Development of a new method using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction with hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvent for the analysis of multiclass emerging contaminants in surface water by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

A new analytical method was developed for the determination of 14 multiclass emerging organic contaminants in surface waters using LC-MS, and Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction (DLLME) for extraction. Different Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADESs) composed of terpenes and organic acids were tested as extraction solvents and characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Hydrogen Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (¹H-NMR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), density, and viscosity, eliminating the need to use traditional chlorinated solvents. NADES produced with butyric acid and thymol showed the best results and was selected for application for the first time in the extraction of emerging organic contaminants of different classes in water samples. Vortex was used as the dispersion mode, eliminating the use of the dispersion solvent. Chromatographic conditions and sample preparation were optimized using multivariate experimental designs. The optimized chromatographic conditions included the column oven temperature, mobile phase modifiers, and stationary phase type. The optimized conditions for sample preparation included the extraction temperature and pH, salting out effect, and extraction solvent volume. The analytical performance was evaluated through repeatability and intermediate precision tests, with RSD values below 20%, and recoveries between 70 and 120%. The coefficient of determination was greater than 0.98 for all analytes. LOQs varied between 1.5 and 35 μg L⁻¹. DLLME is a simple technique, it does not require expensive and specific equipment. Furthermore, replacing traditional chlorinated solvents with NADES makes the procedure more environmentally friendly. The method presented here can be applied to a wide range of analytes for the analysis of fresh, brackish, and salt waters. Up to the present moment, this is the first study using NADES based thymol and butyric acid for the determination of multiclass emerging contaminants in surface waters samples.