Water based-deep eutectic solvent for ultrasound-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction of parabens in edible oil

A novel water-based deep eutectic solvent was synthesized and used for the ultrasound-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction of parabens in edible oil and for their determination by high performance liquid chromatography. Herein, the water-based deep eutectic solvent was formulated at room temperature by tetrabutylammonium chloride as hydrogen bond acceptor and water as hydrogen bond donor at the molar ratio of 1:5. As component, water has the effect on tailoring the physicochemical properties of water-based deep eutectic solvent and assisting tetrabutylammonium chloride (hydrogen bond acceptor) capturing parabens (hydrogen bond donor) through in-situ deep eutectic solvent formation. The developed method has satisfactory linearity (1.5-500 mu g/L), limits of detections (0.2-0.4 mu g/L), precisions (RSDs <= 5.8%), and was fruitfully applied to detect parabens in edible oil with excellent recoveries (85.1-106.8%). The feature of the procedure lies in simplicity, low cost and high sensitivity, and this can be extended for the efficient separation of other hydrophobic compounds.

Automated summary

A water-based deep eutectic solvent was synthesized and applied for the extraction of parabens in edible oil, followed by their determination using high performance liquid chromatography. The developed method showed satisfactory linearity, low detection limits, good precision, and excellent recoveries. It offers a simple, cost-effective, and sensitive approach for the separation of hydrophobic compounds.