Comparison of single-drop microextraction with microvolume pipette extraction directly coupled with capillary electrophoresis for extraction and separation of tricyclic antidepressant drugs

This paper describes the use of single-drop microextraction and micro-volume pipette extraction coupled with capillary electrophoresis for the analysis of five antidepressant drugs (nortriptyline, imipramine, trimeprazine, promethazine, and iminodibenzyl). The five antidepressant drugs are well separated by using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with SDS and organic modifiers. The best extraction was achieved within 10 min and effectively separated within 15 min by using ammonium acetate buffer at 28 kV. This method shows good reproducibility, with RSD values ranging from 4.3 to 8.7%. The LODs values were found to be 0.4 and 1.0 μg mL−1 for SDME-CE and 0.15 and 0.5 μg mL−1 for MVPE-CE. These methods are simple, rapid, sensitive and efficient for the extraction, separation and detection of tricyclic antidepressant drugs.