Effect of solvents on the selectivity of terbutylazine imprinted polymer sorbents used in solid-phase extraction

A solid-phase extraction sample preparation method using a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) selective for the triazine type pesticide terbutylazine has been developed. The method involves preconcentration from large volumes of water samples on a C18 disk coupled to selective clean-up on the MIP. The method has been optimised by studying the recovery and retention of terbutylazine and some other structurally related triazine derivates as a function of the selective washing solvent used. The effect of the water content of the selective washing solvent was also investigated on the recovery of the MIP. River water samples were analysed with the coupled technique, and efficient clean-up of the samples was observed.