A three phase hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction for quantification of lamotrigine in plasma of epileptic patients by capillary electrophoresis

A three phase hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction technique combined with capillary electrophoresis was developed to quantify lamotrigine (LTG) in plasma samples. The analyte was extracted from 4.0 mL of a basic donor phase (composed of 0.5 mL of plasma and 3.5 mL of sodium phosphate solution pH 9.0) through a supported liquid membrane composed of 1‐octanol immobilized in the pores of the hollow fiber, and to an acidic acceptor phase (hydrochloric acid solution pH 4.0) placed in the lumen of the fiber. The extraction was carried out for 30 min at 500 rpm. The eletrophoretic analysis was carried out in 130 mmol/L MES buffer, pH 5.0 with a constant voltage of +15 kV and 20°C. Sample injections were performed for 10 s, at a pressure of 0.5 psi. The detection was performed at 214 nm for both LTG and the internal standard lidocaine. Under the optimized conditions, the method showed a limit of quantification of 1.0 μg/mL and was linear over the plasmatic concentration range of 1.0–20.0 μg/mL. Finally, the validated method was applied for the quantification of LTG in plasma samples of epileptic patients.     

Hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction and determination of nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatories by capillary electrophoresis and sulfonamides by HPLC in human urine

In this paper two applications of three‐phase HF‐LPME for the determination of pharmaceuticals in human urine are proposed: a capillary electrophoresis with a photodiode array detection method for the analysis of seven nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and a high‐performance liquid chromatographic with photo diode array and fluorescence detection method for the determination of four sulfonamides and their corresponding N⁴‐acetyl‐metabolites. Q3/2 Accurel® polypropylene hollow fibers were used for both procedures. Dihexyl ether was used as the supported liquid membrane for the determination of anti‐inflammatories and 1‐octanol for sulfonamides. An aqueous solution (pH 12) was used in both procedures as the acceptor phase and as the donor phase an aqueous solution (pH 2), and a 2 m Na₂SO₄ aqueous solution (pH 4) was used for the determination of the anti‐inflammatories and sulfonamides. The detection limits obtained were between 0.25 (naproxen) and 0.86 ng/mL (aceclofenac) for the determination of anti‐inflammatories and 7 × 10^?4 (sulfamethoxazole) and 0.048 ng/mL (N⁴‐acetyl‐sulfamethazine) for sulfonamides. The method was successfully applied to the determination of the analytes in human urine. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ionic liquid‐based headspace in‐tube liquid‐phase microextraction coupled with CE for sensitive detection of phenols

An ionic liquid‐based headspace in‐tube liquid‐phase microextraction (IL‐HS‐ITLPME) in‐line coupled with CE is proposed. The method is capable of quantifying trace amounts of phenols in environmental water samples. In the newly developed method, simply by placing a capillary injected with ionic liquids (IL) in the HS above the aqueous sample, volatile phenols were extracted into the IL acceptor phase in the capillary. After extraction, electrophoresis of the phenols in the capillary was carried out. Extraction parameters such as the extraction time, extraction temperature, ionic strength, volume of the sample solution, and IL types were systematically investigated. Under the optimized conditions, enrichment factors for four phenols were from 1510 to 1985. The proposed method provided a good linearity, low limits of detection (below 5.0 ng/mL), and good repeatability of the extractions (RSDs below 6.7%, n = 6). This method was then utilized to analyze two real environmental samples of Xiaoxi Lake and tap water, obtaining acceptable recoveries and precisions. Compared with the usual HS‐ITLPME for CE, IL‐HS‐ITLPME‐CE is a simple, low cost, fast, and environmentally friendly preconcentration technique.     

Comparison of three‐phase hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction based on reverse micelle with conventional two‐phase hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction and their applications for analysis of cinnamic acids in traditional Chinese medicines

A novel three‐phase hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction was developed based on reverse micelle as extraction solvent and acceptor phase, and compared with conventional two‐phase hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction. Both procedures were used in the extraction and concentration of four cinnamic acids (caffeic acid, p‐hydroxycinnamic acid, ferulic acid, and cinnamic acid) in traditional Chinese medicines prior to high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis. Parameters affecting the two procedures were investigated and optimized to obtain the optimum enrichment factors. The mechanism of the developed procedure was explored and elucidated by comparison with conventional two‐phase hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction. Under the optimized conditions, the analytes’ enrichment factors were between 50 and 118 for the proposed procedure, and 31–96 for conventional two‐phase mode. Satisfactory linear ranges (r² ≥ 0.99), detection limits (0.1–0.6 ng/mL), precisions (<9.2%), and accuracies (recoveries: 80–123.1%) were observed for the two procedures. The results showed that the enrichment capacity of the proposed procedure for the cinnamic acids is better than that of conventional two‐phase procedure, and both are eco‐friendly, simple, and effective for the enrichment and detection of cinnamic acids in traditional Chinese medicines.     

