Solid-phase microextraction of monocyclic aromatic amines using novel fibers coated with crown ether

Three solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers prepared by the sol–gel method, containing hydroxydibenzo-14-crown-4 (OH-DB14C4), dihydroxy-substituted saturated urushiol crown ether (DHSU14C4) and 3,5-dibutyl-unsymmetry-dibenzo-14-crown-4-dihydroxy crown ether (DBUD14C4), respectively, were evaluated for the determination of aromatic amine (aniline, m-toluidine, N,N-diethylaniline, N-ethyl-m-toluidine, 3,4-dimethylaniline). The sol–gel-derived hydroxy-dibenzo-14-crown-4-coated fiber has the best affinity for several aniline derivatives. Optimization was carried out for the determination of aromatic amines with SPME fibers. The linearity was from 0.11 to 29 μg/ml and detection limits varied from 0.17 to 0.98 ng/ml. Relative standard deviation (n=5) was found to be 3.23–6.20%. The coating proved to be very stable at high temperature (to 340°C) and in different solvents (organic and inorganic). The method was applied to the determination of aromatic amines in wastewater samples from a pharmaceutical factory.