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High-efficiency caption of pesticide residue is of vital significance for environmental safety monitoring. Herein, a hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets-based magnetic composite (Fe 3 O 4 @h-BNNSs) was synthesized and applied for the magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) of five phenoxy carboxylic acid (PCA) herbicides from water samples. Based on the π-π interaction, hydrogen bond and halogen bond, the Fe 3 O 4 @h-BNNSs composite showed excellent adsorption ability towards PCA herbicides. Several main variables that influenced the extraction efficiencies of PCA herbicides were investigated and optimized via single-factor experiment. Combining this Fe 3 O 4 @h-BNNSs composite-based MSPE with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, a novel sensitive method for the analysis of PCA herbicides was developed. Under the most favorable conditions, the proposed method displayed good linear ranges (20.0-10000.0 ng L -1 ), low limits of detection (5.6-10.3 ng L -1 ), satisfactory precisions (1.1-6.8%) and recoveries (76.6-107.2%). Overall, the present work can be a versatile and worthy utility for the determination of PCA herbicides from different water samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are persistent, toxic, ubiquitously distributed, and bioaccumulated substances, which have attracted increasing concern. To investigate the environmental effects of PFASs, there is a need to develop a sensitive, rapid, and efficient method for detecting trace level PFASs. In this study, a conjugated microporous polymer (CMP) with loading of fluorine, fabricated by Sonogashira-Hagihara cross-coupling, was exploited as a solid-phase extraction (SPE) adsorbent. The prepared fluorine-functionalized CMP (FCMP), which showed a large surface area of 1089 m 2 ·g -1 , high porosity, and good chemical stability, was used to extract PFASs from water samples. The adsorption mechanism was investigated using a sorption isotherm model, and the main interactions were fluorous and hydrophobic affinity. The FCMP-based SPE combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry achieved low limits of detection (0.19-0.97 ng·L -1 ), wide linear range (2-1600 ng·L -1 ), and good reproducibility (3.4%-12.9%) under the optimal conditions. Furthermore, the approach was utilized for the analysis of three water samples (snow, river water, and irrigation water) to evaluate its reliability, and satisfactory recovery (70.5%-127.5%) was obtained. Thus, FCMP was feasible SPE adsorbents for the selective extraction of PFASs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Efficient extraction of polar sulfonamides antibiotics from aqueous samples and food is very challenging, because they are hydrophilic, their concentration is very low, and the matrix is complex. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), a novel porous organic material, have attracted great attention. In this work, the spherical triphenylbenzene-dimethoxyterephthaldehyde-COFs (TPB-DMTP-COFs) were synthesized by a simple room temperature method, and due to their attractive properties, such as high outstanding acid-base stability, large specific surface area, low skeletal density, inherent porosity and high crystallinity, so TPB-DMTP-COFs as ideal solid phase extraction adsorbents showed excellent adsorption performance for trace polar sulfonamides in food and water. TPB-DMTP-COFs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and so on. The important parameters were optimized to improve the extraction efficiency of TPB-DMTP-COFs toward sulfonamides. Analysis of sulfonamides was performed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The developed method based on TPB-DMTP-COFs material achieved low limits of detection (0.5-1.0 ng L -1 ), wide linearity (5-1000 ng L -1 ), and good repeatability (2.5%-8.7%). The possible extraction mechanism was also discussed. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the enrichment and detection of sulfonamides in environmental water samples and food samples. The present study indicated that TPB-DMTP-COFs had splendid prospects in highly sensitive analysis of other pollutants in complex matrix., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water can pose a health risk to humans. In this work, a new nitrogen-rich covalent organic frameworks (TpTt-COFs) was synthesized and applied firstly as a novel solid-phase extraction (SPE) trapping media for four ultra-trace levels of DBPs in drinking water samples. Under the optimal conditions, these DBPs were absorbed on a SPE cartridge; then, the DBPs were eluted with the optimized volume of eluent. The concentrated elution was detected and quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Low limits of detection (0.0004-0.0063 ng mL -1 ), wide linearity (0.002-50 µg L -1 ), good reproducibility (1.54-2.88%) and repeatability (1.28-3.40%) were obtained. This novel method has been successfully applied to the analysis of ultra-trace levels DBPs in real drinking water samples. These accurate experimental results by this method indicated that the novel TpTt-COFs as a SPE trapping material was an attractive option for efficient and effective analysis of ultra-trace levels DBPs in future., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest We declare that there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

