) provided a fast, sensitive, and selective electrochemical method for nitroaromatic OP compounds using methyl parathion (MP) as a model. The stripping response was highly linear over the MP range of 0.003–2.0 μg/mL, with a detection limit of 0.001 μg/mL. The fast extraction ability of ZrO₂ nanoparticles makes it promising sorbent for various solid-phase extractions.     

Ultra-preconcentration and determination of thirteen organophosphorus pesticides in water samples using solid-phase extraction followed by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and gas chromatography with flame photometric detection

An ultra-preconcentration technique composed of solid-phase extraction (SPE) and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) coupled with gas chromatography–flame photometric detection (GC–FPD) was used for determination of thirteen organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) including phorate, diazinon, disolfotane, methyl parathion, sumithion, chlorpyrifos, malathion, fenthion, profenphose, ethion, phosalone, azinphose-methyl and co-ral in aqueous samples. The analytes were collected from large volumes of aqueous solutions (100 mL) into 100 mg of a SPE C₁₈ sorbent. The effective variables of SPE including type and volume of elution solvent, volume and flow rate of sample solution, and salt concentration were investigated and optimized. Acetone was selected as eluent in SPE and disperser solvent in DLLME and chlorobenzene was used as extraction solvent. Under the optimal conditions, the enrichment factors were between 15,160 and 21,000 and extraction recoveries were 75.8–105.0%. The linear range was 1–10,000 ng L^?1 and limits of detection (LODs) were between 0.2 and 1.5 ng L^?1. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for 50 ng L^?1 of OPPs in water with and without an internal standard, were in the range of 1.4–7.9% (n = 5) and 4.0–11.6%, respectively. The relative recoveries of OPPs from well and farm water sat spiking levels of 25 and 250 ng L^?1 were 88–109%.     

Carbon black as successful screen-printed electrode modifier for phenolic compound detection

We report a miniaturized and disposable electrochemical sensor for phenolic compound detection. The sensor was constructed by modifying the working electrode surface of screen-printed electrode (SPE) with carbon black (CB) dispersion. This new probe showed higher sensitivity and better resistance to fouling than the bare SPE, displaying the suitability of CB as an excellent nanomodifier of SPE for phenolic compound detection. Catechol, gallic acid, caffeic acid, and tyrosol were detected by square wave voltammetry with a detection limit of 0.1 μM, 1 μM, 0.8 μM, and 2 μM, respectively. The sensor was able to selectively discriminate the mono-phenols and ortho-diphenols with rapid and easy measurement, paving the way to use a cost-effective device for quality control of foods and beverages containing phenolic compounds.     

Preconcentration of atrazine and simazine with multiwalled carbon nanotubes as solid-phase extraction disk

A sensitive and selective preconcentration method using solid-phase extraction (SPE) disk, namely multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) disk, is proposed for the determination of atrazine and simazine in water samples. Atrazine and simazine were extracted on MWCNTs disk and then determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Several parameters on the enrichment factor of the analytes were investigated. The experimental results showed that it was possible to obtain quantitative analysis when the solution pH was 5 using 200 mL of validation solution containing 0.1 μg of triazines and 5 mL of acetone as an eluent. The maximum enrichment factors for atrazine and simazine were 3900 ± 250 and 4000 ± 110, respectively when 200 mL of sample solution volume was used. Relative standard deviations for seven determinations were 6.9% (atrazine) and 3.0% (simazine) under optimum conditions. The linear range of calibration curves were 0.1 to 1 ng mL^− 1 for each analyte with good correlation coefficients. The detection limits (3S/N) were 2.5 and 5.0 pg mL^− 1 for atrazine and simazine, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of atrazine and simazine in environmental water samples with high precision and accuracy.     

