Polymer brush grafted immobilized metal ion affinity adsorbent based on polydopamine/polyethyleneimine-coated magnetic graphene oxide for selective enrichment of cytokinins in plants

An immobilized metal affinity (IMAC) adsorbent was prepared for selective enrichment of adenine type CKs, via grafting polymer chain pendant with iminodiacetic acid (IDA) from polydopamine (PDA)/polyethyleneimine (PEI)-coated magnetic graphene oxide (magGO) via surface-initiated-atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The prepared IMAC sorbent exhibited remarkable adsorption performances and good selectivity for adenine-type CKs and was utilized as a sorbent of magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) for effective enrichment of four adenine-type CKs in bean sprouts. Under the optimized extraction conditions, an analytical method for four adenine type CKs in bean sprouts was established by combining the MSPE combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). The recoveries of the analytes were between 80.4 ± 1.9% and 114.6 ± 1.5% ( n = 3). The limits of detection (LODs) range from 0.63 to 2.30 pg⋅mL −1 . The relative standard deviations of intra-day and inter-day were less than 12.6%. The established method was successfully applied to the selective extraction and sensitive detection of trace adenine-type CKs in plant samples. Graphical abstract