A solid-phase microextraction fiber (SPME) was synthesized for pre-concentration of 15 phthalates from aqueous samples. Graphene oxide was immobilized on Ti wire with titanol groups using a cross-linking agent and subsequently reduced to yield a folded and wrinkled graphene coating. This graphene-Ti fiber demonstrated durable mechanical robustness and enhanced stability for more than 200 extraction cycles due to the Ti substrate and chemical bond. The extraction efficiencies reached highest when the graphene layers were four and their performances were superior to commercial SPME fibers. The prepared fiber was used for pre-concentration of phthalates from aqueous samples by direct immersion extraction and thermal desorption for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. The method was utilized for the simultaneous analysis of 15 phthalates with satisfactory recoveries in the range of 82.8-97.8% for bottled water and 73.3-102.0% for intravenous drips in plastic packaging., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Herein, a new postcolumn resonance light scattering (RLS) detection approach coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed to detect cysteine and homocysteine. In the established system, the fluorosurfactant-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were first employed as postcolumn RLS reagents. The detection principle was based on the enhancement of RLS intensity of AuNPs upon the addition of cysteine/homocysteine. The RLS signals were detected by a common fluorescence detector at λ(EX)=λ(EM)=560 nm. The linear ranges for both cysteine and homocysteine were in the range of 5.0-50 μM. The detection limits were 5.9 pmol for cysteine and 12 pmol for homocysteine at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. HPLC separation and RLS detection conditions were optimized in detail. The applicability of the proposed method has been validated by detecting cysteine and homocysteine in human urine samples. Recoveries from spiked urine samples were 95.0-103.0%., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Our recent study demonstrates the synthesized triangular gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by trisodium citrate reduction of HAuCl(4) in the presence of nonionic fluorosurfactant (FSN) could display stronger catalytic activity towards luminol-chemiluminescence (CL) than spherical AuNPs. Ultratrace aminothiols may cause a great decrease in CL intensity of the triangular AuNPs-luminol CL system. In this article, we utilize the as-prepared triangular AuNPs as novel postcolumn CL reagents to explore a simple high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-CL method for the determination of low molecular weight aminothiols (i.e., cysteine, homocysteine, glutathione, cysteinylglycine and glutamylcysteine). The as-prepared triangular AuNPs were easier to synthesize, stable at a wider pH range and high ionic strength, and highly selective and sensitive towards reduced aminothiols. The detection limits at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 for cysteine, homocysteine, glutathione, cysteinylglycine and glutamylcysteine were 0.016, 0.08, 0.1, 0.04 and 0.1pmol, respectively. Recoveries from spiked urine and plasma samples were 95.7-104.3%. The applicability of the proposed method has been validated by determining these low molecular weight aminothiols in human urine and plasma samples with satisfactory results, and thus it will have great potential application in clinical diagnosis., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

An integrated system combining microfluidic device with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ESI-Q-TOF-MS) was developed for detecting a series of herbicides on a single C(30) bead. We presented single C(30) beads manipulation which had absorbed sequential herbicides, based on the precise control of the concentration and absorption time. The simple microchip consisting of a straight channel and a hole in the middle enabled single C(30) bead introduction, transformation and location. ESI-Q-TOF-MS was employed to realize highly sensitive qualitative analysis and implement semi-quantitative analysis. Once the C(30) bead contacted with eluting solution, the solute transferred into eluting and would be detected by ESI-Q-TOF-MS. Depending on desorption curves obtained, accurate and clear characteristic peaks for each analysts were carried out. Our investigations on single-particle analysis showed that the combination of microfluidic device and mass spectrum could reduce the analysis time to 5min and the solvent consumption to 2.5microL, realize high sensitivity detection, and avoid the complex sample pretreatment. The significant potential on analysis of environmental samples on this combination system by single particle was demonstrated.