Ion-pairing and reversed phase liquid chromatography for the determination of three different quinolones: Enrofloxacin,lomefloxacin and ofloxacin

Two simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) methods have been developed for the simultaneous determination of three different quinolones: enrofloxacin, lomefloxacin and ofloxacin in their pure and dosage forms, one with reversed phase HPLC and the other with ion-pair HPLC. In reversed phase HPLC, method (A), the mobile phase consists of 2.18% aqueous solution of KH₂PO₄ with pH adjusted to 2.4 ± 0.2 with acetonitrile (80:20; v/v), the mobile phase pumped at flow rate of 1.2 ml min^?1. A Neucleosil C₁₈ column (10 μm, 100 Å), 250 mm length × 4.6 mm diameter was utilized as stationary phase. Detection was affected spectrophotometrically at 294 nm. While in ion-pair HPLC, method (B), the mobile phase was aqueous solution of 0.65% sodium perchlorate and 0.31% ammonium acetate adjusted to pH 2.2 ± 0.2 with orthophosphoric acid: acetonitrile (81:19; v/v), the mobile phase pumped at flow rate of 1.5 ml min^?1. A μ bondapack C₁₈ column (10 μm, 100 Å), 250 mm length × 4.6 mm diameter was utilized as stationary phase. Detection was affected spectrophotometrically at 294 nm. Linearity ranges for enrofloxacin, lomefloxacin and ofloxacin were 4.0–108, 7.0–112 and 8.0–113 μg ml^?1, respectively using method A and 8.0–112, 7.0–112 and 5.0–105 μg ml^?1, respectively applying method B. Minimum detection limits obtained were 0.013, 0.023 and 0.035 μg ml^?1 for enrofloxacin, lomefloxacin and ofloxacin, respectively using method A, and 0.028, 0.023 and 0.011 μg ml^?1 using method B. The proposed methods were further applied to the analysis of enrofloxacin in injection and tablets containing the ofloxacin and lomefloxacin drugs, and the results were satisfied.     

Determination of sulfonamides in food samples by membrane-protected micro-solid phase extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography

In the present study, a simple and sensitive extraction method based on polypropylene membrane-protected micro-solid phase extraction (MP-μ-SPE) has been developed for analysis of sulfonamides in food samples. Poly (methacrylic acid-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) (p-MAA-EDMA) was synthesized using orthogonal array experimental design, optimized with three factors at four levels and evaluated on yield, hydrophobic and cation-exchange properties. The optimized p-MAA-EDMA was then employed as the sorbent in the MP-μ-SPE for extraction of sulfonamides from milk and chicken muscle samples, followed by high performance liquid chromatographic analysis with ultraviolet detection. Under optimized extraction conditions, good linearities (0.010–1.0 μg mL^?1 with r² > 0.9900), low limits of detection (0.38–0.62 ng mL^?1), and acceptable intra-day (2.7–13.7%) and inter-day (6.7–15.2%) relative standard deviations were obtained. It was demonstrated to be an effective approach to handle semi-solid/solid samples with good resistance to interference from “dirty” samples.     

Comparison of two different isolation methods of benzimidazoles and their metabolites in the bovine liver by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography–diode array detection

A new analytical method that uses high performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector (HPLC–DAD) was developed for the analysis of 14 benzimidazoles residues, including metabolites, in bovine liver. Samples were extracted using two different extraction procedures: with phosphate buffer after enzymatic hydrolysis (method A) or using organic solvent, i.e. acetonitrile (method B). Then, samples were purified on a strong cation exchange (SCX) cartridge and analyzed in HPLC/DAD. The recovery percentages, obtained spiking the matrix (liver) at concentrations of 500 and 100 μg kg^?1 with a standard mixture of benzimidazoles, were in the range 6–101% and 80–102% for methods A and B, respectively. The repeatability of the methods was assessed in all cases by the % of correlation value (CV) that was lower than 19%. The limits of quantification (LOQs) in the matrix for methods A and B were in the range 40–60 and 20–50 μg kg^?1, respectively. The best of the two methods, method B, was used for the analysis of 10 bovine liver samples.     

