Application of electromembrane extraction followed by corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry analysis as a fast and sensitive technique for determination of tricyclic antidepressants in urine samples

•Electromembrane extraction was coupled with corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry.•IMS is a well-known, comparatively inexpensive, robust and easy to operate analytical instrumentation.•This combination would provide a selective and sensitive determination.•This method present high enrichment factors as well as short analysis time, low detection limit, simplicity and relatively low cost.

In the paper, electromembrane extraction (EME) method coupled with corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry (CD-IMS) was introduced for determination of antidepressant drugs (desipramine, sertraline, clomipramine, citalopram) in urine samples. IMS is a well-known, comparatively inexpensive, robust and easy to operate analytical instrumentation. This combination would provide a selective and sensitive determination. In order to achieve the best extraction efficiency, optimization of the variables affecting these methods was carried out. Optimal extractions were accomplished with 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether as the supported liquid membrane, with 190 V as the driving force, and with pH 4 in donor and pH 1 in acceptor solutions. Extractions were obtained after 30 min of operation with the whole assembly agitated at 1000 rpm.Under the optimized conditions, the proposed technique provided good linearity (> 0.9974), repeatability (RSD < 4.5%), low limits of detection (0.9–1.5 ng mL− 1), excellent preconcentration factor (PF = 158–190) and high recoveries (79–95%). Finally, developed method was applied to quantification of antidepressant drugs in urine samples.