Sensitive determination of chloroanilines in water samples by hollow fiber‐based liquid‐phase microextraction prior to capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection

A hollow fiber‐based liquid‐phase microextraction method has been developed for enrichment of trace chloroanilines in water samples. Target analytes including aniline, three mono‐chlorinated aniline isomers (o‐chloroaniline, m‐chloroaniline, and p‐chloroaniline) and four mono‐chlorinated methylaniline isomers (2‐chloro‐4‐methylaniline, 3‐chloro‐4‐methylaniline, 4‐chloro‐2‐methylaniline, and 5‐chloro‐2‐methylaniline) were determined by CE with amperometric detection after microextraction. Several factors that affect separation, detection, and extraction efficiency were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, eight aniline compounds could be well separated from other components coexisting in water samples within 25 min, exhibiting a linear calibration over three orders of magnitude (r > 0.998); the obtained enrichment factors were between 51 and 239, and the LODs were in the range of 0.01–0.1 ng/mL. The proposed method has been applied for the analyses of real environmental water and sewage samples with relative recoveries in the range of 83–108%.     

Determination of three estrogens and bisphenol A by functional ionic liquid dispersive liquid‐phase microextraction coupled with ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography and ultraviolet detection

A hydroxyl‐functionalized ionic liquid, 1‐hydroxyethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, was employed in an improved dispersive liquid‐phase microextraction method coupled with ultra high performance liquid chromatography for the enrichment and determination of three estrogens and bisphenol A in environmental water samples. The introduced hydroxyl group acted as the H‐bond acceptor that dispersed the ionic liquid effectively in the aqueous phase without dispersive solvent or external force. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that the hydroxyl group of the cation of the ionic liquid enhanced the combination of extractant and analytes through the formation of hydrogen bonds. The improvement of the extraction efficiency compared with that with the use of alkyl ionic liquid was proved by a comparison study. The main parameters including volume of extractant, temperature, pH, and extraction time were investigated. The calibration curves were linear in the range of 5.0–1000 μg/L for estrone, estradiol, and bisphenol A, and 10.0–1000 μg/L for estriol. The detection limits were in the range of 1.7–3.4 μg/L. The extraction efficiency was evaluated by enrichment factor that were between 85 and 129. The proposed method was proved to be simple, low cost, and environmentally friendly for the determination of the four endocrine disruptors in environmental water samples.     

Capillary electrophoresis determination of nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs in wastewater using hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction

The presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment due to growing worldwide consumption has become an important problem that requires analytical solutions. This paper describes a CE determination for several nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, diclofenac, ketorolac, aceclofenac and salicylic acid) in environmental waters using hollow fiber membrane liquid‐phase microextraction. The extraction was carried out using a polypropylene membrane supporting dihexyl ether and the electrophoretic separation was performed in acetate buffer (30 mM, pH 4) using ACN as the organic modifier. Detection limits between 0.25 and 0.86 ng/mL were obtained, respectively. The method could be applied to the direct determination of the seven anti‐inflammatories in wastewaters, and five of them have been determined or detected in different urban wastewaters.     

Hollow‐fiber liquid‐phase microextraction coupled with miniature capillary electrophoresis for the trace analysis of four aliphatic aldehydes in water samples

An environmentally friendly method for the trace analysis of four aliphatic aldehydes as water disinfection byproducts has been developed based on hollow‐fiber liquid‐phase microextraction followed by miniature capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection. After derivatization with 2‐thiobarbituric acid, four aliphatic aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propylaldehyde, and butyraldehyde) became detectable by the amperometric detector. Under the optimum conditions, four aliphatic aldehydes can be well separated from the coexisting interferents as well as their homologs (pentanal, glyoxal, and methyl‐glyoxal), and the limits of detection (S/N = 3) could reach sub‐nanogram‐per‐milliliter level based on hollow‐fiber liquid‐phase microextraction. The proposed method has been applied for the analyses of above four aliphatic aldehydes in different water samples such as drinking water, tap water, and river water, and the average recoveries were in the range of 90–113%, providing an alternative to conventional and microchip capillary electrophoresis approaches.     

