Selective capillary coating materials for in-tube solid-phase microextraction coupled to liquid chromatography to determine drugs and biomarkers in biological samples: A review

• In-tube SPME-LC successfully determines drugs in biological samples.
• This review describes recently developments and applications of in-tube SPME-LC.
• Future trends and current technology used for the synthesis of selective sorbents.
• Selective sorbents enhance the selectivity and the sensitivity of the in-tube SPME-LC.

In-tube solid-phase microextraction (in-tube SPME) coupled with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) successfully determines drugs or biomarkers in biological samples by direct sample injection or by simple sample treatment. This technique uses a capillary column as extraction device. Several capillaries (wall-coated open tubular, sorbent-packed, porous monolithic rods, or fiber-packed) with unique phases have been developed and evaluated, aiming to improve the efficiency and selectivity of the in-tube SPME-LC technique. This review describes new developments and applications occurred in recent years, and discusses future trends with emphasis on new extraction devices and current technology used for the synthesis of selective sorbents for bioanalysis, such as (i) polypyrrole, (ii) restricted-access materials, (iii) immunosorbents, (iv) molecular imprinting polymers, (v) monolithic polymers, and (vi) bi-functional materials.

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