A rapid and simple pretreatment method for benzoylurea insecticides in honey samples using in-syringe dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on the direct solidification of ionic liquids

In situ formation of solidified supramolecular solvent based dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for the enrichment of phenylurea herbicides in water, fruit juice, and milk

A convenient, efficient, and green dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on the in situ formation of solidified supramolecular solvents combined with high performance liquid chromatography was developed for the determination of four phenylurea herbicides in liquid samples, including monuron, monolinuron, isoproturon, and chlortoluron. Herein, a novel supramolecular solvent was prepared by the in situ reaction of [P4448]Br and NH4PF6, which had the advantages of low melting point, high density, and good dispersibility. In addition, the microscopic morphology and physical properties of supramolecular solvent were characterized, and the extraction conditions were optimized. The results showed that the analytes had good linearity (R2 > 0.9998) within the linear range. The limits of detection and quantification for the four phenylurea herbicides were in the range of 0.13-0.19 μg L-1 and 0.45-0.65 μg L-1, respectively. The prepared supramolecular solvent is suitable for the efficient extraction of phenylurea herbicides in water, fruit juice, and milk.

Etched stainless steel wire modified with conjugated microporous polymers-F6 for jacket-free stir bar sorptive extraction of benzoylureas in juice sample

Benzoylurea (BU) insecticides have been widely used for pest control as third-generation insecticides. Considering that their residues in food may cause adverse effects on human health, the upper limits of BUs remaining in food have been set by the administration. Therefore, it is essential to develop a sensitive and efficient analytical method to determine the residues of BUs in food. Stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) is a novel sample preparation technique, and stainless steel wire (SSW) is an ideal substrate for an SBSE device. In this work, a novel SBSE device of SSW jacket-free stir bar with a dumbbell shape was designed and prepared. The conjugated microporous polymer CMP-F6, which possesses a porous structure, high hydrophobicity and rich fluorine-containing functional groups, was immobilized on the surface of SSW by the method of polyacrylonitrile glue adhesion. Compared with previous studies, which used SSW as a substrate, the method of etching partial SSW with hydrochloric acid, on the one hand, made the surface of SSW rough and easy to modify the extraction coating, and on the other hand, converted itself into a dumbbell-shaped structure, which is conducive to improving the extraction efficiency and stability of the SBSE device. The method of SBSE-HPLC-UV was established for determining five BUs. Owing to the hydrophobic interaction and F-F interaction between CMP-F6 and analytes, this method showed good extraction efficiency and had good linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9945) and high sensitivity (LODs in the range of 0.1-0.2 ng mL-1). It was used for the analysis of benzoylurea in an apple juice sample, and the recoveries were 74.3-117.9%.

Bacteria-templated ZIF-8 embedded in polyacrylonitrile nanofibers as a novel sorbent for thin film microextraction of benzoylurea insecticides

In the present work, the rod-like ZIF-8 (ZIF8@E coli) was prepared by fast, easy and environmentally friendly method of biomimetic mineralization with Escherichia coli bacteria as a bio-template and was exploited for the first time in the microextraction. In this regard, electrospun nanofiber mats of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and ZIF8@E coli were prepared by electrospinning method and used as a new sorbent for thin film microextraction (TFME) of benzoylurea insecticides such as Hexaflumuron and Teflubenzuron as model analytes. The PAN/ZIF8@E coli nanocomposite was characterized using electron scanning microscopy and various spectroscopy techniques. Factors affecting the proposed extraction method were screened and optimized using the experiment design strategy. Then, the model analytes were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet (UV) detector after microextraction. Satisfactory figures of merit were obtained for suggested TFME-HPLC-UV under optimum conditions. The suitable linearity varied in the range of 0.5-200 μg L-1 with R2 greater than 0.9968. The limit of detections for Hexaflumuron and Teflubenzuron were 0.12 and 0.15 μg L-1, respectively. The application of the method in the real sample was investigated by analyzing the selected analytes in environmental water and food samples. The spiking recovery of the selected analytes varied in the range of 93.0-109.8 % (RSD≤7.68). The results confirm the efficient application of this new sorbent in TFME approach. Considering the high availability, ease of production, and environmental friendliness of bacteria along with the significant improvement of metal-organic framework (MOF) growth efficiency, biomimetic mineralization is expected to be efficient method for the synthesis of ordered MOFs for use in extraction fields.