Using triacontyl bonded silica (C30) as on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) material and a specially designed on-line analytical system which allowed large sample volume injection, a high speed and robust on-line SPE-HPLC-MS method was established for the analysis of five estrogens and bisphenol A (BPA) in milk samples. The milk sample is pretreated with acetonitrile for protein precipitation and then treated with primary secondary amine for the removal of polar impurities in the matrix. Then the pretreated sample can be automatically loaded by a LC pump. For effective extraction, an offshoot with NH4Ac solution of high-flow rate was employed to dilute the loaded sample by a mixing tee before sample was loaded onto the C30 extraction column. In this way, large volume injection (1 mL in this experiment) could be achieved. Some important parameters such as sample loading flow rate, sample dilution ratio and injection volume were optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the recoveries for all analytes range from 71.4 to 97.1% and reproducibility represented as RSDs are less than 15.0% (n=5) with milk samples spiked at 0.6 and 15 ng/mL of each analyte. To the authors' knowledge, it constitutes the first work describing a C30 on-line SPE-LC-MS analytical method for the screen and monitoring of these estrogens and BPA in milk.

A rapid, accurate and sensitive method for simultaneous determination of 15 steroidal hormones including four estrogens (estrone, 17beta-estradiol, 17alpha-ethynylestradiol, estriol) and eleven progestogens (17beta-estradiol-3-benzoate, 19-norethindrone, gestodene, levonorgestrel, medroxyprogesterone, cyproterone acetate, megestrol-17-acetate, progesterone, norethindrone acetate, chlormadinone-17-acetate, and hydroxy progesterone caproate) in environmental waters was developed by coupling solid-phase disk extraction (SPDE) to ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) with electrospray ionization. Among three types of extraction tested (C(8) SPDE, C(18) SPDE and C(18) SPE), the most satisfactory result was achieved using C(18) SPDE for its satisfactory recovery (75.6 to 101.4%) and short extraction time (15 min for 1L deionised water). The validity of this method was investigated and good analytical performance for all the analytes was obtained, including low limits of method detection (0.5-3.4 ng/L) and excellent linear dynamic range (1.0-50.0 ng/L). The method was applied to determine the steroidal hormones in 10 environmental waters including tap water, river water, lake water and waste water in Beijing. No progestogen was detected in all samples and estrone, estriol, 17alpha-ethynylestradiol were found in most samples at levels between 1.8 and 127.9 ng/L.

In the present study, a capillary electrophoresis method using high concentration of amylose solutions as separation medium has been developed with the aid of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as co-solvent. The best buffer conditions for primaquine, trihexyphenidyl (THP), sulconazole and cetirizine enantiomers were optimized as 20mM sodium phosphate buffer with DMSO/water (40/60, v/v) as solvent at a pH of 3.0, containing 10% (w/v) amylose. Partial-filling and semi-permanent coating techniques were used considering the influences of DMSO on UV detection. High chiral resolution for THP enantiomers was obtained showing good chiral separation capacity of this method. The method showed good linearity (R(2) > 0.998) over the concentration range of 0.50 and 2.00 mg L(-1) for all the enantiomers. The detection limits for the tested enantiomers were in the range from 0.05 to 0.12 mg L(-1). The linear calibration models were proven to be adequate for the experimental data by lack-of-fit test. The intra-assay precision, inter-day precision and accuracy were all evaluated to be acceptable. Separation and determination of THP enantiomers in rabbit blood were also carried out.

A unique automated on-line high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method was developed allowing injection of a large volume of urine for the improvement of sensitivity using estrogens as analytes. The urine sample was precipitated by acetonitrile (sample:acetonitrile, 1:2, v/v) to remove most proteins. Then the supernatant was directly delivered at 0.3 mL/min by a pump, which broke through the limit of autosampler with fixed loop. Then the sample was loaded onto a restricted access media (RAM) pre-column after on-line dilution with NH(4)Ac solution which was delivered by another pump under high flow-rate. After the addition of on-line dilution line, the content of organic solvent in the sample aliquot was sharply decreased so that the analytes were effectively trapped by pre-column. In addition, another 6-port valve was added to selectively deliver the effluent containing analytes into MS, which minimized the pollution of the MS and matrix effect. After optimization of the condition of extraction method, 3 mL sample (containing 1 mL urine) could be successfully enriched. The injection volume increased 10 times compared with conventional on-line LC-MS methods for biofluid analysis, significantly improving sensitivity. Moreover, no obvious increase of column pressure was observed after 300 injections. The method was validated by spiking urine. Linearity was determined by sample which was in the range of 1-500 ng/mL. The process efficiency ranged from 70.2 to 106% with RSDs less than 15% with the exception of a few analytes. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) ranged from 0.3 to 2 ng/mL and 1 to 8 ng/mL, respectively, corresponding a decrease of 1-2 orders of magnitude compared with those of off-line and on-line methods.

