Simultaneous multicomponent spectrophotometric monitoring of methyl and propyl parabens using multivariate statistical methods after their preconcentration by robust ionic liquid-based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction

• Combination of IL-DLLME/WOSC-PLS/UV–Vis detection methods.
• Simultaneous determination of MP and PP with overlapping spectra in real samples.
• The RMSEP for MP and PP were 0.1046 and 0.1275, respectively.
• This technique is green, inexpensive, precise, fast and affordable.

A powerful and efficient signal-preprocessing technique that combines local and multiscale properties of the wavelet prism with the global filtering capability of orthogonal signal correction (OSC) is applied for pretreatment of spectroscopic data of parabens as model compounds after their preconcentration by robust ionic liquid-based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction method (IL-DLLME). In the proposed technique, a mixture of a water-immiscible ionic liquid (as extraction solvent) [Hmim][PF6] and disperser solvent is injected into an aqueous sample solution containing one of the IL’s ions, NaPF6, as extraction solvent and common ion source. After preconcentration, the absorbance of the extracted compounds was measured in the wavelength range of 200–700 nm. The wavelet orthogonal signal correction with partial least squares (WOSC-PLS) method was then applied for simultaneous determination of each individual compound. Effective parameters, such as amount of IL, volume of the disperser solvent and amount of NaPF6, were inspected by central composite design to identify the most important parameters and their interactions. The effect of pH on the sensitivity and selectivity was studied according to the net analyte signal (NAS) for each component. Under optimum conditions, enrichment factors of the studied compounds were 75 for methyl paraben (MP) and 71 for propyl paraben (PP). Limits of detection for MP and PP were 4.2 and 4.8 ng mL−1, respectively. The root mean square errors of prediction for MP and PP were 0.1046 and 0.1275 μg mL−1, respectively. The practical applicability of the developed method was examined using hygienic, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and natural water samples.

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