Combining cationic and anionic mixed-mode sorbents in a single cartridge to extract basic and acidic pharmaceuticals simultaneously from environmental samples

Identifier:  PC:3024

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/PC3024

Authors:  Borrull, F.; Salas, D.; Fontanals, N.; Marcé, R. M.

Abstract:
The aim of the present study is to broaden the applications of mixed-mode ion-exchange solid-phase extraction sorbents to extract both basic and acidic compounds simultaneously by combining the sorbents in a single cartridge and developing a simplified extraction procedure. Four different cartridges containing negative and positive charges in the same configuration were evaluated and compared to extract a group of basic, neutral, and acidic pharmaceuticals selected as model compounds. After a thorough optimization of the extraction conditions, the four different cartridges showed to be capable of retaining basic and acidic pharmaceuticals simultaneously through ionic interactions, allowing the introduction of a washing step with 15 mL methanol to eliminate interferences retained by hydrophobic interactions. Using the best combined cartridge, a method was developed, validated, and further applied to environmental waters to demonstrate that the method is promising for the extraction of basic and acidic compounds from very complex samples.