Nonhydrolytic sol-gel approach to facile creation of surface-bonded zirconia organic-inorganic hybrid coatings for sample preparation. Ι. Capillary microextraction of catecholamine neurotransmitters

•NHSG approach facilitated effective binding of PPO in the sol-gel ZrO2 sorbent.•Surface-bonded sol-gel zirconia-PPO hybrid coating was created.•Efficient preconcentration of catecholamines from synthetic urine was demonstrated.•Exceptional pH-stability (pH range: 0-14) and low picomolar LODs were achieved.•Remarkable reproducibility and desorption efficiency (>95%) were demonstrated.

Nonhydrolytic sol-gel (NHSG) route was used for the creation of novel zirconia-polypropylene oxide (ZrO2-PPO) sol-gel hybrid sorbents in the form of surface coatings for the extraction and preconcentration of catecholamine neurotransmitters and molecules structurally related to their deaminated metabolites. In comparison to other sorbents made of inorganic transition metal oxides, the presented hybrid organic-inorganic sorbents facilitated reversible sorption properties that allowed for efficient desorption of the extracted analytes by LC-MS compatible mobile phases. The presented sol-gel hybrid sorbents effectively overcame the major drawbacks of traditional silica- or polymer-based sorbents by providing superior pH stability (pH range: 0-14), and a variety of intermolecular interactions. Nonaqueous sol-gel treatment of PPO with ZrCl4 was employed for the derivatization of the terminal hydroxyl groups on PPO, providing zirconium trichloride-containing end groups characterized by enhanced sol-gel reactivity. NHSG ZrO2-PPO sorbent provided excellent microextraction performance for catecholamines, low detection limits (5.6-9.6 pM), high run-to-run reproducibility (RSD 0.6-5.1%), high desorption efficiency (95.0-99.5%) and high enrichment factors (∼1480-2650) for dopamine and epinephrine, respectively, extracted from synthetic urine samples. The presented sol-gel sorbents provided effective alternative to conventional extraction media providing unique physicochemical characteristics and excellent extraction capability.