Retention and selectivity properties of carbamate pesticides on novel polar-embedded stationary phases.

This study describes the use of stationary phases with polar functionality suitable for the chemical analysis of carbamates pesticides and comparing with conventional alkyl C8 and C18 phases. The emphasis of this study was to compare the selectivity and retention of the pesticides on different stationary phases, bonded onto 1.7 microm partially porous silica particles under isocratic separation condition. Four stationary phases including: phenylaminopropyl (PAP) phase, bidentate propylurea-C18 (BPUC(18)), C8 and C18, were successfully bonded on the partially porous silica spheres as evidenced by (29)Si and (13)C solid-state NMR analysis. The phenylaminopropyl phase exhibited smaller retentivity and enhanced selectivity compared to the alkyl C8 phase; the analysis time to run separation of the six carbamate pesticides (i.e., methomyl, propoxur, carbofuran, carbaryl, isoprocarb, and promecarb) on the PAP phase was threefold faster than alkyl C8 phase. In a similar manner, the BPUC(18) phase shows similar selectivity to that of the PAP phase, but with longer retentivity; although the BPUC(18) phase is characterized with a lesser degree of retentivity for the carbamate pesticides than the conventional alkyl C18 phase. We propose that pi-pi and weak polar interactions between the carbamate pesticides and the PAP phase dominates the separation mechanism and providing a superior selectivity; faster separation time was also achieved as a result of smaller retentivity. Whereas the C8 and C18 bonded phases exhibits only hydrophobic interactions with the pesticides, leading to larger retentivity. The BPUC(18) phase is shown to interact via polar-polar interactions in addition to hydrophobic interactions with the pesticides, providing similar selectivity with the PAP phase but with larger retentivity.

Cloud-point extraction and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of carbamate insecticide residues in fruits.

A cloud-point extraction (CPE) method using Triton X-114 non-ionic surfactant was developed for the extraction and preconcentration of carbamate insecticide residues (i.e., methomyl, propoxur, carbofuran, carbaryl, isoprocarb, and promecarb) in fruit samples. The optimum conditions of CPE were 1.5% (w/v) Triton X-114, 7.0% (w/v) NaCl and 20 min equilibrated at 45 degrees C. The surfactant-rich phase was then analyzed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection at 270 nm, under gradient separation using methanol and 0.1% (v/v) acetic acid. Under the study conditions, six carbamate insecticides were successfully separated within 27 min. Good reproducibility was obtained with the relative standard deviation of <3% for retention time and <9% for peak area. Limits of detection in the studied fruit samples were in the range of 0.1-1.0 mg kg(-1). No carbamate insecticides were detected in the studied fruit samples. The high recoveries of the spiked fruit samples were obtained in the range 80.0-107%. The CPE method has been shown to be a potential useful methodology for the preconcentration of the target analytes, with a preconcentration factor of 14. Moreover, the method is simple, has high sensitivity, consumes much less solvent than traditional methods, and is environmental friendly.

Pre-capillary derivatisation and capillary zone electrophoresis for amino acids analysis in beverages.

A simple and rapid method for the simultaneous analysis of amino acids has been developed. Amino acids were derivatised based on pre-capillary derivatisation with 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonate (NQS) in basic medium (pH 10.0) and developed reaction at 70 degrees C. Their derivatives were analysed by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). The parameters affecting CZE separation were investigated including buffer (pH, type and concentration), organic modifier and separation voltage. The optimum condition was 70 mmol L(-1) borate (pH 10.0) containing 10% acetonitrile, separation voltage of 12 kV, and sample injection (0.5 psi, 5s) and on-capillary detection at 240 nm. The separation of seven amino acids was achieved within 17 min. The detection limit was 1.0 mg L(-1) for all studied amino acids. The calibration curves were linear in the concentration range of 1.0-100.0 mg L(-1). The repeatability, intra-day and inter-day analysis were < or = 1.0% and < or = 2.0% for migration time and < or = 5.0% and 6.0% for peak area. The proposed method has been applied to several beverage samples with only a simple dilution and filtration treatment of sample before derivatisation and analysed by CZE.

