Monolith-coated microcentrifuge tubes for the easy extraction of psychoactive substances from urine samples and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry determination

BACKGROUND

Sample extraction is one of the most critical steps in most of the analytical processes. Nowadays, there is a demand for simple approaches that can effectively extract and concentrate target analytes from complex matrices, like biofluids, with accurate and reliable results.

RESULTS

A porous monolith of poly(methacrylic acid-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) has been immobilized on the inner wall of a 2 mL commercial polypropylene microcentrifuge tube through radical photopolymerization, using bis(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)phenylphosphine oxide as radical initiator and 405 nm laser pointer activation. Photopolymerization parameters were adjusted to obtain a continuous and homogeneous polymer layer (0.16 mm wet polymer thickness and 31 mg dry polymer weight) in the inner tube surface. Extraction efficiency of twelve psychoactive substances was assessed by the evaluation of the effect of sample pH, extraction and desorption times, and desorption solvent volume. Moreover, matrix effect, reusability and stability of monolith-coated microcentrifuge tubes were studied. Sample extracts were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, providing limits of quantification (LOQ) from 0.2 to 2.7 μg L-1, recoveries from 80 to 118 %, relative standard deviations lower than 17 %, and a linear range from LOQ to 500 μg L-1.

SIGNIFICANCE

The proposed device is suitable for the easy and simple extraction of psychoactive substances from urine samples with a high portability, reduced solvent consumption, low cost, and low environmental impact.

Organic-silica hybrid monolithic sorbents for sample preparation techniques: A review on advances in synthesis, characterization, and applications

Organic-silica hybrid monolithic materials have attracted considerable attention as potential stationary phases in separation science. These materials combine the advantages of organic polymer and silica-based monoliths, including easy preparation, lower back pressure, high permeability, excellent mechanical strength, thermal stability, and tunable surface chemistry with high surface area and selectivity. The outstanding chromatographic efficiency as stationary phase of hybrid monolithic capillary columns for capillary liquid chromatography and capillary electrochromatography has been reported in many papers. Organic-silica hybrid monolithic materials have also been extensively used in the field of sample preparation. Owing to their surface functionalities, these porous sorbents offer unique selectivity for pre-concentration of different analytes in the most complex matrixes by fast dynamic transport. These sorbents not only improve the analytical method sensitivity, but also introduce novelties in terms of extraction devices and instrument coupling strategies. The current review covers the period spanning from 2017 to 2023 and describes the properties of organic-inorganic hybrid monolithic materials, the present status of this technology and summarizes recent developments in their use as innovative sorbents for microextraction sample preparation techniques (solid phase microextraction with pipette tip, offline in-tube SPME, in-tube SPME online with LC, and in-tube SPME directly coupled with mass spectrometry). Aspects such as the synthesis methods (sol-gel process, one-pot approach, and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes-based procedure), characterization techniques, and strategies to improve extraction efficiency in various applications in different areas (environmental, food, bioanalysis, and proteomics) are also discussed.

Benzoyl isothiocyanate modified surface of silica gel as the extraction material for adsorbing steroid hormones in water

Steroid hormones have been listed as priority pollutants in the environment, and their detection and pollution control deserve our extensive attention. In this study, a modified silica gel adsorbent material was synthesized by benzoyl isothiocyanate reaction with hydroxyl groups on the silica gel surface. The modified silica gel was used as a solid phase extraction filler for the extraction of steroid hormones from water, which was further analyzed by the HPLC-MS/MS method. The FT-IR, TGA, XPS, and SEM analysis indicated that benzoyl isothiocyanate was successfully grafted on the surface of silica gel to form a bond with an isothioamide group and benzene ring as the tail chain. The modified silica gel synthesized at 40 °C showed excellent adsorption and recovery rates for three steroid hormones in water. Methanol at pH 9.0 was selected as the optimal eluent. The adsorption capacity of the modified silica gel for epiandrosterone, progesterone, and megestrol acetate was 6822 ng mg^-1, 13 899 ng mg^-1, and 14 301 ng mg^-1, respectively. Under optimal conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for 3 steroid hormones by modified silica gel extraction with HPLC-MS/MS detection were 0.02-0.88 μg L^-1 and 0.06-2.22 μg L^-1, respectively. The recovery rate of epiandrosterone, progesterone, and megestrol was between 53.7% and 82.9%, respectively. The modified silica gel has been successfully used to analyze steroid hormones in wastewater and surface water.