Analysis of hydrocarbon contamination with membrane-assisted solvent extraction: Comparison of agitation and sonication methods

Membrane-assisted solvent extraction (MASE) coupled to large volume injection was applied to the determination of (gasoline-type) hydrocarbon contamination in water samples. Hexane was used as acceptor phase. 50 μL extract was injected in the programmed temperature vaporizer injector using combined split–splitless evaporation. The extraction conditions were optimized both for MASE with agitation and for MASE with sonication. In the course of optimization the effect of extraction time, extraction temperature, agitation speed, solvent volume, pH, ionic strength and the addition of methanol were tested. Over 75% recovery was accomplished in the range of diesel oil hydrocarbons (n-C₉–n-C₂₄). The developed method was validated. Linearity, accuracy and precision were tested. The method showed excellent linearity between 1 and 1000 μg L^?1 for n-alkanes and between 0.05 and 50 mg L^?1 for gasoline. The method was tested with comprehensive GC × GC as well and found to be non-discriminative to all major compounds of diesel oil.     

Determination of molybdenum in plants by vortex-assisted emulsification solidified floating organic drop microextraction and flame atomic absorption spectrometry

A fast and sensitive procedure for extraction and preconcentration of molybdenum in plant samples based on solidified floating organic drop microextraction combined with flame atomic absorption spectrometry and discrete nebulization was developed. 8-Hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) was used as complexing agent. The experimental conditions established were: 0.5% m v^− 1 of 8-HQ, 60 μL of 1-undecanol as the extractant phase, 2 min vortex extraction time, centrifugation for 2 min at 2000 rpm, 10 min into an ice bath and discrete nebulization by introducing 200 μL of solution. The calibration curve was linear from 0.02 to 4.0 mg L^− 1 with a limit of detection of 4.9 μg L^− 1 and an enhancement factor of 67. The relative standard deviations for ten replicate measurements of 0.05 and 1.0 mg L^− 1 Mo were 6.0 and 14.5%, respectively. The developed procedure was applied for determining molybdenum in corn samples and accuracy was proved using certified reference materials.     

Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of aminoacetylenic isoindoline-1,3-dione derivatives as anti-inflammatory agents

Aminoacetylenic isoindoline-1,3-dione derivatives were synthesized from the reaction of potassium phthalimide with propargyl bromide to generate 2-(prop-2-yn-1-yl)isoindoline-1,3-dione (ZM1). Treatment of 2-(prop-2-yn-1-yl)isoindoline-1,3-dione with appropriate cyclic amines through Mannich reaction yielded five desired aminoacetylenic isoindoline-1,3-diones called, ZM2–ZM6. The IR, NMR and elemental analysis were consistent with the assigned structures. These synthetic compounds, except ZM6, produced significant (p < 0.05–0.01) dose-related inhibition of carrageenan-induced edema in rats following 3 and 5 h post-oral administration of 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg doses. The percent inhibition of edema varied between the compounds at 10 mg/kg dose being ZM3 > ZM5 > ZM4 > ZM2. These percent inhibitions for ZM3 and ZM5 were not significantly different than those of induced by Ibuprofen, Diclofenac and Celecoxib. At 20 mg/kg dose, ZM4 produced a statistically significant reduction of inflammation (p < 0.01) 1 h following administration and persisted for 5 h. Furthermore, all the compounds showed inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 with maximum inhibition at 5 μM. However, the inhibition values were less than Diclofenac and Celecoxib. The best response was by ZM4 for COX-2 inhibition ranging from 28%, 91%, and 44%, for 2, 5, and 10 μM, respectively. Other ZM compounds such as ZM2, ZM3, and ZM5 exhibited inhibitory responses for COX-2 more than COX-1 at 5 μM. These results indicate that these ZM compounds have the potential to become anti-inflammatory drugs following further pharmacological and toxicological evaluations.     

