Sample preparation for liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry using functionalized ferromagnetic micro-particles

Objectives To study the applicability of functionalized ferromagnetic micro-particles in the sample preparation for quantification of small molecules by LC-MS/MS. Design and methods A representative analyte (itraconazole) was extracted from plasma samples using small quantities of C18-modified ferromagnetic micro-particles. Results 125 μg of functionalized micro-particles was sufficient to extract the target analyte from 10 μL of plasma with a recovery rate of approximately 100%; linearity (r > 0.99) and reproducibility (inter-assay CV ≤ 7%) of quantitative results was found. Conclusions C18-functionalized ferromagnetic particles can be used to efficiently extract small molecule analytes from complex biological matrices for quantitative analyses using LC-MS/MS.