An analytical methodology based on a molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) procedure was developed for the determination of several triazines (atrazine, simazine, desethylatrazine (DEA), desisopropylatrazine (DIA), and propazine) in vegetable samples. A methacrylic acid-based imprinted polymer was prepared by precipitation polymerisation using propazine as template and toluene as porogen. After removal of the template by Soxhlet extraction, the optimum loading, washing, and elution conditions for MISPE of the selected triazines were established. The optimised MISPE procedure was applied to the extraction of the selected triazines in pea, potato, and corn sample extracts and a high degree of clean-up was obtained. However, some remaining interferences, non-specifically and strongly bound to the polymeric matrix, appeared in the chromatogram, preventing quantification of DIA in potatoes and DIA, DEA, and propazine in corn samples. Thus, a new clean-up protocol based on the use of a non-imprinted polymer for removal of these interferences prior to the MISPE step was developed. By following the new two-step MISPE procedure, the matrix compounds were almost completely removed, allowing the determination of all the triazines selected at concentration levels below the established maximum residue limits, making the developed procedure suitable for monitoring these analytes in vegetable samples.
An analytical methodology based on an on-line sample enrichment of water samples by means of an imprinted polymer, and the separation of benzimidazole compounds within a C(18) column by ion-pair reversed-phase liquid chromatography, has been developed. The molecularly imprinted polymer has been synthesized by precipitation polymerization using thiabendazole as template molecule, methacrylic acid as functional monomer, and divinylbenzene as cross-linker. Initial experiments carried out by solid-phase extraction on cartridges demonstrated a clear imprint effect for thiabendazole, as well as the ability of the imprinted polymer to selectively rebind several benzimidazole compounds. The developed methodology has been applied to the quantification of thiabendazole, carbendazim, and benomyl in river, tap, and well water samples within a single analytical run at concentration levels below the legislated maximum concentration levels. In this sense, detection limits of 2.3-5.7 ng.L(-1) have been obtained for the analysis of benzimidazole fungicides in different water matrices. Recoveries obtained for the determination of benzimidazole fungicides in spiked samples ranged from 87% to 95%, with RSD below 5% in all cases.
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