Sol-gel niobia sorbent with a positively charged octadecyl ligand providing enhanced enrichment of nucleotides and organophosphorus pesticides in capillary microextraction for online HPLC analysis

Exploring the optimal electropolymerization strategy for the preparation of solid-phase microextraction fibers using pyrrole-dopamine copolymers

In-situ electropolymerization of conductive polymers on the surface of stainless-steel substrates is a well-established but promising procedure for the preparation of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) tools. Herein, different electrochemical methods including constant potential (CP), constant potential pulse (CPP), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) were utilized to fabricate SPME fibers by in-situ electropolymerization of pyrrole-dopamine copolymers (PPY/PDA) on the surface of stainless-steel fibers. The coated fibers were characterized and applied for the direct-immersion SPME (DI-SPME) sampling of ultra-trace amounts of plant hormones including abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellic acid (GA3), and indole acetic acid (IAA) in fruit juices, followed by HPLC-UV determination. The results showed that CV electropolymerization is significantly more efficient than the two other methods. The coatings created by the CV method were satisfactorily uniform, adhesive, and durable and exhibited higher extraction performance compared to the CP and CPP procedures. The important experimental variables of the proposed DI-SPME-HPLC method were evaluated and optimized using response surface methodology with a Box-Behnken design. The developed method showed wide-range linearities, spanning from 0.05 to 20μg mL-1 for GA3, and 0.02 to 20μg mL-1 for ABA and IAA. The limits of detection were obtained 0.01μg mL-1 for GA3, and 0.005μg mL-1 for ABA and IAA. The fiber was successfully employed for the simultaneous DI-SPME-HPLC analysis of plant hormones in fruit juice samples.

Simultaneous enrichment and sequential elution of cis-diol containing molecules and deoxyribonucleotides with bifunctional boronate and titanium (Ⅳ) ion modified-magnetic nanoparticles prior to quantitation by high performance liquid chromatography

Some diseases can cause abnormal concentrations of catecholamines (CAs), nucleosides (NSs) and nucleotides (NTs) in patients. Previous studies normally focused on the detection of the three types of substances separately. In this work, a bifunctional boronate and titanium (Ⅳ) ion affinity magnetic adsorbent with high-capacity was prepared. The adsorbent can simultaneously enrich CAs, NSs and NTs in a single extraction process, and the adsorbed analytes can be sequentially eluted by 1.0% trifluoroacetic acid and 20.0 mmol L-1 Na3PO4. An analytical method of the analytes has been established by coupling the adsorbent with RP-HPLC. The method has low detection limits (0.039-0.708 ng mL-1) and good reproducibility (inter- and intra-day of assay RSDs less than 15.0%). Serum sample from healthy volunteer was successfully quantified for two CAs, four NSs and five NTs. Compared with the reported methods, the proposed method is simpler to operate, consume less samples, and has enough accurate and sensitivity to obtain comprehensive information on the concentrations of analytes in a single extraction process.

Leek-derived codoped carbon dots as efficient fluorescent probes for dichlorvos sensitive detection and cell multicolor imaging

A biomass nitrogen and sulfur codoped carbon dots (NS-Cdots) was prepared by a simple and clean hydrothermal method using leek, and was employed as efficient fluorescent probes for sensitive detection of organophosphorus pesticides (OPs). The leek-derived NS-Cdots emitted blue fluorescence, but was quenched by H₂O₂. Due to acetylcholinesterase/choline oxidase-based cascade enzymatic reaction that produces H₂O₂ and the inhibition effect of OPs on acetylcholinesterase activity, a NS-Cdots-based fluorescence "off-on" method to detect OPs-dichlorvos (DDVP) was developed. More sensitivity and wider linear detection range were achieved from 1.0 × 10^-9 to 1.0 × 10^-3 M (limit of detection = 5.0 × 10^-10 M). This developed method was applied to the detection of DDVP in Chinese cabbage successfully. The average recoveries were in the range of 96.0~104.0% with a relative standard deviation of less than 3.3%. In addition, the NS-Cdots fluorescent probes were also employed successfully in multicolor imaging of living cells, manifesting that the NS-Cdots fluorescent probes have great application potential in agricultural and biomedical fields. Graphical Abstract.

Recent development and trends in sample extraction and preparation for mass spectrometric analysis of nucleotides, nucleosides, and proteins

This review describes the recent developments in sample extraction and preparation techniques for mass spectrometric analysis of nucleotides, nucleosides, and proteins. Unique materials and techniques have been developed for highly selective extraction of nucleotides and nucleosides by solid-phase extraction strategies using various affinities. However, for proteins, the analysis of small-scale sections of diseased tissues (formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues) and the direct analysis of an exact lesion on the surface of diseased tissues (liquid extraction surface analysis) have become important advances in this field. In this review, we focus on the latest developments of these techniques and strategies.