A solid phase extraction column based on SiO2@ZIF-8 for efficient analysis of domoic acid toxins in the seawater environment: experiments and DFT calculations on adsorption behaviour

Algal toxins are important metabolites of toxic harmful algal blooms (HABs), and their qualitative and qualitative detection can serve as early warning indicators for toxic HABs, complementing traditional HAB monitoring and improving the accuracy of early warning. Therefore, this work took the detection of domoic acid (DA) as an example and prepared zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) with high enrichment performance and high water stability and its core-shell composite material SiO2@ZIF-8 as an adsorbent filler. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and interference experiments verified that Zn2+ on SiO2@ZIF-8 played a crucial role in enriching DA on SiO2@ZIF-8. By using it as a solid-phase extraction (SPE) filler, it showed excellent performance compared with other SPE columns (C18/HLB/SAX/ZIF-8). Therefore, the SiO2@ZIF-8 column was coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPE-HPLC-MS/MS) to establish a highly sensitive detection method for algal toxins in seawater, which had a wide linear range (12.0-5000.0 ng L-1), good reproducibility (RSD) and low limit of detection (4.0 ng L-1), and realized the monitoring of trace DA in the Pingtan sea area of Fujian Province from 2021 to 2022. By comparing other HAB early warning indicators such as salinity and pH and combining them with the information released by the Fujian Provincial Ocean and Fisheries Bureau, the content of DA in seawater measured by the established SPE-HPLC-MS/MS method can provide reference information for HAB monitoring and early warning.

Metal-organic frameworks in chiral separation of pharmaceuticals

Stereoselective chiral molecules are responsible for specific biological functions in nature. At present, more than half of the prescribed drugs are chiral. Living organisms display divergent pharmacological responses to the enantiomers, leading to altered toxicity, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics. Thus, chiral analysis, separation, and extraction are crucial for ensuring enantiomeric purity to develop safe and effective medication. In recent times, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with appealing structures are gaining importance because of their fascinating properties as a sorbent and stationary phase. MOFs are crystalline porous solid materials built by interconnecting metal ions or clusters and organic linkers. This review explores the advancements in MOFs for the isolation and separation of chiral active pharmaceutical drugs.

Metal Organic Framework-Based Dispersive Solid-Phase Microextraction of Carbaryl from Food and Water Prior to Detection by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

In this work, metal organic frameworks (A100 Al-based MOFs) were used in dispersive solid-phase microextraction (DSPME) for the isolation and preconcentration of the carbaryl from vegetable, fruit and water samples. The A100 Al-based MOFs showed excellent behavior for the adsorption of carbaryl from a water–ethanol solution; additionally, carbaryl was easily desorbed with ethyl acetate for detection by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-TMS). The analytical process of DSPME together with UPLC-TMS provides the accurate monitoring of trace carbaryl residues. The results show that the optimal recovery% of carbaryl was obtained at a sample apparent pH of 5, with the application of 1 mL of ethyl acetate to elute the carbaryl from the A100 Al-based MOFs. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.01 mg.L−1 and 0.03 mg.L−1, respectively. The RSD% was 0.8–1.9, and the preconcentration factor was 45. DSPME and UPLC-TMS were successfully used for the isolation and detection of carbaryl in food and water samples.

Chiral porous organic frameworks and their application in enantioseparation

Porous organic frameworks (POFs) are a kind of porous material with a network structure composed of repeated monomers, which have excellent physical and chemical properties, such as a high surface area, high porosity, uniform pore sizes and structural diversity, and which have aroused broad interest among researchers. With the rapid development of materials science, increasingly more porous materials have been developed and applied, especially metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), which have been widely applied in the fields of luminous materials, catalytic research, adsorption and drug transport. One of the most important applications for chiral porous materials is in chiral separation and these materials have become a research hotspot in the field of chromatographic separation and analysis in recent years. In this review, from the viewpoint of enantioseparation, the synthesis of chiral porous materials and their applications in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), capillary electrochromatography (CEC), and gas chromatography (GC) are reviewed. The typical applications of MOFs in solid-phase microextraction (SPME) are also discussed.

The geometrical characteristics of nickel-based metal organic framework on its entrapment capability

Here, a three dimensional nickel-based metal organic framework (MOF) was synthesized via solvothermal and room temperature protocols. In order to study the effects of the synthesis conditions on the physical properties such as pore sizes and shapes of the prepared MOFs, their extraction capabilities were examined. Both MOFs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and thermogravimetric analyses. Brilliant properties such as porous structure, high surface area and considerable thermal stability make them reasonable candidates to be employed as efficient extractive phases. The efficiency of the superior nickel-based MOF was evaluated for headspace needle trap extraction of chlorobenzenes as model compounds in conjunction with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The MOF-based extractive phase was conveniently packed in a needle trap device and after extraction, the desorption process was performed via direct insertion of needle into the GC inlet. After optimizing the extraction/desorption conditions, the figures of merit such as linear dynamic range was in the range of 5-1000 ng L^-1 (R² > 0.987) while the limits of detection and quantification values were 2-10 and 6-30 ng L^-1, respectively. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations for three replicates at the concentration level of 50 ng L^-1 were in the range of 7-9% and 9-12%, respectively. The needle-to-needle reproducibility was also found to be in the range of 5-11%. Acceptable relative recovery values at the concentration level of 50 ng L^-1 ranged from 85 to 96%, showing no significant matrix effect.

Determination of Enantiomeric Excess by Solid-Phase Extraction Using a Chiral Metal-Organic Framework as Sorbent

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently attracted considerable attention because of their fascinating structures and intriguing potential applications in diverse areas. In this study, we developed a novel method for determination of enantiomeric excess (ee) of (±)-1,1′-bi-2-naphthol by solid-phase extraction (SPE) using a chiral MOF, [Co(l-tyr)]_n(l-tyrCo), as sorbent. After optimization of the experimental conditions, a good linear relationship between the ee and the absorbance of the eluate (R² = 0.9984) was obtained and the standard curve was established at the concentration of 3 mmol L⁻¹. The ee values of (±)-1,1′-bi-2-naphthol samples can be rapidly calculated using the standard curve after determination of the absorbance of the eluate. The method showed good accuracy, with an average error of 2.26%, and is promising for ee analysis.