Cyclodextrin-modified MEKC for enantioseparation of hexaconazole, penconazole, and myclobutanil

Micellar electrokinetic chromatography in the determination of triazoles in fruit peel

Triazole fungicides (TAFs) are frequently used fungicides for various antifungal treatments of crops. Tre treatment is provided foliarly. However, some significant amount of TAFs may remain on/in fruits. We have developed a methodology for the determination of penconazole, tebuconazole and cyproconazole in tomato fruit peel. The extraction of TAFs was provided with chloroform (acidified with 0.1% acetic acid). In the electrokinetic chromatography, the mixed micellar pseudo-stationary phase was composed of anionic detergent sodium dodecyl sulphate (15 mM) and randomly highly sulphated gamma-cyclodextrin (17.5 mg/mL). The background electrolyte consisted of 100 mM phosphoric acid and 100 mM Tris in the mixed hydro-organic solvent water/methanol (80/20 v/v), apparent pH 4.8. Complete separation of penconazole, tebuconazole, and two diastereomers of cyproconazole with resolutions higher than 5.1 were achieved within a relatively short time of less than 17 min in the bare fused silica capillary of 425/500 mm total/effective lengths and 50/375 μm I.D./O.D. at separation voltage -15 kV (cathode at injection capillary end) and at constant capillary cassette temperature of 22°C. The TAFs were detected by a UV-spectrophotometric diode array detector set at 200 nm. The limits of detection and limits of quantification were in the range of 71-92 and 214-278 μg/kg of peel, respectively. Analyses of the peel extracts revealed that even 10 days after the last treatment, TAF concentrations were higher than the recommended maximum residue limits in both application ways, as individual as well as in the TAF binary or ternary mixtures.

Enantioseparation of ketoconazole and miconazole by capillary electrophoresis and a study on their inclusion interactions with β-cyclodextrin and derivatives

A chiral separation method coupled with capillary electrophoresis (CE) analysis for ketoconazole and miconazole enantiomers using chiral selectors such as β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and hydroxypropyl-β-CD (HP-β-CD) was developed in this study, which included the optimisation, validation and application of the method on the antifungal cream samples. The formation of inclusion complex between the hosts (β-CD and HP-β-CD) and guests (ketoconazole and miconazole) were compared and analysed using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and molecular docking methods. Results from the study showed that in a concentration that ranged between 0.25 and 50 mg L^-1 , the linear calibration curves of each enantiomer had a high coefficient of regression (R² > 0.999), low limit of detection (0.075 mg L^-1 ) and low limit of quantification (0.25 mg L^-1 ). The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the intraday and interday analyses ranged from 0.79% to 8.01% and 3.30% to 11.43%, respectively, while the recoveries ranged from 82.0% to 105.7% (RSD < 7%, n = 3). The most probable structure of the inclusion complexes was proposed based on the findings from the molecular docking studies conducted using the PatchDock server.

Chiral Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography

The potential of Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography to achieve enantiomeric separations is reviewed in this article. The separation principles and the most frequently employed separation strategies to achieve chiral separations by Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography are described. The use of chiral micellar systems alone or combined with other micellar systems or chiral selectors, as well as of mixtures of achiral micellar systems with chiral selectors is discussed together with the effect of different additives present in the separation medium. Indirect methods based on the derivatization of analytes with chiral derivatizing reagents and the use of achiral micelles are also considered. Preconcentration techniques employed to improve sensitivity and the main approaches developed to facilitate the coupling with Mass Spectrometry are included. The most recent and relevant methodologies developed by chiral Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography and their applications in different fields are presented.

Application and enantioselective residue determination of chiral pesticide penconazole in grape, tea, aquatic vegetables and soil by ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Penconazole is a typical triazole fungicide with wide use on fruits, vegetables, and tea plants to control powdery mildew. In the present study, an efficient graphite carbon black solid phase extraction (GCB-SPE) purification combined with chiral ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for determination of penconazole enantiomers in different complex matrices, including grape, tea, soil, lotus root, lotus leaf, lotus seed and hulls. The method was then applied to investigate the enantioselective dissipation of penconazole enantiomers in a real field experiment of grape and soil. As a result, a satisfactory separation of penconazole enantiomers on a chiral Lux Cellulose-2 column (150 mm × 2 mm i.d., 3 µm) was obtained with 0.1% formic acid in methanol and 10 mmol L^-1 ammonium acetate in water (75/25, v/v) as mobile phase at 0.25 mL min^-1. The enantiomer (+)-penconazole was firstly eluted, and (-)-penconazole was then eluted. The method showed reliable performances in linearity, recovery and precision, the recoveries of (+)-penconazole and (-)-penconazole in all of six matrices were between 70.5% and 121.0% with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranging from 0.8% to 23.6% at the low, medium and high spiked levels. The limits of quantitation (LOQs) of this method were lower than 0.0025 mg kg^-1 in grape, soil and lotus root, 0.005 mg kg^-1 in lotus leaf, lotus seed meat and lotus seed shell, and 0.0125 mg kg^-1 in tea. Results of field trials indicated that (-)-penconazole degraded faster than its (+)-isomer in grape. While only a moderate stereoselectivity was observed in soil, with (-)-penconazole preferential degraded. The proposed method could be used to investigate enantioselective environmental behavior of penconazole enantiomers in complex matrices. And results in this study could provide useful information on realistic risk assessment of penconazole in grape.

Cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography for enantioseparations

The separation of enantiomers is one of the important fields of modern analytical chemistry, especially for agrochemical and pharmaceutical products because the stereochemistry has a significant influence on the biological activities of compounds. Cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography (CD-MEKC) has become an important capillary electrophoresis mode for enantioseparations. Here, we describe an example of a CD-MEKC method using hydroxypropyl-γ-cyclodextrin as chiral selector and sodium dodecyl sulfate as micellar solution for enantioseparation of triazole fungicides and the drug econazole.

Enantioselective analysis of triazole fungicide myclobutanil in cucumber and soil under different application modes by chiral liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

A sensitive and enantioselective method was developed and validated for the determination of myclobutanil enantiomers by chiral liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The separation and determination were performed using reversed-phase chromatography on a Chiralcel OD-RH column, with ACN-water (70/30, v/v) as the mobile phase under isocratic conditions at 0.5 mL/min flow rate. The matrix effect, linearity, precision, accuracy, and stability were evaluated. The proposed method then was successfully applied to the study of enantioselective degradation of rac-myclobutanil in cucumber and soil under different application modes. The results showed that the preferential degradation of (+)-myclobutanil resulted in an enrichment of the (-)-myclobutanil residue in plant and soil. Moreover, in cucumber, the stereoselective intensity of myclobutanil under root douche treatment was stronger than that under foliar spraying treatment, whereas in soil, the intensity was exactly opposite. The probable reasons underlying these enantioselective effects were also discussed. This study highlighted the importance of examining the fate of both enantiomers in the greenhouse system for the correct use of chiral pesticides.