Sponge-nested polymer monolith sorptive extraction

Polymer monoliths are an alternative to traditional particle-packed supports used in solid-phase extraction because of their ease of preparation, high porosity, and pH stability. They often required the attachment of monoliths to a support, such as the internal walls of a column to enable their use for sample preparation. Applications of free-standing polymer monoliths are rarely found because of their limited mechanical stability. Herein, divinylbenzene monoliths were polymerised within a commercial melamine-formaldehyde sponge using different polymerisation times. The sponge-nested polymer monoliths are highly robust, and their size and shape can be easily adjusted for desired applications. The prepared sponge-nested polymer monoliths had surface areas in the range of 237 m² g^-1 to 369 m² g^-1. A melamine-formaldehyde sponge cut into 1 cm³ cubes were used to template the polymer monoliths. Miniaturized monoliths with a size of 0.125 cm³ were directly cut from the larger cubes without compromising the integrity of the porous monolith structure. The resulting nested monolith sorptive extraction (NMSE) supports were applied for the extraction of the endocrine disruptors bisphenol A, 4-tert-butylphenol, and 4-tert-octylphenol. The prepared sponge-nested monoliths are low-cost (40 monoliths/AU$). NMSE was carried out by the direct immersion of the monoliths in the aqueous standards/samples, requiring only an orbital shaker for the extraction procedure. Best performance was obtained for polymer monoliths polymerized for 6 h, enabling limits of detection of 5.6 to 6.5 µg L^-1 for the selected analysis using HPLC-UV.

Novel chemically cross-linked self-molding particulate sorbents as solid-phase extraction media

Here, we describe novel, chemically cross-linked, self-molding particulate polymer sorbents that are utilized as a molding-type solid-phase extraction medium (M-SPEM), which exhibits high permeability and rigidness. To fabricate such M-SPEM, first, polyethyleneimine (PEI)-modified reversed-phase (RP)-type particulate sorbents were synthesized, thereafter, they were chemically cross-linked by a polymer having many epoxy groups together with additional PEI. By optimizing the binding conditions of the particulate sorbents, the resultant M-SPEM has almost the same adsorption properties as the corresponding unmolded particulate sorbent for some polar (e.g., uracil and adenine) compounds. The binding technique proposed here is expected to facilitate the fabrication of molding-type sorbents and improve the performance of the SPE procedure.

Current development of bioanalytical sample preparation techniques in pharmaceuticals

Sample preparation is considered as the bottleneck step in bioanalysis because each biological matrix has its own unique challenges and complexity. Competent sample preparation to extract the desired analytes and remove redundant components is a crucial step in each bioanalytical approach. The matrix effect is a key hurdle in bioanalytical sample preparation, which has gained extensive consideration. Novel sample preparation techniques have advantages over classical techniques in terms of accuracy, automation, ease of sample preparation, storage, and shipment and have become increasingly popular over the past decade. Our objective is to provide a broad outline of current developments in various bioanalytical sample preparation techniques in chromatographic and spectroscopic examinations. In addition, how these techniques have gained considerable attention over the past decade in bioanalytical research is mentioned with preferred examples. Modern trends in bioanalytical sample preparation techniques, including sorbent-based microextraction techniques, are primarily emphasized.

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Bioanalytical sampling techniques are described with suitable applications in pharmaceuticals.

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The pros and cons of each bioanalytical sampling techniques are described.

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Relevant biological matrices are outlined.

Investigation of the effect of microflow reactor diameter on condensation reactions in l-proline-immobilized polymer monoliths

Structure of porous monolith in a microflow reactor and the reactor diameter affect the residence time distribution (RTD). The effect of the RTD on the catalytic efficiency of the asymmetric aldol addition reaction was examined.

