Simultaneous enantiomeric determinations of acid and ester imidazolinone herbicides in a soil sample by two-dimensional direct chiral liquid chromatography.

A two-dimensional HPLC method for the simultaneous direct chiral enantiomeric determination of acid and ester IMI herbicides has been described. Difficulties arising from differences in polarity were overcome. Firstly, the imazaphyr, imazethapyr and imazamethabenz methyl herbicides were separated in a C18 achiral column. Then, their respective enantiomers were separated using a protein chiral AGP(TM) column; a heart-cut mode was used. Mobile phases of the two systems were compatibilized, after optimizing by factorial design using multiple response analysis. The proposed method has been validated by recovery studies from an enriched soil sample. Important enantiomer parameters such as enantioresolution higher than 1.12, enantiomeric ratio (ER) close to 1 and enantiomeric fraction (EF) around 0.5 were obtained for standards, confirming that herbicides are present as racemates.

Free D-amino acids determination in ready-to-eat cooked ham irradiated with electron-beam by indirect chiral HPLC.

Potential racemization of L-amino acids (AA) in ready-to-eat (RTE) cooked ham after hygienization by electron-beam irradiation between 1 and 8kGy was studied. An indirect chiral method based on the derivatization reaction of AA with o-phthaldialdehyde and N-acetyl-L-cysteine followed by reversed-phase HPLC and fluorimetric detection was applied to detect ten enantiomeric pairs of free AA (Asp, Ser, Thr, Ala, Tyr, Val, Trp, Phe and Leu). Five of the D-AA were not found in any of the samples analyzed; the other five remaining D-AA (D-Asp, D-Ser, D-Ala, D-Val and D-Leu) were detected both in irradiated and non-irradiated cooked ham samples, their content being in the range 1.25-13.79µg/g. Although significant differences appeared for a few of the samples and doses, no positive correlation between the D-AA content and the irradiation doses was observed. Therefore, the electron-beam irradiation technique could be useful for sanitation of packed RTE cooked ham at doses allowed by WHO and EU, since it remains chemically safe to eat.

Determination of carbamate, phenylurea and phenoxy acid herbicide residues by gas chromatography after potassium tert-butoxide/dimethyl sulphoxide/ethyl iodide derivatization reaction.

The usefulness of the potassium tert-butoxide/dimethyl sulphoxide/ethyl iodide reaction with carbamate and phenylurea herbicides, and its application to phenoxy acids as a way to prevent hazards and toxicity of the sodium hydride/dimethyl sulphoxide/methyl iodide reaction was studied. Using factorial design optimization of this reaction was carried out. A solid-phase extraction method using dimethyl sulphoxide as eluent on-line with this reaction was developed to determine these herbicides in water samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Relative standard deviation values were lower than 10% for most of the herbicides in multicomponent trace determinations. Detection limits were in the 0.110-0.652 ng L(-1) concentration range. The validity of the method was confirmed by recovery studies from natural water samples.

Reassessment of the methyl derivatization reaction of carbamates with sodium hydride/dimethyl sulfoxide/methyl iodide for their determination by gas chromatography.

A deep revision of the carbamate methyl derivatization reaction with sodium hydride/dimethyl sulfoxide/methyl iodide was carried out. Representative carbamates, R(1)-NH-COO-R(2), mainly N-methyl and N-aryl ones, have been studied in order to clarify which carbamates undergo this reaction. Two possible reaction routes are proposed; the route depends on the carbamate substituent (-OR(2) group) more than on the methyl or aryl groups joined to the NH moiety as literature indicates. The classification of carbamates in N-methyl and N-aryl is not suitable to predict the methylation pathway. A laboratory-made closed reactor allows handling the reagents involved, minimizing hazards and simplifying the procedure for rapid analysis.

Indirect chiral HPLC determination and fluorimetric detection of D-amino acids in milk and oyster samples.

The indirect chiral method, based on the o-phthaldialdehyde reaction using the chiral N-acetyl-L-cysteine reagent, has been optimized to determine D-amino acids in milk and oyster samples. Both the derivatization reaction and the HPLC separation have been improved, and simple sample treatments were proposed. The milk sample preparation involved centrifugation and filtration through polytetrafluoroethylene filters for determination of free D-AA. Two methods, nonenzymatic and enzymatic, were applied to determination of free and total D-AA, respectively, in oyster samples. The D-AA contents were in the range of 0.14 to 4.32 mg/L for milk samples and 0.80 to 15.9 mg/g for oyster samples, with relative standard deviations lower than 10% (n = 4), except for D-Tyr. In general, mean recoveries were greater than 90% with relative standard deviations lower than 9% (n = 4) at concentration levels from 0.055 to 0.426 mg/L for milk samples and 0.348 to 1.10 mg/ g for oyster samples.