Simultaneous speciation of inorganic chromium(III) and chromium(VI) by hollow‐fiber‐based liquid‐phase microextraction coupled with HPLC–UV

The speciation of chromium(VI) and chromium(III) was investigated by using hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction based on two immiscible organic solvents followed by high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. In this method, chromium(VI) and chromium(III) reacted with ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate to produce hydrophobic complexes. Subsequently, the complexes were first extracted into a thin layer of organic solvent (n‐dodecane) present in the pores of a porous hollow fiber, and then into a μL volume of an organic acceptor (methanol) located inside the lumen of the hollow fiber. Then, the extracting organic phase was injected into the separation column of the high‐performance liquid chromatograph for the analysis of both chromium species. Effective parameters on extraction were optimized using one‐variable‐at‐a‐time method and central composite design. Under optimized conditions, a linear range of 0.25–100 and 0.5–100 μg/L (R ² > 0.998), the limits of detection of (S/N = 3) 0.08 and 0.1 μg/L and a preconcentration factor of 625 and 556 were achieved for chromium(VI) and chromium(III), respectively. The method was successfully applied to the speciation and determination of chromium species in different water samples and satisfactory results were obtained.     

In‐line coupled single drop liquid–liquid–liquid microextraction with capillary electrophoresis for determining fluoroquinolones in water samples

A simple in‐line single drop liquid–liquid–liquid microextraction (SD‐LLLME) coupled with CE for the determination of two fluoroquinolones was developed. The method is capable to quantify trace amount of analytes in water samples and to improve the sensitivity of CE detection. For the SD‐LLLME, a thin layer of organic phase was used to separate a drop of 0.1 M NaOH hanging at the inlet of the capillary from the aqueous donor phase. By this way, the analytes were extracted to the acceptor phase through the organic layer based on their acidic/basic dissociation equilibrium. The drop was immersed into the organic phase during 10 min for extraction and then it is directly injected into the capillary for the analysis. Parameters such as type and volume of organic solvent phase, aqueous donor, and acceptor phases and extraction time and temperature were optimized. The enrichment factor was calculated, resulting 40‐fold for enrofloxacin (ENR) and sixfold for ciprofloxacin (CIP). The linear range were 20–400 μg/L for ENR and 60–400 μg/L for CIP. The detection limits were 10.1 μg/L and 55.3 μg/L for ENR and CIP, respectively, and a good reproducibility was obtained (4.4% for ENR and 5.6% for CIP). Two real water samples were analysed applying the new method and the obtained results presented satisfactory recovery percentages (90–100.3%).     

Speciation analysis of mercury in water samples by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction coupled to capillary electrophoresis

In this study, a method of pretreatment and speciation analysis of mercury by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction along with CE was developed. The method was based on the fact that mercury species including methylmercury (MeHg), ethylmercury (EtHg), phenylmercury (PhHg), and Hg(II) were complexed with 1‐(2‐pyridylazo)‐2‐naphthol to form hydrophobic chelates and l ‐cysteine could displace 1‐(2‐pyridylazo)‐2‐naphthol to form hydrophilic chelates with the four mercury species. Factors affecting complex formation and extraction efficiency, such as pH value, type, and volume of extractive solvent and disperser solvent, concentration of the chelating agent, ultrasonic time, and buffer solution were investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the enrichment factors were 102, 118, 547, and 46, and the LODs were 1.79, 1.62, 0.23, and 1.50 μg/L for MeHg, EtHg, PhHg, and Hg(II), respectively. Method precisions (RSD, n = 5) were in the range of 0.29–0.54% for migration time, and 3.08–7.80% for peak area. Satisfactory recoveries ranging from 82.38 to 98.76% were obtained with seawater, lake, and tap water samples spiked at three concentration levels, respectively, with RSD (n = 5) of 1.98–7.18%. This method was demonstrated to be simple, convenient, rapid, cost‐effective, and environmentally benign, and could be used as an ideal alternative to existing methods for analyzing trace residues of mercury species in water samples.     

Dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction coupled with pressure‐assisted electrokinetic injection for simultaneous enrichment of seven phenolic compounds in water samples followed by determination using capillary electrophoresis

Offline dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction combined with online pressure‐assisted electrokinetic injection was developed to simultaneously enrich seven phenolic compounds in water samples, followed by determination using capillary electrophoresis, namely phenol, 4‐chlorophenol, pentachlorophenol, 2,4,6‐trichlorophenol, 2,4‐dichlorophenol, 2‐chlorophenol, and 2,6‐dichlorophenol. Several parameters affecting separation performance of capillary electrophoresis and the enrichment efficiency of pressure‐assisted electrokinetic injection and dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction were systematically investigated. Under the optimal conditions, seven phenolic compounds were completely separated within 14 min and good enrichment factors were obtained of 61, 236, 3705, 3288, 920, 86, and 1807 for phenol, 4‐chlorophenol, pentachlorophenol, 2,4,6‐trichlorophenol, 2,4‐dichlorophenol, 2‐chlorophenol, and 2,6‐dichlorophenol, respectively. Good linearity was attained in the range of 0.1–200 μg/L for 2,4‐dichlorophenol, 0.5–200 μg/L for 4‐chlorophenol, pentachlorophenol, 2,4,6‐trichlorophenol, 2‐chlorophenol, and 2,6‐dichlorophenol, as well as 1–200 μg/L for phenol, with correlation coefficients (r) over 0.9905. The limits of detection and quantification ranging from 0.03–0.28 and 0.07–0.94 μg/L were attained. This two step enrichment method was potentially applicable for the rapid and simultaneous determination of phenolic compounds in water samples.     

Determination of anti‐malaria agent chloroquine using single drop liquid‐liquid‐liquid microextraction

A simple, sensitive, and inexpensive single drop liquid‐liquid‐liquid microextraction combined with isocratic RP‐HPLC and UV detection was developed for the determination of anti‐malaria drug, chloroquine. The target compound was extracted from alkaline aqueous sample solution (adjusted to 0.5 mol/L sodium hydroxide) through a thin layer of organic solvent membrane and back‐extracted to an acidic acceptor drop (adjusted to 0.02 mol/L phosphoric acid) suspended on the tip of a 25 μL HPLC syringe in the organic layer. This syringe was also used for direct injection after extraction. The linear range was 1–200 μg/L. The LOD and LOQ were 0.3 and 1.0 μg/L, respectively. Intra‐and inter‐day precisions were less than 2.0 and 2.3%, respectively. The real samples were successfully analyzed using the proposed method. The recoveries of spiked samples were more than 94.6%.     

Study of mass transfer in a dynamic hollow‐fibre liquid phase microextraction system

The extraction characteristics of a dynamic hollow‐fibre liquid phase microextraction system were investigated by studying the mass transfer and diffusion rates of dinitrophenols from plasma samples over the liquid membrane (dihexylether). The measured diffusion coefficients were compared with theoretical values calculated from Stokes diameters. The diffusion mechanism was simulated by computer and the most polar compounds, 2,4‐dinitrophenol and 4,6‐o‐dinitrocresol, had associated diffusion coefficients that were close to the calculated theoretical values. 2‐sec‐Butyl‐4,6 dinitrophenol and 2‐tert‐butyl‐4,6‐dinitrophenol, the compounds with the highest log P values, were retained by the polypropylene membrane, which reduced the experimentally observed diffusion rates to about half of the theoretical values. The retention was most likely due to dispersive forces interacting with the pore inner walls. Extraction was linearly correlated with time for all compounds and the repeatability was high (RSDs 7–11%), even for the shortest extraction times. Method LOD as the amount injected ranged between 0.3 and 3.1 ng for an extraction cycle of 213 s.     

Application of continual injection liquid‐phase microextraction method coupled with liquid chromatography to the analysis of organophosphorus pesticides

A liquid‐phase microextraction coupled with LC method has been developed for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides (methidation, quinalphos and profenofos) in drinking water samples. In this method, a small amount (3 μL) of isooctane as the acceptor phase was introduced continually to fill‐up the channel of a 1.5 cm polypropylene hollow fiber using a microsyringe while the hollow fiber was immersed in an aqueous donor solution. A portion of the acceptor phase (ca. 0.4 μL) was first introduced into the hollow fiber and additional amounts (ca. 0.2 μL) of the acceptor phase were introduced to replenish at intervals of 3 min until set end of extraction (40 min). After extraction, the acceptor phase was withdrawn and transferred into a 2 mL vial for a drying step prior to injection into a LC system. Parameters that affect the extraction efficiency were studied including the organic solvent, length of fiber, volume of acceptor and donor phase, stirring rate, extraction time, and effect of salting out. The proposed method provided good enrichment factors of up to 189.50, with RSD ranging from 0.10 to 0.29%, analyte recoveries of over 79.80% and good linearity ranging from 10.0 to 1.25 mg/L. The LOD ranged from 2.86 to 82.66 μg/L. This method was applied successfully to the determination of organophosphorus pesticides in selected drinking water samples.     