Trace determination of antifungal drugs in biological fluids through a developed approach of hydrogel-based spin-column micro-solid-phase extraction followed by LC-MS/MS analysis

In the present research, a blended polyacrylamide-chitosan hydrogel was synthesized. For the first time, the prepared sorbent was efficiently employed in a hydrogel-based spin-column setup as a promising format. The proposed method was applied for monitoring the trace amounts of ketoconazole, clotrimazole, and miconazole in blood samples. Effective adsorption and desorption parameters were optimized using a central composite design and the one-variable-at-a-time method. Under the optimal conditions, the calibration curves were linear in the range of 15.0-1000.0, 1.0-1000.0, and 2.0-1000.0 ng mL^-1 for ketoconazole, clotrimazole, and miconazole, respectively, along with intra- and interday precision less than 8.4%. Limits of detection were obtained between 0.2 and 5.0 ng mL^-1 . The preconcentration factors were found in the range of 5.9-7.8. The introduced method was successfully applied for micro-solid-phase extraction of trace amounts of target antifungal drugs in blood samples, followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Satisfactory relative recoveries of 94.5-103.5% were obtained, implying method reliability. Overall, the proposed method provides good accuracy and repeatability, high reusability, and good applicability to determine antifungal drugs in complex biological matrices.

Molding-type Solid-phase Extraction Media Glued with Commercially Available Adhesives

The handling of a particulate sorbent for solid-phase extraction is often troublesome because it causes static clinging and scattering. To overcome this problem, a production method for a simple molding-type solid-phase extraction medium (M-SPEM) was developed in this study by using commercially available adhesives. The content of a particulate sorbent can increase to as much as 85 wt% in the M-SPEM. Because of the high content, the proposed M-SPEMs have a higher specific surface area than previous monolithic media.

A rapid method for on-line solid-phase extraction and determination of dioscin in human plasma using a homemade monolithic sorbent combined with high-performance liquid chromatography

A phenyl-based polymer monolithic column was prepared via free radical polymerization in a stainless steel column with the size of 4.6 mm i.d. × 50 mm, using ethylene glycol phenyl ether acrylate as the monomer. The resulting monolithic column shows high porosity of 73.42% and relative uniform pore structure, as characterized by mercury porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The optimized polymer monolith column was used for on-line solid-phase extraction prior to the reversed phase mode HPLC-UV analysis for the determination of dioscin in human plasma, using a COSMOSIL C18 column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 4.5 μm). Water was used to wash non-retained components from the SPE sorbent, and methanol water (80:20, V/V) was used as the mobile phase for isocratic elution of dioscin. The maximum adsorbed quantity of dioscin to the SPE column is 6.79 mg/g, which is high enough for the quantitative analysis of dioscin in plasma, due to the low content of dioscin in plasma. The method was validated by assessing the linearity, lower limit of quantification, intra- and inter-day precision, accuracy, and repeatability. The developed method was applied for the analysis of dioscin in plasma from a volunteer who had orally administered an aqueous extract of dioscorea nipponica rhizome, showing the method capable of detecting dioscin in the plasma. These results show that the developed method is a rapid method for on-line solid-phase extraction and determination of dioscin from plasma, exhibiting good selectivity with hydrogen bond interaction and hydrophobic interaction, good clean-up ability, cost-saving, and time-saving. Graphical abstract.

Fast fabrication of a hybrid monolithic column containing cyclic and aliphatic hydrophobic ligands via photo-initiated thiol-ene polymerization

Three monomers, octakis (3-mercaptopropyl) octasilsesquioxane, 1,2,4-trivinylcyclohexane and isophytol were employed to synthesize a novel monolithic stationary phase via photo-initiated thiol-ene click polymerization for reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Several factors such as porogenic system, reaction time and the molar ratio of functional groups were investigated in detail. The resulting poly(POSS-co-TVCH-co-isophytol) monolithic column exhibited suitable permeability for fast separation and outstanding thermal stability. Five alkylbenzenes were employed to evaluate the ability of chromatographic separation of the resulting monolithic columns at different flow rates, and showed the highest column efficiencies of 90,200-93,100 N/m (corresponding to 10.4-10.6 μm of plate height) at a velocity of 0.41 mm/s. The baseline separations of five anilines and eight phenols further proved the applicability of poly(POSS-co-TVCH-co-isophytol) monolithic column in the separation of small molecules.

