Shuhui Liu

Rapid determination of phthalate esters in alcoholic beverages by conventional ionic liquid dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography.

A very simple, fast and environmentally friendly sample extraction method was proposed for the analysis of phthalate esters (PAEs, di-isobutyl phthalate (DIBP), dibutylphthalate (DBP), butylbenzylphthalate (BBP) and bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP)) in alcoholic beverages by using conventional ionic liquid dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction. The samples were extracted by 160 μL 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate in the presence of appropriate amount of ethanol and 10% (w/v) sodium chloride solution; the enriched analytes in sedimented phases were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). Under the optimum conditions, a satisfactory linearity (in the range of 0.02-1 μg mL(-1) for white spirits and 0.01-0.5 μg mL(-1) for red wines with the correlation coefficients (r) varying from 0.9983 to 1), acceptable recovery rates (88.5-103.5% for white spirits and 91.6-104.6% for red wines), good repeatability (RSD ≤ 8.0%) and low detection limits (3.1-4.2 ng mL(-1) for white spirits and 1.5-2.2 ng mL(-1) for red wines) were obtained. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of the four PAEs in 30 white spirits and 11 red wines collected locally, and the DBP content in 63% (19:30) white spirits exceeded the specific migration limit of 0.3 mg kg(-1) established by international regulation.

Salting-out assisted liquid-liquid extraction coupled to dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for the determination of chlorophenols in wine by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A novel procedure of sample preparation combined with high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection is introduced for the analysis of highly chlorinated phenols (trichlorophenols, tetrachlorophenols, and pentachlorophenol) in wine. The main features of the proposed method are (i) low-toxicity diethyl carbonate as extraction solvent to selectively extract the analytes without matrix effect, (ii) the combination of salting-out assisted liquid-liquid extraction and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction to achieve an enrichment factor of 334-361, and (iii) the extract is analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography to avoid derivatization. Under the optimum conditions, correlation coefficients (r) were >0.997 for calibration curves in the range 1-80 ng/mL, detection limits and quantification limits ranged from 0.19 to 0.67 and 0.63 to 2.23 ng/mL, respectively, and relative standard deviation was <8%. The method was applied for the determination of chlorophenols in real wines, with recovery rates in the range 82-104%.

Determination of the Migration of Bisphenol A from Polycarbonate by Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction Combined with High Performance Liquid Chromatography

A novel method for the determination of the migration of bisphenol A (BPA) from polycarbonate water bottles has been developed by using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) followed by high performance liquid chromatography for compliance with the regulatory specific migration limit. Experimental parameters, including the type and volume of extractants and dispersers, the sample solution pH, addition of salt, extraction time, and temperature, were examined and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, average recovery rates for the real samples varied from 82% to 98%, with relative standard deviation values less than 3.6%. The method offered excellent linearity over a range of 0.8–600 µg L−1 with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.9999. Intra-day and inter-day repeatability values expressed as relative standard deviation were 3.9% and 6.9%, respectively. The method quantitation limit and detection limit were 0.7 and 0.2 µg L−1, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of the migration of bisphenol A from 26 polycarbonate water bottles collected locally. The findings indicated the migration from the used bottles was significantly higher than the new ones, and the migration amounts from one sample was very close to the regulatory specific migration limit, and the amounts from seven samples exceeded the daily intake limit for infants.

Determination of total phthalates in edible oils by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection

The previously reported procedure for the determination of the total phthalate in fatty food involved the extraction of phthalates using chloroform/methanol followed by the removal of the solvents before alkaline hydrolysis requiring 20 h and derivatization of phthalic acid. In this study, a phase-transfer catalyst (tetrabutylammonium chloride) was used in the liquid-liquid heterogeneous hydrolysis of phthalates in oil matrix shortening the reaction time to within 25 min. The resulting phthalic acid in the hydrolysate was extracted by a novel molecular complex based dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method coupled with back-extraction before high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the linearity of the method was in the range of 0.5-12 nmol/g with the correlation coefficients (r) >0.997. The detection limit (S/N = 3) was 0.11 nmol/g. Intraday and interday repeatability values expressed as relative standard deviation were 3.9 and 7.1%, respectively. The recovery rates ranged from 82.4 to 99.0%. The developed method was successfully applied for the analysis of total phthalate in seven edible oils.

Rapid determination of α-tocopherol in cereal grains using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction followed by HPLC

The traditional for the determination of α-tocopherol in cereal grains includes saponification of a sample followed by liquid-liquid extraction, and it is time- and solvent consuming. In this study, a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) method was developed to extract α-tocopherol in situ from the saponified grain sample solution. The DLLME experimental parameters including the type and volume of extractants, the volume of dispersers, the addition of salt and the extraction/centrifuging time were examined and optimized. The recommended analytical procedure showed excellent precision (relative SDs of the α-tocopherol amount of 3.1% over intraday and 7.2% over interday), high sensitivity (the detection limit of 1.9 ng/mL), and strong recovery values (88.9-102.5%). In addition, statistical analyses showed no significant difference between the detected amounts of α-tocopherol found by the standardized method and this new procedure. The method was successfully applied to determining the amounts and distribution of α-tocopherol in 14 cereal grain samples.

