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. 2019 May;411(13):2937-2944.
doi: 10.1007/s00216-019-01741-1. Epub 2019 Apr 1.

Extending the scope of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for trace analysis of 3-methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acid in atmospheric aerosols leading to the discovery of iron(III) complexes

Hafiz Abdul Azeem  1 , Teshome Tolcha  2   3 , Petter Ekman Hyberg  2 , Sofia Essén  2 , Kristina Stenström  4 , Erik Swietlicki  4 , Margareta Sandahl  2
Affiliations

Extending the scope of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for trace analysis of 3-methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acid in atmospheric aerosols leading to the discovery of iron(III) complexes

Hafiz Abdul Azeem et al. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2019 May.

Abstract

3-Methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acid (MBTCA) is a secondary organic aerosol and can be used as a unique emission marker of biogenic emissions of monoterpenes. Seasonal variations and differences in vegetation cover around the world may lead to low atmospheric MBTCA concentrations, in many cases too low to be measured. Hence, an important tool to quantify the contribution of terrestrial vegetation to the loading of secondary organic aerosol may be compromised. To meet this challenge, a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) method, known for the extraction of hydrophobic compounds, was extended to the extraction of polar organic compounds like MBTCA without compromising the efficiency of the method. The extraction solvent was fine-tuned using tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide as additive. A multivariate experimental design was applied for deeper understanding of significant variables and interactions between them. The optimum extraction conditions included 1-octanol with 15% tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide (w/w) as extraction solvent, methanol as dispersive solvent, 25% NaCl dissolved in 5 mL sample (w/w) acidified to pH 2 using HNO3, and extraction time of 15 min. A limit of detection of 0.12 pg/m3 in air was achieved. Furthermore, unique complexation behavior of MBTCA with iron(III) was found when analyzed with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-QToF). A comprehensive overview of this complexation behavior of MBTCA was examined with systematically designed experiments. This newly discovered behavior of MBTCA will be of interest for further research on organometallic photooxidation chemistry of atmospheric aerosols. Graphical abstract a) Additive assisted DLLME and MBTCA complexes with Fe(III), b) A good quality figure is attached in ppt format to facilitate editable objects.

Keywords: Biogenic secondary organic aerosol; Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction; MBTCA; Metal complexes; Trace analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Graphical abstract
Graphical abstract
a) Additive assisted DLLME and MBTCA complexes with Fe(III), b) A good quality figure is attached in ppt format to facilitate editable objects
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Normalized coefficient plot (top row) represents variables and their significance on response. Ve, Vd, and t represent volume of extraction solvent (1-octanol + 15% TOPO), volume of dispersive solvent (methanol), and extraction time, respectively (as the coefficients have different ranges of responses, the coefficients are normalized by dividing with standard deviation of their response. Positive values represent an increase in MBTCA extraction on higher values of a coefficient and vice versa). Contour plots (bottom row) represent amount of MBTCA extracted, blue to red transition represents minimum to maximum amount of MBTCA extracted
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
MBTCA, [2MBTCA-4H + Fe]−, and [3MBTCA-4H + Fe]− complexes in negative ESI–MS as m/z 203.053, 460.029, and 664.093, respectively (m/z values obtained from MassLynx 4.1)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
MBTCA complexes with Fe(III) in negative ESI–MS at different concentrations between 0.5 and 250 μg/mL. At low concentrations, e.g., 0.5 μg/mL, the signal of [3MBTCA-4H + Fe]− (m/z 664) is still available but quantitatively insignificant because of noise
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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