Direct determination of monolinuron, linuron and chlorbromuron residues in potato samples by gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection.

A gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection direct method for methoxyurea herbicide determination in powdered potato and fresh potato samples has been developed. A previous study of the thermal stability of the phenylurea herbicides seems to confirm that the ones containing the methoxy radical, i.e. monolinuron, linuron and chlorbromuron, were stable. The herbicides were extracted from the sample through liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane-light petroleum (1:1), followed by solid-phase extraction in a C8 cartridge. The recoveries were in the range 84-95% for powdered potato and 86-101% for fresh potato. The RSD values were less than 10%, at 0.1 microg g(-1) concentration level (n = 4) for both types of samples. Detection limits of the method were 7.0-30 ng g(-1) for powdered potato and 6.0-50 ng g(-1) for fresh potato.

Determination of PAH in food samples by HPLC with fluorimetric detection following sonication extraction without sample clean-up.

A rapid method is proposed for the determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in non-fatty food (mashed potato, potato and toasted bread samples) based on their extraction with ethyl ether-methylene chloride (1:1) by sonication, and subsequent separation by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorimetric detection. A Hypersil Green PAH column was used with a gradient of acetonitrile-water as the mobile phase, together with a programme of ten excitation and emission wavelength pairs. At levels 1.60-2320 microg kg(-1), mean recoveries of PAH were in the range 70-86% for mashed potato, potato and toasted bread samples. The relative standard deviations were in the range 4.2-11% (n = 6). Total PAH found in mashed potato were in the range 9.35-17.1 microg kg(-1), in potato samples 8.47-17.2 microg kg(-1) and in toasted bread samples 7.38-18.0 microg kg(-1), with relative standard deviations in the range 0.8-12%. Only chrysene, determined in Ortiz toasted bread (7.38 microg kg(-1)), has carcinogenic properties.

Stability studies of carbamate pesticides and analysis by gas chromatography with flame ionization and nitrogen-phosphorus detection.

As a result of thermal stability studies of carbamate pesticides, a method has been proposed for their direct determination by gas chromatography in the ranges 1-20 and 0.1-1 mg l(-1), using flame ionization and nitrogen-phosphorus detection, respectively. The method allows the determination of propham, propoxur, carbofuran, carbaryl, methiocarb, isopropoxyphenol and naphthol in powdered potato samples. The analytes were previously extracted with a light petroleum-dichloromethane (1:1, v/v) mixture and preconcentred by solid-phase extraction through a C8 cartridge. The recoveries obtained from spiked potato samples (n=4 replicates) at two concentration levels, 10 and 0.5 mg of pesticide per kg of sample, were in the ranges 72-115 and 50-73%, with relative standard deviations of 2-7 and 5-8%, respectively. The detection limits were 50-210 and 41-53 microg kg(-1) with flame ionization and nitrogen-phosphorus detection, respectively, and reaching the maximum residue levels, 0.05 mg kg(-1) for methiocarb and propoxur, set by the Real Decreto 280/1994 (based on the European directive).

Determination of herbicides in soil samples by gas chromatography: optimization by the simplex method.

An analytic method for the determination of phenoxy acid herbicides and 2,4-D esters in soil samples by GC-FID is described. The esterification reaction with MeOH and H(2)SO(4) as catalyst has been used, optimizing experimental variables by the 'Simplex method'. The recoveries in soil samples were between 76 and 97% with relative S.D.s between 4 and 7% (n=4) at level of concentration of 5 and 10 mug ml(-1) for phenoxy acids and 2,4-D esters, respectively.

Multicomponent analysis of chlorophenols by diode array derivative spectrophotometry.

A multicomponent analysis method is proposed for the determination of chlorophenols by diode array derivative spectrophotometry. The method is based on formation of ion-pairs with tetrabutylammonium as counterion and extraction in chloroform at pH 9.1. Quantitative determinations (within the 2-20 mg/l. concentration range) of two-, three- and four-component mixtures were possible, using the first derivative spectra and a least-squares computer programme.