Enhanced fluorescence sensitivity by coupling yttrium-analyte complexes and three-way fast high-performance liquid chromatography data modeling

• Highly sensitive method for the analysis of seven fluoroquinolones.
• Coupling of yttrium-analyte complex and three-way modeling.
• Complex or tedious sample treatments or enrichment processes are nor required.
• Accuracy on the quantitation of fluoroquinolones in real water river samples.

The present study reports a sensitive chromatographic method for the analysis of seven fluoroquinolones (FQs) in environmental water samples, by coupling yttrium-analyte complex and three-way chromatographic data modeling. This method based on the use of HPLC-FSFD does not require complex or tedious sample treatments or enrichment processes before the analysis, due to the significant fluorescence increments of the analytes reached by the presence of Y3+. Enhancement achieved for the FQs signals obtained after Y3+ addition reaches 103- to 1743-fold. Prediction results corresponding to the application of MCR-ALS to the validation set showed relative error of prediction (REP%) values below 10% in all cases. A recovery study that includes the simultaneous determination of the seven FQs in three different environmental aqueous matrices was conducted. The recovery studies assert the efficiency and the accuracy of the proposed method. The LOD values calculated are in the order of part per trillion (below 0.5 ng mL−1 for all the FQs, except for enoxacin). It is noteworthy to mention that the method herein proposed, which does not include pre-concentration steps, allows reaching LOD values in the same order of magnitude than those achieved by more sophisticated methods based on SPE and UHPLC-MS/MS.

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