Enhanced fluorescence sensitivity by coupling yttrium-analyte complexes and three-way fast high-performance liquid...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are widely used antibiotics with potential environmental impact.
• Sensitive detection methods are crucial for monitoring FQs in water.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a sensitive and efficient chromatographic method for analyzing seven FQs in environmental water.
• To utilize yttrium-analyte complexation and three-way chromatographic data modeling for enhanced detection.

Main Methods:

• High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Factorial Design (HPLC-FSFD).
• Coupling with yttrium (Y3+) for analyte complexation to enhance fluorescence signals.
• Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) for data modeling.

Main Results:

• Significant fluorescence enhancement (103- to 1743-fold) for FQs in the presence of Y3+.
• Achieved low Limit of Detection (LOD) values in the part-per-trillion range (below 0.5 ng mL-1 for most FQs).
• Relative Error of Prediction (REP%) below 10% for all FQs, demonstrating accuracy.

Conclusions:

• The proposed HPLC-FSFD method offers a sensitive, accurate, and efficient approach for FQ analysis in water.
• The method eliminates the need for tedious sample pre-concentration steps, simplifying analysis.
• It provides comparable or better LODs than sophisticated techniques like SPE and UHPLC-MS/MS.