Single Drop Microextraction Using Commercial Capillary Electrophoresis Instruments

Single drop microextraction (SDME), a simple and efficient sample preconcentration method for capillary electrophoresis (CE), was performed using two different commercial CE instruments. With a CE instrument providing adjustable forward and backward pressures, a single drop of an aqueous acceptor phase covered with a thin layer of an organic phase was formed at the capillary tip by programming the sample-handling functions of the instrument to perform 3-phase SDME where the organic film is essentially a membrane. Analytes from an acidic donor phase were concentrated into a basic acceptor phase yielding 190-fold enrichment in 10 min. When the donor phase was agitated using a microstirrer, a 2000-fold enrichment was obtained in 10 min. For a less flexible CE instrument, 2-phase SDME was carried out with a large volume pentanol drop held by a Teflon sleeve, yielding 110-fold enrichments in 30 min. We demonstrate a practical and automated SDME-CE technique with accuracy and reproducibility that is easy to practice to attain matrix isolation and high concentration sensitivity.