Polycarbonate‐coated magnetic nanoparticles for the extraction of imipramine and its primary metabolite from urine

Abstract

This study introduces a reliable and inexpensive magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction to extract imipramine and its primary metabolite (desipramine) from urine samples. To accomplish this aim, Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by sonication, subsequently, polycarbonate was precipitated gradually onto the surface of them to form the adsorbent. Extraction recoveries of 85% and 76%, enrichment factors of 57 and 51, limits of detection of 2.5 and 2.8 μg/L, and limits of quantification of 8.3 and 9.3 μg/L were obtained for imipramine and desipramine under the optimal conditions, respectively. In addition, relative standard deviations for intra‐ (n = 6) and inter‐day (n = 5) precisions at two concentrations (50 and 100 μg/L of each analyte) were less than or equal to 4%. Short extraction time, good repeatability, high enrichment factors, and simplicity are the main advantages of the proposed method.