Study of the mechanism of acetonitrile stacking and its application for directly combining liquid-phase microextraction with micellar electrokinetic chromatography.

Acetonitrile stacking is an online concentration method that is distinctive due to its inclusion of a high proportion of organic solvent in sample matrices. We previously designed a universal methodology for the combination of liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) using acetonitrile stacking and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) mode, thereby achieving large-volume injection of the diluted LPME extractant and the online concentration. In this report, the methodology was extended to the analysis of highly substituted hydrophobic chlorophenols in wines using diethyl carbonate as the extractant. Additionally, the mechanism of acetonitrile stacking was studied. The results indicated that the combination of LPME and MEKC exhibited good analytical performance: with ∼40-fold concentration by LPME, a 20-cm (33% of the total length) sample plug injection of an eight-fold dilution of diethyl carbonate with the organic solvent-saline solution produced enrichments higher by a factor of 260-791. Limits of qualification ranged from 5.5 to 16.0ng/mL. Acceptable reproducibilities of lower than 1.8% for migration time and 8.6% for peak areas were obtained. A dual stacking mechanism of acetonitrile stacking was revealed, involving transient isotachophoresis plus pH-junction stacking. The latter was associated with a pH shift induced by the presence of acetonitrile. The pseudo-stationary phase (Brij-35) played an important role in reducing the CE running time by weakening the isotachophoretic migration of the analyte ions following Cl(-) ions. The combination of acetonitrile stacking and nonionic micelle-based MEKC appears to be a perfect match for introducing water-immiscible LPME extractants into an aqueous CE system and can thus significantly expand the application of LPME-CE in green analytical chemistry.

Determination of benzo[a]pyrene in edible oils using phase-transfer-catalyst-assisted saponification and supramolecular solvent microextraction coupled to HPLC with fluorescence detection

For the analysis of edible oils, saponification is well known as a useful method for eliminating oil matrices. The conventional approach is conducted with alcoholic alkali; it consumes a large volume of organic solvents and impedes the retrieval of analytes by microextraction. In this study, a low-organic-solvent-consuming method has been developed for the analysis of benzo[a]pyrene in edible oils by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Sample treatment involves aqueous alkaline saponification, assisted by a phase-transfer catalyst, and selective in situ extraction of the analyte with a supramolecular solvent. Comparison of the chromatograms of the oil extracts obtained by different microextraction methods showed that the supramolecular solvent has a better clean-up effect for the unsaponifiable matter from oil matrices. The method offered excellent linearity over a range of 0.03- 5.0 ng mL-1 (r > 0.999). Recovery rates varied from 94 to 102% (RSDs <5.0%). The detection limit and quantification limit were 0.06 and 0.19 μg kg-1 , respectively. The proposed method was applied for the analysis of 52 edible oils collected online in China; the analyte contents of 23 tested oil samples exceeded the maximum limit of 2 μg kg-1 for benzo[a]pyrene set by the Commission Regulation of the European Union.

Simultaneous determination of the migrations of bisphenol A and phenol in polycarbonate bottles based on subcritical water extraction and high performance liquid chromatography

A new method was established for the simultaneous determination of the migration amounts of bisphenol A (BPA) and phenol from polycarbonate (PC) bottles based on subcritical water extraction (SWE) and high performance liquid chromatography. The optimum extraction conditions included an extraction temperature of 120 degree C, a pressure of 6.89 MPa (1000 psi), a static extraction time of 1 h and one cycle. Under the conditions, the migration amounts of the BPA ranged from 6.81 to 1116 micro g/g in 11 samples. Phenol was not detectable in 5 samples, and in other ones the migration amounts of phenol varied in the range of 3.25 -6. 08 micro g/g. The traditional soaking extraction experiments showed that PC was subjected to weak hydrolysis after long-time leaching. The BPA and phenol were separated in 8 min. Good linearities were obtained in the range of 0. 05 - 20 mg/L for BPA and 0.02 - 20 mg/L for phenol ( r > 0.999 7). The limits of detection were 7.6 micro g/L for BPA and 2.0 micro g/L for phenol. Intra-day and inter-day repeatabilities (expressed as RSD) were less than 5.21% and 11.63%, respectively. Compared with traditional water soaking extraction, the extraction efficiencies increased 49 - 106 times using this developed SWE method. The procedure is simple, rapid and environment friendly, and can be utilized to determine the migration amounts of BPA and phenol in PC bottles.