Extraction and preconcentration of trace levels of cobalt using functionalized magnetic nanoparticles in a sequential injection lab-on-valve system with detection by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A new approach to performing extraction and preconcentration employing functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for the determination of trace metals is presented. Alumina-coated iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized and used as the solid support. The nanoparticles were functionalized with sodium dodecyl sulfate and used as adsorbents for solid phase extraction of the analyte. Extraction, elution, and detection procedures were performed sequentially in the sequential injection lab-on-valve (SI-LOV) system followed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). Mixtures of hydrophobic analytes were successfully extracted from solution using the synthesized magnetic adsorbents. The potential use of the established scheme was demonstrated by taking cobalt as a model analyte. Under the optimal conditions, the calibration curve showed an excellent linearity in the concentration range of 0.01–5 μg L^?1, and the relative standard deviation was 2.8% at the 0.5 μg L^?1 level (n = 11). The limit of detection was 6 ng L^?1 with a sampling frequency of 18 h^?1. The present method has been successfully applied to cobalt determination in water samples and two certified reference materials.     

Simultaneous determination of metal ions as complexes of pentamethylene dithiocarbamate in Indus river water,Pakistan

River water samples before and after mixing with industrial effluents were collected at an interval of 4 weeks for one year and analyzed for simultaneous determination of Fe³⁺, Cr³⁺, Mn²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺and Co²⁺ after preconcentration using pentamethylene dithiocarbamate (PMDTC) as derivatizing reagent and subsequent solvent extraction by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The average levels (n = 12) of metal ions were found in the range of 14.2–542 μg/L. The results were then compared with a standard flame atomic absorption spectrophotometric method revealed no significant differences.     

Sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of pantoprazole sodium in human urine

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic–tandem mass spectrometric (LC–MS–MS) method was developed to determine pantoprazole sodium (PNT) in human urine. After solid-phase extraction with SPE cartridge, the urine sample was analysed on a C₁₈ column (symmetry 3.5 μm; 75 mm × 4.6 mm i.d) interfaced with a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer. Positive electrospray ionization was employed as the ionization source. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile–water (90:10, v/v). The method was linear over a concentration range of 1–100 ng mL^?1. The lower limit of quantitation was 1 ng mL^?1. The intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviation across three validation runs over the entire concentration range was <10.5%. The accuracy determined at three concentrations (8.0, 50.0 and 85.0 ng mL^?1 PNT) was within ±1.25% in terms of relative errors.     

Assessment of a dynamic hollow-fibre liquid phase microextraction system for human blood plasma samples

A dynamic liquid phase microextraction (LPME) system, based on hollow-fibre supported liquid membrane (SLM) extraction, was developed for extracting ionisable xenobiotics from human plasma, and its performance was evaluated (in terms of extraction efficiency, reproducibility, durability and carry-over) using nitrophenolic compounds as model analytes at concentrations of 0.1–0.5 μg mL^?1 in aqueous standards. The efficiency and repeatability were tested also on spiked human plasma. The system is non-expensive, convenient, requires minimal manual handling and enables samples with volumes as small as 0.2 mL to be extracted. For plasma samples extraction efficiencies of between 30 and 58% were achieved within 20 min, including washing steps. The limit of detection (LOD) values were in the range 0.02–0.03 μg mL^?1. The developed system can provide enrichment factors up to eight, based on the injection-to-acceptor volume ratio (in this case 0.2–0.025 mL). The same hollow-fibre membrane was used up to 8 days with no loss of efficiency. Carry-over was lower than detection limit.     

Determination of triclosan,triclocarban and methyl-triclosan in aqueous samples by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction combined with rapid liquid chromatography

In this study, dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) combined with ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC)–tunable ultraviolet detection (TUV), has been developed for pre-concentration and determination of triclosan (TCS), triclocarban (TCC) and methyl-triclosan (M-TCS) in aqueous samples. The key factors, including the kind and volume of extraction solvent and dispersive solvent, extraction time, salt effect and pH, which probably affect the extraction efficiencies were examined and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, linearity of the method was observed in the range of 0.0500–100 μg L^?1 for TCS, 0.0250–50.0 μg L^?1 for TCC, and 0.500–100 μg L^?1 for M-TCS, respectively, with correlation coefficients (r²) > 0.9945. The limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 45.1 to 236 ng L^?1. TCS in domestic waters was detected with the concentration of 2.08 μg L^?1. The spiked recoveries of three target compounds in river water, irrigating water, reclaimed water and domestic water samples were achieved in the range of 96.4–121%, 64.3–84.9%, 77.2–115% and 75.5–106%, respectively. As a result, this method can be successfully applied for the rapid and convenient determination of TCS, TCC and M-TCS in real water samples.     

