Ultrasound assisted upper critical solution temperature type switchable deep eutectic solvent based liquid-liquid microextraction for the determination of triazole in water

Yu Wang; Lingqi Shen; Yuan Yan; Bincheng Gong; Kexian Chen; Guohua Zhu; Zuguang Li

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2024.343172

Ultrasound assisted upper critical solution temperature type switchable deep eutectic solvent based liquid-liquid microextraction for the determination of triazole in water

Anal Chim Acta. 2024 Nov 1:1328:343172. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2024.343172. Epub 2024 Aug 28.

Authors

Yu Wang¹, Lingqi Shen¹, Yuan Yan¹, Bincheng Gong¹, Kexian Chen², Guohua Zhu³, Zuguang Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China.
² Food Safety Key Laboratory of Zhejiang Province, School of Food Science and Biotechnology, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China.
³ School of Environment, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310024, China. Electronic address: zhugh@ucas.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China. Electronic address: lzg@zjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 39266195
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2024.343172

Abstract

Background: The use of pesticides to protect crops has long been an important measure to provide healthy and safe agricultural products, but excess pesticides flow into fields and rivers, causing environmental pollution. Earlier methods utilizing organic solvent liquid-liquid microextraction for pesticide residue detection were not environmentally friendly. Therefore, it is significant to find a greener and more convenient detection method to determine pesticide residues.

Results: A new method was established to detect three triazole fungicides (TFs), including myclobutanil, epoxiconazole and tebuconazole, in environmental water samples. And the determination was conducted using a high-performance liquid chromatography with the ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UV). The switchable deep eutectic solvent (SDES) can be reversibly switched between hydrophilic and hydrophobic states through temperature modulation. Additionally, the method exhibited excellent linearity for all target analytes within the concentration range of 10-2000 μg L^-1, with satisfactory R² values (≥0.9975). The limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 2.3 to 2.6 μg L^-1, and the limits of quantification (LOQs) ranged from 7.8 to 8.7 μg L^-1. The accuracy of the method was assessed through intra-day and inter-day precision tests, yielding relative standard deviations (RSDs) in the ranges of 2.8%-6.7% and 2.2%-7.5%, respectively. Density functional theory (DFT) results indicated that hydrogen bonding is a significant factor affecting the binding of DES with triazoles. Three different green assessment tools were used to prove that the SDES-HLLME method had good greenness and broad applicability.

Significance: This is a homogeneous liquid-liquid microextraction (HLLME) method based on the upper critical solution temperature (UCST) type switchable deep eutectic solvent program, which can complete the extraction within a few minutes without dispersant. In terms of pesticide detection, the analytical method is simple and more conducive to environmental protection.

Keywords: Environmental analysis; High performance liquid chromatography; Homogeneous liquid-liquid microextraction; Reversible phase transition; Temperature switchable deep eutectic solvent; Triazole fungicides.