Multi-residue enantiomeric analysis of 18 chiral pesticides in water, soil and river sediment using magnetic solid-phase extraction based on amino modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes and chiral liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

This manuscript describes, for the first time, the multi-residue analysis of 18 chiral pesticides at enantiomeric levels in both environmental liquid (river water, influent and effluent wastewater) and solid matrices (agricultural soil, forestal soil and river sediment) based on magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) and chiral liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Magnetic amino modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (m-MWCNTs-NH2) were prepared and firstly applied to adsorb pesticides from complex matrices. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to assist the multivariable optimization. The simultaneous enantioseparation of the chiral pesticides was performed on a Chiralpak IG column. Under the optimum conditions, the mean recoveries for pesticides enantiomers from the water matrices ranged from 81.1 to 106.3% with intra-day RSD of 2.1-11.9% and inter-day RSD of 2.6-12.7%; the mean recoveries for all enantiomers from the solid matrices ranged from 80.3 to 105.9% with intra-day RSD of 2.3-10.9% and inter-day RSD of 4.0-13.4%. Good linearity was achieved for all enantiomers with determination coefficients (r2) greater than 0.9912. Method quantification limits were below 2.04 ng L−1 in liquid matrices and below 0.50 ng g-1 in solid matrices. The developed method offered some advantages, such as simple operation, rapidity and high concentration factor. Therefore, it is suitable for monitoring the enantiomeric compositions of chiral pesticides in different environmental matrices.