Ionic liquid-based liquid-phase microextraction, a new sample enrichment procedure for liquid chromatography

Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) were used as extraction solvent in liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) coupled with liquid chromatography. Using 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([C6MIM][PF6]) as extraction solvent, some parameters related to LPME of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) and 4-tert-octylphenol (4-t-OP) were optimized. Although [C6MIM][PF6] can suspend a much larger volume of drop on the needle of the microsyringe than the conventional solvents such as 1-octanol and carbon tetrachloride, the method sensitivity was analyte dependent because of the different partition coefficients and the relatively large viscosity of [C6MIM][PF6]. The proposed procedure has a detection limit and enrichment factor of 0.3 μg l−1 and 163 for 4-NP, and 0.7 μg l−1 and 130 for 4-t-OP, respectively. Aqueous samples including tap water, river water, and effluent from sewage treatment plant were analyzed by the proposed method and the recoveries at 10 μg l−1 spiked level were in the range of 90–113%.