This paper demonstrates, for the first time, that adsorptive potential of bamboo charcoal for solid-phase extraction of phthalate esters was investigated. The four phthalate esters, dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) and di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), are quantitatively adsorbed on a bamboo charcoal packed cartridge, then the analytes retained on the cartridge are quantitatively desorbed with optimum amounts of acetone. Finally, the analytes in the eluant acetone are determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detectior. Important parameters influencing the extraction efficiency, such as eluant and its volume, flow rate of sample, sample volume, pH, the amount of adsorbent and ionic strength were investigated and optimized in detail. Under the optimum conditions, the limits of detection were 0.35-0.43 microg/L for four phthalate esters. The proposed method has been applied to the analysis of rainwater and tap water samples. And satisfactory spiked recoveries were obtained in the range of 75.0-114.2%. All the results indicated that the bamboo charcoal has great potential as a novel adsorbent material for the enrichment and determination of phthalate esters in real environmental water samples.

A simple, reliable microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) method is developed for the simultaneous separation of seven fluoroquinolones (FQs). The best separation is achieved in a carrier electrolyte containing 1% (v/v) heptane, 100 mmol/L sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 10% (v/v) 1-butanol, and 8 mmol/L phosphate-sodium tetraborate buffer at pH 7.30. The proposed method was directly applied to the determination of ciprofloxacin (CPF) and lomefloxacin (LMF) in urine samples of subjects administered either with CPF or LMF.

A solid-phase extraction (SPE) method using triacontyl bonded silica (C30) as sorbent was developed for the determination of 16 US Environmental Protection Agency polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in airborne particulate matters quantitatively by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Optimization experiments were conducted using spiked standard aqueous solution of PAHs and real airborne particulates samples aiming to obtain highest SPE recoveries and extraction efficiency. Factors were studied in SPE procedures including the concentration of organic modifier, flow rate of sample loading and elution solvents. The ultrasonication time and solvents were also investigated. Recoveries were in the range of 68-107% for standard PAHs aqueous solution and 61-116% for real spiked sample. Limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) with standard solution were in the range of 0.0070-0.21 microgL(-1) and 0.022-0.67 microgL(-1), respectively. The optimized method was successfully applied to the determination of 16 PAHs in real airborne particulate matters.

This study examined the characteristics of a solid phase microextraction (SPME) assembly as a passive sampler to determine the short-term exposure level (STEL) of methylene chloride. Two types of SPME fibers and six sampling-related factors were chosen and nested in an L(18) Taguchi's orthogonal array. Samples were thermally desorpted and analyzed by gas chromatograph equipped with an electron capture detector (GC/ECD). The use of 85-mum Carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (Car/PDMS) fibers resulted in greater adsorbed mass, which was highly correlated with the product of concentration and sampling time (r>0.99, p<0.0001), than 85-microm polyacrylate fibers. The sampling rate (SR) of the 85-microm Carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane fibers was not significantly affected by variations in relative humidity (0-80%) and coexistent toluene (none to 100 ppm). Variance of sampling rate was predominantly attributed to the diffusive path length (86.4%) and sampling time (5.7%). With diffusive paths of 3, 10 and 15 mm, the sampling rates of 85-microm Carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane fibers for methylene chloride were 1.4 x 10(-2), 7.7 x 10(-3) and 5.1 x1 0(-3)mL min(-1), respectively. The measured sampling rates were greater than the theoretical values, and decreased with increment of sampling time until they came to constant.