Direct solidification of switchable-hydrophilicity salicylic acid: A design for the on-site dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction of benzoylurea insecticides in water and honey samples

This study describes the development of a fully manual method for on-site dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on the direct solidification of switchable-hydrophilicity salicylic acid (on-site DLLME-DSSA) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography with an ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UVD) and its utilization for the detection of benzoylurea insecticides (BUs) in water and honey samples. Salicylic acid (SA), a switchable hydrophilic aromatic acid, was used as an extraction solvent. It can be converted into the hydrophobic/hydrophilic forms in pH-changeable solutions, facilitating facile and effective dispersion and phase separation. Moreover, the melting point of SA (significantly higher than room temperature) enables its direct solidification without an ice-water bath, facilitating its collection by filtration. The dispersion, separation, and collection of the extraction solvent were carried out entirely in a plastic syringe without requiring special apparatus or additional energy. Univariate and response surface analyses were used to optimize various parameters of the on-site DLLME-DSSA method. Under optimal conditions, the limits of determination (LODs) were 1.50 µg L^-1 and 0.03-0.09 mg kg^-1 in water and honey, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for inter-day (n = 5) and intra-day (n = 5) precision were ≤8.4%, whereas the extraction recoveries and enrichment factors for the BUs ranged from 67.0 to 97.1% and 29 to 34, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed method was used for the on-site extraction and laboratory detection of BUs from real water and honey samples. Theoretical analyses indicated non-covalent interactions (such as hydrogen bonds, electrostatic interactions, van der Waals forces, and π-π interactions) to be the main driving force for extraction. This study introduces a switchable hydrophilic aromatic acid capable of direct solidification into on-site DLLME for the first time, opening new frontiers in the development of on-site sample pretreatment methods.

Facile synthesis of magnetic hypercrosslinked polymer for the magnetic solid-phase extraction of benzoylurea insecticides from honey and apple juice samples

In this work, a novel knitting aromatic polymer (KAP) was fabricated for the first time by knitting ferrocene with 1,3,5-tris(bromomethyl)-2,4,6-trimethylbenzene via Friedel-Crafts reaction, and then the KAP was magnetically functionalized with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles to produce a magnetic KAP (M-KAP). Combining M-KAP based magnetic solid-phase extraction with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection, a simple and sensitive method was developed for simultaneous determination of six benzoylurea insecticides (BUs) in honey and apple juice samples. In the optimized conditions, a good linearity for the BUs existed in the range of 1.67-1000 ng g^-1 for honey sample and 0.500-100.0 ng mL^-1 for apple juice sample. The limits of detection were 0.500-1.50 ng g^-1 and 0.150-0.400 ng mL^-1 for honey and apple juice sample, respectively. Satisfactory recoveries were in the range of 85.5-105.5% with RSDs ≤ 8.3%. The developed method demonstrated an excellent practicability for sensitive analysis of the BUs.

Co-precipitation based on layered double hydroxides and anionic surfactants for preconcentration of six benzoylurea insecticides in soft drinks before simultaneous analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography

Layered-double hydroxides (LDHs) modified with anionic surfactants via a co-precipitation method were developed for preconcentrating and simultaneous analysis of six benzoylurea insecticides (BUs) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The anionic surfactants with different chain lengths, including sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium 1-nonane sulfonate (SNS), and sodium 1-hexane sulfonate monohydrate (SHS) were investigated to improve the extraction efficiency of LDHs. The SDBS-LDHs provided the highest efficiency for the enrichment of the BUs studied. Under the chosen conditions, enrichment factors in the range of 38-69 and detection limits in the range of 0.1-0.3 μg L^-1 were achieved. Good reproducibilities (RSD < 13.8%) and recoveries (71.4-118.7%) were also obtained. The proposed preconcentration method, used as an in situ procedure offers rapid and simple simultaneous preparation of LDHs and extraction of BUs. The method was successfully applied for residue analysis of BUs in fruit- and flower-derived soft drink samples.

