Determination of phthalates in beverages using multiwalled carbon nanotubes dispersive solid-phase extraction before HPLC-MS.

A microdispersive solid-phase extraction method has been developed using multiwalled carbon nanotubes of 110-170 nm diameter and 5-9 µm length for the extraction of a group of nine phthalic acid esters (i.e., bis(2-methoxyethyl) phthalate, bis-2-ethoxyethyl phthalate, dipropyl phthalate, butylbenzyl phthalate, bis-2-n-butoxyethyl phthalate, bis-isopentyl phthalate, bis-n-pentyl phthalate, dicyclohexyl phthalate, and di-n-octyl phthalate) from tap water as well as from different beverages commercialized in plastic bottles (mineral water, lemon- and apple-flavored mineral water, and an isotonic drink). Determination was carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The extraction procedure was optimized following a step-by-step approach, being the optimum extraction conditions: 50 mL of each sample at pH 6.0, 80 mg of sorbent, and 25 mL of acetonitrile as elution solvent. To validate the methodology, matrix-matched calibration and a recovery study were developed, obtaining determination coefficients >0.9906 and absolute recovery values between 70 and 117% (with relative standard deviations < 17%) in all cases. The limits of quantification of the method were between 0.173 and 1.45 µg/L. After the evaluation of the matrix effects, real samples were also analyzed, finding butylbenzyl phthalate in all samples (except in apple-flavored mineral water), though at concentrations below its limit of quantification of the method.

Synthesis and pharmacological activity of diterpenylnaphthoquinone derivatives.

New diterpenylquinones, combining a diterpene diacid and a naphthoquinone, were prepared from junicedric acid and lapachol. The new derivatives were assessed as gastroprotective agents by the HCl-EtOH-induced gastric lesions model in mice as well as for basal cytotoxicity on the following human cell lines: Normal lung fibroblasts (MRC-5), gastric epithelial adenocarcinoma (AGS), and hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep G2). Several of the new compounds were significantly active as antiulcer agents and showed selective cytotoxicity against AGS cells.

Reduced graphene oxide-coated magnetic-nanoparticles as sorbent for the determination of phthalates in environmental samples by micro-dispersive solid-phase extraction followed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

In this work, the suitability of Fe3O4 nanoparticles coated with reduced-graphene oxide as sorbent was evaluated for the extraction of a group of fourteen phthalic acid esters (i.e. benzylbutyl phthalate (BBP), bis-2-n-butoxyethyl phthalate (DBEP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP), bis-2-ethoxyethyl phthalate (DEEP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), bis-isopentyl phthalate (DIPP), bis-(2-methoxyethyl) phthalate (DMEP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP), bis-n-pentyl phthalate (DNPP), dipropyl phthalate (DPP)) from environmental samples. Extraction was carried out using magnetic-micro dispersive solid-phase extraction while separation, identification and quantification of the target analytes were achieved by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry. The methodology was validated for three different types of water samples using dibutyl phthalate-3,4,5,6-d4 as internal standard for all of them. Recovery values ranged from 70 to 120% for the three matrices with relative standard deviation values lower than 20%. Limits of quantification of the method achieved were in the range 6-178 ng/L for all samples and analytes. The methodology was applied for the evaluation of real samples finding the presence of DMP, DPP, BBP, DIBP and DBP in some of the analysed matrices.