Monolith columns for liquid chromatographic separations of intact proteins: A review of recent advances and applications

In this article we survey 256 references (with an emphasis on the papers published in the past decade) on monolithic columns for intact protein separation. Protein enrichment and purification are included in the broadly defined separation. After a brief introduction, we describe the types of monolithic columns and modes of chromatographic separations employed for protein separations. While the majority of the work is still in the research and development phase, papers have been published toward utilizing monolithic columns for practical applications. We survey these papers as well in this review. Characteristics of selected methods along with their pros and cons will also be discussed.

A lab-on-a-chip for monolith-based preconcentration and electrophoresis separation of phosphopeptides

A real μTAS integrating monolith-based IMAC enrichment, electrophoresis separation and fluorescence detection of phosphopeptides is reported for the first time.

Solid supports for extraction and preconcentration of proteins and peptides in microfluidic devices: A review

Determination of proteins and peptides is among the main challenges of today's bioanalytical chemistry. The application of microchip technology in this field is an exhaustively developed concept that aims to create integrated and fully automated analytical devices able to quantify or detect one or several proteins from a complex matrix. Selective extraction and preconcentration of targeted proteins and peptides especially from biological fluids is of the highest importance for a successful realization of these microsystems. Incorporation of solid structures or supports is a convenient solution employed to face these demands. This review presents a critical view on the latest achievements in sample processing techniques for protein determination using solid supports in microfluidics. The study covers the period from 2006 to 2015 and focuses mainly on the strategies based on microbeads, monolithic materials and membranes. Less common approaches are also briefly discussed. The reviewed literature suggests future trends which are discussed in the concluding remarks.

Preparation of Polypropylene Spin Tips Filled with Immobilized Titanium(IV) Ion Monolithic Adsorbent for Robust Phosphoproteome Analysis

In this study, we developed a Ti(IV) monolithic spin tip for phosphoproteome analysis of a minute amount of biological sample for the first time. The surface of polypropylene pipet tip was activated by the photoinitiator benzophenone under UV light radiation followed by polymerization of ethylene glycol methacrylate phosphate and bis-acrylamide in the tip to form a porous monolith with reactive phosphate groups. The as-prepared tips grafted with monolithic adsorbent were then chelated with titanium(IV) ion for phosphopeptide enrichment. It was found that the tips enabled fast and efficient capture of phosphopeptides from microscale complex samples. The monolithic tip was demonstrated to have a detection limit as low as 5 fmol β-casein tryptic digest, along with an exceptionally high specificity to capture phosphopeptides from complex tryptic digest mixed with an unphosphorylated protein and a phosphorylated protein at a molar ratio up to 1000:1. When the tip was applied to enrich phosphopeptides from 5 μg of tryptic digest of complex HeLa cell proteins, 1185 high confidence of phosphorylated sites were successfully identified with the specificity as high as 92.5%. So far, this is the most sensitive phosphoproteomics analysis using a standard liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) system for proteome-wide phosphorylation analysis in mammalian cells.

Monolith dip-it: a bifunctional device for improving the sensitivity of direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry

A bifunctional monolith dip-it was fabricated and applied for improving the sensitivity of direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS).

Spin column extraction as a new sample preparation method in bioanalysis

Sample preparation is important in obtaining accurate data for qualification and quantification in bioanalysis. We have recently focused on monolithic silica for high-throughput analysis. These extraction processes - using monolithic silica packed in spin column - such as sample loading, washing and elution, are executed by centrifugation. There are several possibilities such as on-column derivatization for the determination of amines or carboxylic acids in the sample. The spin column extraction reduces the sample preparation time required for determination of drugs and other chemicals in biological materials and increases productivity in bioanalysis. We expect spin column extraction to become the mainstream method of sample processing in the future.