In-syringe temperature-controlled liquid-liquid microextraction based on solidified floating ionic liquid for the simultaneous determination of triazine and phenylurea pesticide in vegetable protein drinks

A novel in-syringe temperature-controlled liquid-liquid microextraction based on solidified floating ionic liquid (in-syringe TC-LLME-SFIL) combined with high performance liquid chromatography was developed for the simultaneous determination of monuron, chlorotoluron, atrazine, monolinuron, propazine and prometryn in commercial vegetable protein drinks. The samples were deproteinized by trichloroacetic acid and further cleaned up by solid phase extraction column. The ionic liquid tributyldodecylphosphonium tetrafluoroborate ([P_{4 4 4 12}]BF₄) was used as extraction solvent and dispersed into the depurated sample solution to form fine droplets with the assistance of heating and vortex. With the help of an ice bath, the ionic liquid phase solidified and floated on the surface of aqueous phase. After separation from the aqueous phase, the solidified ionic liquids were dissolved with acetonitrile and the resulting solution was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. Some extraction parameters, including type and amount of adsorbent, type and amount of ionic liquids, amount of NaCl, melting temperature and time of ionic liquid, vortex time, pH of sample solution, ice bath temperature and time, were investigated and optimized by single-factor experiment, Plackett-Burman design and Box-Behnken design. The results showed that good linearities (r ≥ 0.9994) were obtained in the concentration range of 7.8-1000.0 μg/L. The limits of detection and quantification were in the range of 0.25-2.59 μg/L and 0.82-8.63 μg/L, respectively. The spiked recoveries were 81.26-118.42% with the relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 3) lower than 8.17%. The present method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of triazine and phenylurea herbicides in vegetable protein drinks.

Z-sep+ based QuEChERS technique for the pre-concentration of malathion pesticide in fruits followed by analysis using UV-Vis spectroscopy

In this work, the concentrations of malathion in fruits were determined using UV-Vis spectrophotometry prior to pre-concentration using QuEChERS. The Z-sep⁺/PSA sorbent combination was used for the d-SPE clean-up and extraction was done using acetonitrile during QuEChERS. The absorbance of malathion was measured using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 415 nm. The QuEChERS parameters, which included type and volume of extraction solvent, type and mass of sorbents, and centrifugation rate, were optimised prior to application of the developed method to real fruit samples. The linear range was from 0.1 to 0.9 mg kg^-1 while the coefficient of determination (R²) was 0.9999. The limit of detection (LOD) for malathion was found to be 0.017 mg kg^-1 and the limit of quantification was 0.05 mg kg^-1. Orange samples were found to have no malathion residues when the developed method was applied to them while the concentrations of malathion in apple and pear samples were 0.07 mg kg^-1 and 0.09 mg kg^-1 respectively.

Dissolvable Mg/Al layered double hydroxides and surfactant as an extractant for trace analysis of benzoylurea insecticides by high performance liquid chromatography

A rapid and simple preconcentration method using dissolvable Mg/Al layered-double hydroxides (LDHs) and high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection (HPLC-PDA) was developed for the analysis of benzoylurea insecticides (BUs) in water and honey samples. The proposed dissolvable LDHs for the extraction can be prepared in one step by the sequential addition of sodium hydroxide, magnesium chloride, aluminium chloride, and sodium dodecyl sulfate into the sample solution containing the target BUs. The co-precipitate phase was simply obtained after centrifugation, and the phase was then dissolved with formic acid before analysis by HPLC. The developed method provided an enrichment factor of 12.5-23.7. LODs were obtained in the range of 0.1-0.3 μg L^-1 for deionized water, 0.2-2.0 μg L^-1 for environmental waters, and 0.5-2.0 μg L^-1 for the analyzed honey samples. Good recoveries ranging from 78.4 to 117.8% and 72.7 to 117.9% for water and honey samples, respectively, were obtained.

Study on the adsorption mechanism of benzoylurea insecticides onto modified hyperbranched polysilicon materials

Several hyperbranched polysilicon (HBPS) materials with different end group modifications were designed and synthesized and the structures were characterized. The modified HBPS polymers were applied to the adsorption of benzoylurea insecticides (BUs). The binding mode and binding energy between the HBPS and BUs were quantified and the results of an adsorption kinetics study and an adsorption thermodynamics experiment were verified by calculation and mutual verification. The adsorption mechanism of BUs onto HBPS was also discussed. The theoretical results show that the most effective way to combine the adsorbent and BUs is via hydrogen bonding when the end group is an amino group. Moreover, the most effective combination when the end group is β-cyclodextrin is the interaction of the BUs with the interior of the cavity to form a host–guest coating. The theoretical results of other end group-modified HBPS materials were also obtained and verified by adsorption experiments. In this work, an experimental method for obtaining the binding mode by theoretical calculations and then verifying it according to adsorption experiments was established.