A novel on-line liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection-mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-MS) system was established with restricted-access media (RAM) pre-column and dilution line combined with a column-switching valve. The serum samples were injected directly onto pre-column under diluted condition by dilution line. After elution of proteins in the serum, the analytes were backflushed onto an ODS analytical column using a six-port column-switching device. The influence of the composition of the mobile phase, for instance, organic modifer, ionic strength, pH, dilution times and the rotation time of the switching valve have been investigated using bisphenol A (BPA) and 4-octyphenol (4-OP) as analytes. The evaluations for peak responses and sensitivity were conducted by MS, and proteins were removed by RAM-column with DAD monitoring at 280 nm. The peak shape was improved by adding a dilution line, especially in the case of large volume injection (LVI), which increased the sensitivity of the analysis. The selective and sensitive quantification of BPA and 4-OP in serum sample could be finished within 25 min. The method had linearity in the range 0.1-500 ng/mL with a limit of quantification for BPA and 4-OP of 0.1 and 0.5 ng/mL, respectively. The recoveries were in the range of 80-101% with less than 9.0% RSDs. This on-line LC-MS method demonstrates potential application to evaluating the exposure and risk of BPA and 4-OP in human.

A capillary electrophoresis method with ultraviolet (UV) detection was developed and optimized for the enantiomer separation of norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (EP) and isoprenaline (IP) using dual cyclodextrins (CDs) of 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-CD (HP-beta-CD) and heptakis (2,6-di-o-methyl)-beta-CD (DM-beta-CD) as chiral selectors. Optimal separation was obtained using a running buffer of 50mM phosphate containing 30mM HP-beta-CD and 5mM DM-beta-CD at pH 2.90 and a field strength of 20kV in 45cmx75mum (40cm effective length) uncoated capillary. The UV absorbance detection was set at 205nm. A 0.1% (w/w) polyethylene glycol or 0.1% (v/v) acetonitrile was used to enhance the detection sensitivity. There was a wide and excellent linear calibration graph for each enantiomer in the range 1.0x10(-3) to 1.0x10(-6)M and the detection limit (S/N=3) was found from 8.5x10(-7) to 9.5x10(-7)M. The method has been applied for the determination of isoprenaline in isoprenaline hydrochloride aerosol and to the analysis of serum samples. The recoveries of NE and EP in serum and IP in drug were ranged from 90 to 110%. The relative standard deviations of all the analyte peaks were less than 2.8% for migration time and less than 4.8% for peak area.

A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method was established for the purpose of simultaneous determination of carbamate and organophosphorus (OPPs) pesticides in fruits and vegetables. Samples were extracted with acetonitrile; and then prepared by dispersive solid-phase extraction (dispersive-SPE) with primary secondary amine (PSA) as the sorbent. Four common representative samples (tomato, apple, carrot, and cabbage) were selected from the supermarket to investigate the effect of different matrices on pesticides recoveries and assay precision after spiking samples with 0.05 mg/kg. Matrix composition did not interfere significantly with the determination of the pesticides. The obtained recoveries were, with a few exceptions, in the range of 70-110% with RSDs less than 8%. It was applied to pesticide residue monitoring in vegetables and fruits from local markets.

A method has been developed for the separation and determination of dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) by micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). The baseline separation of phthalates was achieved by using a buffer of 100 mM sodium cholate, 50 mM borate and 15% methanol (pH 8.5). The optimized MEKC method was used to quantify the concentrations of phthalates in 11 soil samples from different regions of China. The contents of DEP, DBP and DEHP in soils were ranged 0-0.42, 0-1.43, and 0.24-2.35 mg/kg, respectively, and no DMP and DnOP was detected. The limits of detection for DMP, DEP, DBP, DEHP, and DnOP were found to be 0.050, 0.051, 0.052, 0.054, and 0.063 mg/kg, respectively. The results obtained by the MEKC method were compared with those obtained by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID), and a good agreement was achieved.

A novel method for speciation analysis of inorganic arsenic was developed by on-line hyphenating microchip capillary electrophoresis (chip-CE) with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS). Baseline separation of As(III) and As(V) was achieved within 54 s by the chip-CE in a 90 mm long channel at 2500 V using a mixture of 25 mmol l(-1) H3BO3 and 0.4 mmol l(-1) CTAB (pH 8.9) as electrolyte buffer. The precisions (RSD, n=5) ranged from 1.9 to 1.4% for migration time, 2.1 to 2.7% for peak area, and 1.8 to 2.3% for peak height for the two arsenic species at 3.0 mg l(-1) (as As) level. The detection limits (3sigma) for As(III) and As(V) based on peak height measurement were 76 and 112 microg l(-1) (as As), respectively. The recoveries of the spikes (1 mg l(-1) (as As) of As(III) and As(V)) in four locally collected water samples ranged from 93.7 to 106%.