Role of different salts on cloud-point extraction of isoprocarb and promecarb insecticides followed by high-performance liquid chromatography.

The influence of salt additive on cloud point extraction (CPE) of isoprocarb and promecarb insecticides is described. Types of salt (Na(2)CO(3), CaCl(2), MgSO(4), Na(2)SO(4), NaHCO(3) and NaCl) and concentrations were studied. The extracted target compounds were analyzed using reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Among the salts studied, Na(2)CO(3) was found to be the most effective salt for salting out of both insecticides, resulting in high extraction efficiency (>95%) and high enrichment factor of up to 18 compared to extraction without preconcentration. The optimum CPE conditions were 1.5% (w/v) Triton X-114, 3.0% (w/v) Na(2)CO(3), and 20-min equilibration at 45°C. Under the selected conditions, the linear range of 0.05 to 3.0 mg/L was found for both analytes. The limits of detection for isoprocarb and promecarb were 10 and 20 µg/L, respectively. High intra-day (n = 9) and inter-day (n = 3 × 4 days) precisions with relative standard deviations <1% and <8% were obtained for retention time and peak area, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the residue analysis of target compounds in beverages (i.e., fruit juice, vegetable juice and wine samples), which provided high recoveries (>80%, on average) for spiked samples at three levels (0.05, 0.10 and 0.50 mg/L).

Mixed micelle-cloud point extraction for the analysis of penicillin residues in bovine milk by high performance liquid chromatography.

A mixed micelle-cloud point extraction (MM-CPE) has been developed for the analysis of penicillin antibiotics (ampicillin, penicillin G, oxacillin, and cloxacillin) in milk samples using Triton X-114 (TX-114) and cethyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as the mixed micellar extractant. The parameters affecting the MM-CPE that were investigated including solution pH, CTAB concentration, TX-114 concentration, electrolyte salt, equilibration temperature and incubation time. The optimum MM-CPE conditions were: 10 mmol L(-1) phosphate buffer pH 8, 0.06% (w/v) CTAB, 1.5% (w/v) TX-114, and 7% (w/v) Na(2)SO(4), and 5 min equilibration at 40 degrees C. The separation of penicillins was achieved within 8 min under the HPLC conditions: a Vydac C(18) column, isocratic elution of 5 mmol L(-1) phosphate buffer (pH 6.6) and methanol (55:45, v/v), and a flow rate of 1 mL min(-1), with photodiode array detection at 215 and 244 nm. Under the selected condition, the proposed method gave linear calibrations in the range 0.002-10 microg mL(-1) with correlation coefficients greater than 0.999. Limits of detection (LOD) were 2-3 ng mL(-1), and 15-40-fold enhancement compared to that without preconcentration. Good reproducibility was achieved with relative standard deviation <5% for peak area and <3% for retention time. High accuracy, with recoveries higher than 80%, was obtained. The proposed mixed micelle-CPE-HPLC method has shown to be of high potential for the analysis of penicillin residues in milk with LOD comparable to the established maximum residue limits (4-30 ng mL(-1)).

Micellar electrokinetic chromatography with amperometric detection and off-line solid-phase extraction for analysis of carbamate insecticides.

Six selected primary carbamate insecticides, methomyl, carbaryl, carbofuran, propoxur, isoprocarb, and promecarb, were hydrolyzed in alkaline solution, resulting in electroactive derivatives detectable at a platinum (Pt) electrode poised at +0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl (3 M NaCl). The Pt electrode was inserted into a small electrochemical cell and positioned close to the capillary outlet as an end-column detector to detect the carbamate derivatives after electrophoretic separation. Based on their predicted pK(a) values and aqueous solubilities, micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) was optimized for baseline separation of the derivatives using 20 mM borate, pH 10.2 containing 20 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate as a running buffer. When combined with solid-phase extraction (SPE) on octadecyl silica, a preconcentration factor of 100-fold achieved detection to 0.5 microM methomyl and to 0.01 microM for the remaining five pesticides, significantly below the level regulated by government agencies of most countries. The SPE-MEKC method when applied to the separation and analysis of spiked river water and soil samples, yielded results with excellent reproducibility, recovery and selectivity.