Ionic liquid-based dispersive microextraction of nitrotoluenes in water samples

We describe a method for dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction of nitrotoluene-based compounds. This method is based on use of the room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) 1-hexyl-4-methylpyridinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide as the accepting phase, and is shown to work well for extraction of 4-nitrotoluene, 2,4-dinitrotoluene, and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene. Separation and subsequent detection of analytes were accomplished via HPLC with UV detection. Several parameters that influence the efficiency of the extraction were optimized using experimental design. In this regard, a Plackett–Burman design was used for initial screening, followed by a central composite design to further optimize the influencing variables. For a 5-mL water sample, the optimized IL-DLLME procedure requires 26 mg of the RTIL as extraction solvent and 680 μL of methanol as the dispersant. Under optimum conditions, limits of detection (LODs) are lower than 1.05 μg L−1. Relative standard deviations for 6 replicate determinations at a 4 μg L−1 analyte level are <4.3 % (calculated using peak areas). Correlation coefficients of >0.998 were achieved. This method was successfully applied to extraction and determination of nitrotoluene-based compounds in spiked tap and lake water samples.