Coumarins as turn on/off fluorescent probes for detection of residual acetone in cosmetics following headspace single-drop microextraction

In this work, a new method based on headspace-single drop microextraction for the determination of residual acetone in cosmetics by microfluorospectrometry is proposed. Acetone causes fluorescence changes in a 2.5 µL-ethanolic drop (40% v/v) containing 3.10–4 mol L−1 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin (‘turn off’) or 6.10−6 mol L−1 7-diethylamino-4-methylcoumarin (‘turn on’). Polarity and ability to form hydrogen bonds of short chain alcohols (polar protic solvents) were crucial in order to observe these changes in the presence of acetone (polar aprotic solvent). Parameters related with the HS-SDME procedure were studied, namely headspace volume, composition, volume and temperature of drop, microextraction time, stirring rate, mass and temperature of sample, as well as the effect of potential interferents (alcohols and fragrances). The high volatility of acetone allows its extraction from an untreated cosmetic sample within 3 min. A detection limit of 0.26 µg g−1 and repeatability, expressed as relative standard deviation, around 5% were reached. Accuracy of the proposed methodology was evaluated by means of recovery studies. The method was successfully used to analyze different cosmetics. Simplicity and high sample throughput can be highlighted.