Simultaneous determination of diastereoisomeric and enantiomeric impurities in SSS-octahydroindole-2-carboxylic acid by chiral high-performance liquid chromatography with pre-column derivatization

SSS-Octahydroindole-2-carboxylic acid (SSS-Oic) is a key intermediate used in the synthesis of some angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. The separation of diastereoisomers and enantiomers of Oic was performed using a pre-column derivatization chiral HPLC method. Phenyl isothiocyanate (PITC) was used as the derivatization reagent. Three PITC derivatives of Oic stereoisomers were separated on an Ultron ES-OVM chiral column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm). Derivatization conditions such as reaction temperature, reaction time and derivatization reagent concentration were investigated. The chromatographic conditions for separation of the three PITC-Oic derivatives were optimized. The method was successfully applied in the diastereoisomeric and enantiomeric purity test of SSS-Oic.     

Determination of erythromycins in fermentation broth using liquid phase extraction with back extraction combined with high performance liquid chromatography

Liquid phase extraction with back extraction (LPE-BE) combined with high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) was applied for the extraction and determination of erythromycin A, B and C in fermentation broths. According to this procedure, the fermentation broth with the adjustment pH at a fixed value of 10 was first mixed with organic solvent (V_broth/V_org = 1.0). After shaking, the mixture was separated into two phases by microfuging at 13,000 rpm for 15 min. Then back extraction was performed into the acidic aqueous phase with pH 5.0 (V_org/V_aq = 1.0). After centrifugation at 3000, the two phases were separated and 50 μL of the acidic aqueous phase was injected into the HPLC. The effects of different variables such as the nature of extraction solvent and the pH of samples and buffer were investigated. At the most appropriate conditions, dynamic linear ranges of 0.5–8, 0.1–0.9 and 0.1–0.9 mg mL⁻¹ and limits of detection of 0.03, 0.003 and 0.002 mg mL⁻¹ were obtained for erythromycin A, B and C, respectively. Relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the proposed method were less than 9.5%. The mean recoveries were 99.5%. The proposed method is simple and sensitive with highly clean-up effect and it can be used for monitoring the progress of erythromycin fermentation.     

Study on the solid phase extraction and spectrophotometric determination of cobalt with 5-(2-benzothiazolylazo)-8-hydroxyquinolene

A highly sensitive, selective and rapid method for the determination of cobalt based on the rapid reaction of cobalt(II) with 5-(2-benzothiazolylazo)-8-hydroxyquinolene BTAHQ and the solid phase extraction of the Co(II)-BTAHQ complex with C18 membrane disks were developed. In the presence of pH = 6.4 buffer solution and cetylpyridenium chloride (CPC) medium, BTAHQ reacts with cobalt to form a deep violet complex with a molar ratio of 1:1 (cobalt to BTAHQ). This complex was enriched by the solid phase extraction with C18 membrane disks. An enrichment factor of 100 was obtained by elution of the complex from the disks with a minimal amount of isopentyl alcohol. In isopentyl alcohol medium, the molar absorptivity of the complex is 2.42 × 10⁵ L mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at 658 nm. Beer’s law is obeyed in the range of 0.01–0.38 μg mL⁻¹ in the measured solution. The relative standard deviation for 11 replicate samples of 0.20 μg mL⁻¹ level is 1.37%. The detection and quantification limits reach 3.1 and 9.7 ng mL⁻¹ in the original samples. This method was applied for the determination of cobalt in biological, water, soil and pharmaceutical preparation samples with good results.