Temperature‐controlled ionic liquid‐dispersive liquid‐phase microextraction for preconcentration of chlorotoluron,diethofencarb and chlorbenzuron in water samples

This article describes a new, rapid and sensitive method for the determination of chlorotoluron, diethofencarb and chlorbenzuron from water samples with temperature‐controlled ionic liquid‐dispersive liquid‐phase microextraction. In the preconcentration procedure, ionic liquid 1‐hexyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [C₆MIM] [PF₆] was employed as the extraction solvent. The parameters, such as volume of [C₆MIM] [PF₆], sample pH, extraction time, centrifuging time, temperature and salting‐out effect, were investigated in detail. Under the optimal extraction conditions, it has been found that three analytes had excellent LODs (S/N=3) in the range of 0.04–0.43 μg/L. The RSDs (n=6) were in the range of 1.3–4.7%. The proposed method was evaluated with lake water, tap water and melted snow water samples. The experimental results indicated that the proposed method had excellent prospect and would be widely used in the future.     

Extraction and determination of trace amounts of three anticancer pharmaceuticals in urine by three‐phase hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction based on two immiscible organic solvents followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography

An automated three‐phase hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction based on two immiscible organic solvents followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV–Vis detection method was applied for the extraction and determination of exemestane, letrozole, and paclitaxel in water and urine samples. n‐Dodecane was selected as the supported liquid membrane and its polarity was justified by trioctylphosphine oxide. Acetonitrile was used as an organic acceptor phase with desirable immiscibility having n‐dodecane. All the effective parameters of the microextraction procedure such as type of the organic acceptor phase, the supported liquid membrane composition, extraction time, pH of the donor phase, hollow fiber length, stirring rate, and ionic strength were evaluated and optimized separately by a one variable at‐a‐time method. Under the optimal conditions, the linear dynamic ranges were 1.8–200 (R² = 0.9991), 0.9–200 (R² = 0.9987) and 1.2–200 μg/L (R² = 0.9983), and the limits of detection were 0.6, 0.3, and 0.4 μg/L for exemestane, letrozole, and paclitaxel, respectively. To evaluate the capability of the proposed method in the analysis of biological samples, three different urinary samples were analyzed under the optimal conditions. The relative recoveries of the three pharmaceuticals were in the range of 91–107.3% for these three analytes.     

Determination of acidic drugs in biological and environmental matrices by membrane‐based dual emulsification liquid‐phase microextraction followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography

A simple method is introduced providing a highly clean microextraction for the determination of some anti‐inflammatory drugs as the model analytes in human urine and environmental matrices. This method is based upon the implementation of two consecutive emulsification liquid‐phase microextractions, which are separated by a syringe filtration step. In this method, the organic extraction solvent (dihexyl ether) is dispersed into the aqueous sample solution (20 mL), and the resulting cloudy mixture is passed through a hydrophilic polytetrafluoroethylene syringe filter. By this action, the extraction phase containing the analytes and many interfering species that could be transferred into the organic phase is retained behind the hydrophilic membrane. The filter is then detached from the syringe and attached to another syringe containing an aqueous solution (pH 12.0, 150 μL), and by the in‐syringe dispersion of the organic phase into the aqueous phase, the analytes are selectively back‐extracted into the aqueous phase. The developed method is centrifuge‐free and very simple, and provides a high sample clean‐up in a few minutes. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the developed method provided a linearity in the range of 2.0–2000 ng/mL, a low limit of detection (0.5 ng/mL), and enrichment factors of 47–53.     

Three‐phase solvent bar liquid‐phase microextraction combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography to determine sarcosine in human urine

Sarcosine is a potential prostate cancer marker. In this study, we developed a method of three‐phase solvent bar liquid‐phase microextraction combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography to determine sarcosine after derivatization with 4‐dimethylarminoazobenzene‐4‐sulfonyl chloride from human urine. The effects of different extraction conditions on extraction efficiency were investigated and optimized. Under optimum experimental conditions, a calibration graph exhibited linearity over the range of 0.05–25 μmol/L with a correlation coefficient (r²) of 0.9990. The enrichment factor was 168, and the detection limit was 0.02 μmol/L. The method was successfully used to analyze sarcosine in human urine and non‐invasive detection, and good spiked recoveries ranging from 90.5 to 93.6% were obtained. The proposed method exhibited high sensitivity, high enrichment factor, good precision, and a simple setup. It may contribute to the early accurate diagnosis and the progression monitoring of prostatic carcinoma.