Conformationally blocked quinoxaline cavitand as solid-phase microextraction coating for the selective detection of BTEX in air

•Supramolecular receptors as selective SPME coating.•Excellent thermal stability up to 350 °C.•Noticeable enrichment factors ranging from 360–700 × 103 for all the investigated compounds.•Ultrasensitive benzene detection.

A tetraquinoxaline cavitand functionalized with methylenoxy bridges at the upper rim is proposed as selective solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coating for the determination of BTEX at trace levels in air. The SPME fibers were characterized in terms of film thickness, morphology, thermal stability and extraction capabilities. An average coating thickness of 35 (±4) μm, a thermal stability up to 350 °C and a good fiber-to-fiber and batch-to-batch repeatability with RSD lower than 15% were obtained. Excellent enrichment factors ranging from 360–700 × 103 were obtained for the investigated compounds. Finally, method validation proved the capabilities of the developed coating for the selective sampling of BTEX, achieving LOD values in the 0.4–1.2 ng m−3 range.

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