Several hyperbranched polysilicon with different end group modifications were prepared, and the adsorption mechanism of benzoylureas onto the obtained materials were investigated based on the density functional theory and adsorption studies.

Green pre-concentration techniques during pesticide analysis in food samples

The ever-increasing demand for determining pesticides at low concentration levels in different food matrices requires a preliminary step of pre-concentration which is considered a crucial stage. Recently, the parameter of "greenness" during sample pre-concentration of pesticides in food matrices is as important as selectivity in order to avoid using harmful organic solvents during sample preparation. Developing new green pre-concentration techniques is one of the key subjects. Thus, to reduce the impact on the environment during trace analysis of pesticides in food matrices, new developments in pre-concentration have gone in three separate directions: the search for more environmentally friendly solvents, miniaturization and development of solvent-free pre-concentration techniques. Eco-friendly solvents such as supercritical fluids, ionic liquids and natural deep eutectic solvents have been developed for use as extraction solvents during pre-concentration of pesticides in food matrices. Also, miniaturized pre-concentration techniques such as QuEChERS, dispersive liquid-liquid micro-extraction and hollow-fiber liquid-phase micro-extraction have been used during trace analysis of pesticides in food samples as well as solvent-free techniques such as solid-phase micro-extraction and stir bar sorptive extraction. All these developments which are aimed at ensuring that pesticide pre-concentration in different food matrices is green are critically reviewed in this paper.

Preparation of a magnetic graphene/polydopamine nanocomposite for magnetic dispersive solid-phase extraction of benzoylurea insecticides in environmental water samples

A magnetic graphene/polydopamine (MG/PDA) nanocomposite has been prepared and used as sorbent for magnetic dispersive solid-phase extraction (MDSPE) of four benzoylurea insecticides in environmental water samples. The obtained nanocomposites were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, powder X-ray diffraction, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, surface area and porosity analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. To investigate the adsorption performance of MG/PDA for target analytes, various parameters affecting the MG/PDA-based MDSPE procedure were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the established method exhibits good linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9988) in the concentration range 2.5-500 µg L-1. A low limit of detection (0.75 µg L-1, signal/noise = 3:1), a low limit of quantification (2.50 µg L-1, signal/noise = 10:1), and good precision (intraday relative standard deviation ≤3.6%, interday relative standard deviation ≤4.5%) are also achieved. Finally, the simple, fast, and sensitive sample preparation technique was successfully used to determine benzoylurea insecticides in environmental water samples.

Microwave-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupling to solidification of floating organic droplet for colorants analysis in selected cosmetics by liquid chromatography

A convenient and rapid method was developed for determination of fourteen colorants in selected cosmetics based on microwave-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (MA-DLLME) using solidification of the floating organic droplet (SFOD) as a clean-up step followed by high-performance liquid chromatography diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). DLLME was performed in a microwave device for reducing manual operations and facilitating rapid extraction equilibrium, resulting in high sample throughput and good extraction efficiency. Matrix effects could be effectively eliminated by SFOD technique. Various parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were optimized by multi-response surface methodology. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.25-3.2 mg kg^-1 and 0.85-11.0 mg kg^-1, respectively. The recoveries ranged from 90.2% to 106.1% with relative standard deviations of 0.30-3.1%. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of cosmetics, in which all the colorants could be quantified, and their median values ranged from 4.94 to 591 mg kg^-1 for seventy-two lipsticks, and from 7.70 to 1.73 × 10³ mg kg^-1 for fifty eye shadows, respectively. The proposed protocol could achieve batch preparation of samples and avoid measurement errors from the obvious volume reduction of the recovered extract, and it could serve as a powerful tool for high-throughput analysis of multiple colorants in complex samples.

Dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction of benzoylurea insecticides in water samples with hyperbranched polyester composite as sorbent

Hyperbranched polyester was used as efficient and accessible sorbent in the dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction method.