Molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction in a syringe filter for determination of triazine herbicides in Radix Paeoniae Alba by ultra-fast liquid chromatography

• A method was developed for the determination of triazine herbicides in Radix Paeoniae Alba.
• A novel self-assembling device for solid phase extraction was firstly established.
• The selective molecularly imprinted polymers were conducted as adsorbents in the novel device.

A novel, cost-effective and simple solid phase extraction (SPE) method, by using a syringe connected with a nylon membrane filter as the adsorbent container, was developed for the extraction of triazine herbicides from Radix Paeoniae Alba (RPA) samples. The selective molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) synthesized with the template of atrazine were employed as the adsorbents for the enrichment and purification of analytes. The extraction parameters, including the volume and type of loading solvent, the type of washing solvent and eluting solvent, were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the final extracts were analyzed by ultra-fast liquid chromatography (UFLC). Recoveries of the developed method range from 92.4% to 107.3% with intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) lower than 8.2%. The calibration curve is linear in the concentration range of 0.005–2.4 µg g−1 for desmetryn, atrazine and terbumeton, and 0.005–1.5 µg g−1 for dimethametryn and dipropetryn, with the correlation coefficient (R2) higher than 0.9995. The limits of detection (LODs) of five triazine herbicides are in the range of 0.09–0.39 ng g−1, which are lower than the maximum residue levels (MRLs) established by various official organizations. Analytical results of three real Radix Paeoniae Alba samples indicate that the proposed method is cost-effective and easy-to-use than other routine pretreatment methods.

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