A method has been developed for the separation and determination of phospholipids by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis in a separation medium of acetonitrile-2-proponol (3:2, v/v), 0.3% acetic acid and 60 mM ammonium acetate. To optimize the separation conditions, the composition of separation medium including alcohols, acetic acid, n-hexane and ammonium acetate was studied. The solvation interaction and ion-dipole interaction were also investigated. The contents of phospholipids in soybean, sunflower, peanut, apricot kernel, filbert and walnut were determined by the recommended method. The results obtained by the nonaqueous capillary electrophoreses were in good agreement with those determined by micellar electrokinetic chromatography.

The separation of transition metal Ni2+, Cu2+, Co2+, Zn2+, Cd2+ and Fe3+ in methanol was investigated by using different types of organic acids as complexing agents. In pure methanol, the weaker and simpler acetic, propionic, butyric and valeric acids could enhance metal ions selectivity by increasing acid concentration and metal ions could be separated with high efficiency. However, hydroxycarboxylic acids obviously made separation efficiency worse. The effect of mixed organic acids, mixture solvent (methanol-acetonitrile, methanol-water) on metal ions separation was discussed further. The advantages of using nonaqueous solvent over aqueous for metal ions separation were shown finally.

Co(II), Zn(II), Ni(II) and Fe(I) were successfully separated by capillary electrophoresis using pre-capillary and on-capillary complexation with 4-(2-thiazolylazo)resorcinol. The influences of some crucial parameters, including both pre- and on-capillary complexation procedure, were investigated. For on-capillary complexation, the complexing reaction was carried out inside the capillary by mixing the zones of ligand and sample during the electrophoretic migration. Compared with pre-capillary complexation, the method provided 30-fold reduction in detection limits for Co(II), 50-fold reduction for Zn(II), and 100-fold reduction for Ni(II) and Fe(II). It was used for the analysis of a pharmaceutical and tap water sample.

A simple and fast method for simultaneous separation of nine metal cations Ni2+, Cu2+, Co2+, Zn2+ Cd2+, K+, Na+, Mg2+ and Ca2+, and NH4+ in methanol is reported. The optimization for separation these 10 cations was achieved by using 0.5% acetic acid and 10 mM imidazole as electrolyte. The effects of water and ionic strength in the sample are discussed. The sensitive detection of transition metal ions was accomplished at 191 nm. The optimized method demonstrated high efficiency and good reproducibility, and was applied successfully to the qualitative and quantitative determination of transition metal ions in water samples, chemical reagents, oral zinc gluconate solution and human plasma.

Ligand-exchange micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography was used for the chiral resolution of underivatized and dansyl amino acid enantiomers simultaneously. The separation was achieved by chiral copper(II)-L-valine complexes incorporated in micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The enantioresolution was strongly affected by SDS and a concentration of 20 mM SDS was shown to be necessary for the separation. Other impacting factors were investigated including pH, the molar ratio of copper(II) to L-valine and the total concentration of complex. Using the proposed method, 11 different dansyl amino acids and two underivatized amino acids were separated successfully with a running electrolyte of 20 mM NH4OAc, 4 mM CuSO4, 8 mM L-valine and 20 mM SDS at pH 9.0 in less than 25 min. Experiments were also performed with other amino acid ligands in order to vary the stability and the sterical arrangement of the copper(II) complexes and the possible chiral recognition mechanism was also discussed briefly.

Capillary zone electrophoresis was developed to analyze low-molecular-mass organic acids including oxalic, tartaric, formic, malic, citric, succinic, glutaric, acetic and lactic acid. The influences of some crucial parameters such as buffer concentration, pH value, surfactant concentration and separation temperature, on electrophoretic separation were investigated. Under the conditions of 15 mM phthalate containing 0.6 mM tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide as the run buffer (pH 5.6); separation voltage -15 kV (-263.2 V/cm) and temperature 25 degrees C, a satisfactory separation of nine organic acids was accomplished within 7 min. The detection limits (S/N=3) ranged from 0.008 to 0.08 microg/ml and the quantification limits ranged from 0.01 to 0.1 microg/ml for electrokinetic injection. The method was successfully applied to analyze organic acids in different parts of Var splendens (an edible vegetable in China). The recoveries of organic acids in real samples ranged from 88 to 121%.