High-internal-phase-emulsion polymeric monolith coupled with liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry for enrichment and sensitive detection of trace cytokinins in plant samples

High-internal-phase-emulsion polymers (polyHIPEs) show great promise as solid-phase-extraction (SPE) materials because of the tremendous porosity and highly interconnected framework afforded by the high-internal-phase-emulsion (HIPE) technique. In this work, polyHIPE monolithic columns as novel SPE materials were prepared and applied to trace enrichment of cytokinins (CKs) from complex plant samples. The polyHIPE monoliths were synthesized via the in-situ polymerization of the continuous phase of a HIPE containing styrene (STY) and divinylbenzene (DVB) in a stainless column, and revealed highly efficient and selective enrichment ability for aromatic compounds. Under the optimized experimental conditions, a method using a monolithic polyHIPE column combined with liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) was developed for the simultaneous extraction and sensitive determination of trans-zeatin (tZ), meta-topolin (mT), kinetin (K), and kinetin riboside (KR). The proposed method had good linearity, with correlation coefficients (R (2)) from 0.9957 to 0.9984, and low detection limits (LODs, S/N = 3) in the range 2.4-47 pg mL(-1) for the four CKs. The method was successfully applied to the determination of CKs in real plant samples, and obtained good recoveries ranging from 68.8 % to 103.0 % and relative standard deviations (RSDs) lower than 16 %.

Fast and Online Determination of Five Avermectin Residues in Foodstuffs of Plant and Animal Origin Using Reusable Polymeric Monolithic Extractor Coupled with LC-MS/MS

A hydrophobic monolith (10 mm × 2.1 mm i.d.) was developed as a reusable online solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbent coupled with LC-MS/MS for the rapid determination of five avermectin residues in foodstuffs of both plant and animal origin. The online SPE was achieved using a 10 mmol/L ammonium acetate solution as the loading solvent, and acetonitrile (MeCN) was selected for the washing step. After being transferred from the monolith into a C18 analytical column using MeCN, the analytes were analyzed by LC-MS/MS using MeCN/0.1% NH4OH (10:90, v/v) as the mobile phase. The detection limit was 2 μg/kg for five avermectins, and the recoveries in fresh pear, chili seed, bovine muscle, and milk ranged from 71.8% to 101.3% with relative standard deviations of less than 8.94%. The online SPE and determination were achieved within 15 min, and the monolithic extractor was reusable for more than 500 experiments.

The current role of on-line extraction approaches in clinical and forensic toxicology

In today's clinical and forensic toxicological laboratories, automation is of interest because of its ability to optimize processes, to reduce manual workload and handling errors and to minimize exposition to potentially infectious samples. Extraction is usually the most time-consuming step; therefore, automation of this step is reasonable. Currently, from the field of clinical and forensic toxicology, methods using the following on-line extraction techniques have been published: on-line solid-phase extraction, turbulent flow chromatography, solid-phase microextraction, microextraction by packed sorbent, single-drop microextraction and on-line desorption of dried blood spots. Most of these published methods are either single-analyte or multicomponent procedures; methods intended for systematic toxicological analysis are relatively scarce. However, the use of on-line extraction will certainly increase in the near future.

Determination of Sudan dyes in chili pepper powder by online solid-phase extraction with a butyl methacrylate monolithic column coupled to liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

A poly(butyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) monolithic column was fabricated and used as a novel sorbent for online solid-phase extraction coupled to liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous determination of Sudan I-IV in chili pepper powder. The prepared columns were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, and pressure drop measurements. Online solid-phase extraction was performed on the synthesized monolithic column using 10 mM ammonium acetate solution as the loading solution with the aid of an online cleanup chromatography system. The desorption of Sudan I-IV was achieved with acetonitrile as the eluting solution at the flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The extracted analytes were subsequently eluted into a C18 analytical column for chromatographic separation using a mixture of 10% acetonitrile/90% formic acid (0.5%) solution as the mobile phase. Under the optimized conditions, the developed method had linear range of 1.0-50 μg/kg, a detection limit of 0.3 μg/kg, and a quantification limit of 1.0 μg/kg for each analyte. The intraday and interday recoveries of Sudan I-IV in chili pepper powder samples ranged from 94.8 to 100.9% and 94.9 to 99.4%, respectively. The intraday and interday precision were between 3.37-7.01% and 5.01-7.68%, respectively.