Poly (Octadecyl Methacrylate-Co-Trimethylolpropane Trimethacrylate) Monolithic Column for Hydrophobic in-Tube Solid-Phase Microextraction of Chlorophenoxy Acid Herbicides

Abstract

Chlorophenoxy acid herbicides (CAHs), which are widely used on cereal crops, have become an important pollution source in grains. In this work, a highly hydrophobic poly (octadecyl methacrylate-co-trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate) [poly (OMA-co-TRIM)] monolithic column has been specially prepared for hydrophobic in-tube solid-phase microextraction (SPME) of CAHs in rice grains. Due to the hydrophobicity of CAHs in acid conditions, trace CAHs could be efficiently extracted by the prepared monolith with strong hydrophobic interaction. Several factors for online hydrophobic in-tube SPME, including the length of the monolithic column, ACN and trifluoroacetic acid percentage in the sampling solution, elution volume, and elution flow rate, were investigated with respect to the extraction efficiencies of CAHs. Under the optimized conditions, the limits of detection of the four CAHs fell in the range of 0.9–2.1 μg/kg. The calibration curves provided a wide linear range of 5–600 μg/kg and showed good linearity. The recoveries of this method ranged from 87.3% to 111.6%, with relative standard deviations less than 7.3%. Using this novel, highly hydrophobic poly (OMA-co-TRIM) monolith as sorbent, a simple and sensitive online in-tube SPME-HPLC method was proposed for analysis of CAHs residue in practical samples of rice grains.