Ionic liquid-based single-drop liquid-phase microextraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of sulfonamides in environmental water

A simple, rapid and environment‐friendly technique of single‐drop liquid‐phase microextraction has been developed for the determination of sulfonamides in environmental water. Several important parameters including stirring rate, extraction solvent, extraction pH, salinity and extraction time were optimized to maximize the extract efficiency. Extraction solvent 1‐octyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [C8MIM][PF6] ionic liquid showed better extraction efficiency than 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [C4MIM][PF6] and 1‐octanol. The optimum experimental conditions were: pH, 4.5; sodium chloride content, 36% w/v; extraction time, 20 min. This method provided low detection limits (0.5–1 ng/mL), good repeatability (the RSD ranging from 4.2 to 9.9%, n=5) and wide linear range (1–1500 ng/mL), with determination coefficients (r2) higher than 0.9989 for all the target compounds. Real sample analysis showed relative recoveries between 63.5 and 115.8% for all the target compounds.