Preparation and utilization of molecularly imprinted polymer for chlorsulfuron extraction from water, soil, and wheat plant

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was prepared using chlorsulfuron (CS), a herbicide as a template molecule, methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) as a cross-linker, methanol and toluene as a porogen, and 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator. The binding behaviors of the template chlorsulfuron and its analog on MIP were evaluated by equilibrium adsorption experiments, which showed that the MIP particles had specific affinity for the template CS. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) with the chlorsulfuron molecularly imprinted polymer as an adsorbent was investigated. The optimum loading, washing, and eluting conditions for chlorsulfuron molecularly imprinted polymer solid-phase extraction (CS-MISPE) were established. The optimized CS-MISPE procedure was developed to enrich and clean up the chlorsulfuron residue in water, soils, and wheat plants. Concentrations of chlorsulfuron in the samples were analyzed by HPLC-UVD. The average recoveries of CS spiked standard at 0.05 similar to 0.2 mg L-1 in water were 90.2 similar to 93.3%, with the relative standard deviation (RSD) being 2.0 similar to 3.9% (n = 3). The average recoveries of 1.0 mL CS spiked standard at 0.1 similar to 0.5 mg L-1 in 10 g soil were 91.1 similar to 94.7%, with the RSD being 3.1 similar to 5.6% (n = 3). The average recoveries of 1.0 mL CS spiked standard at 0.1 similar to 0.5 mg L-1 in 5 g wheat plant were 82.3 similar to 94.3%, with the RSD being 2.9 similar to 6.8% (n = 3). Overall, our study provides a sensitive and cost-effective method for accurate determination of CS residues in water, soils, and plants.