Hydroxyl-rich porous organic polymers for efficient extraction of macrolide and lincomycin from environmental water...

The extensive utilisation of antibiotics (ANTIs) has led to the dissemination of antibiotic resistance, which has had a significant impact on the ecological health of water environments. The detection of low concentrations of antibiotics in aquatic environments remains a challenging task, necessitating the development of a sensitive, economical and environmentally friendly method.

This study involved the preparation of hydroxyl-rich, porous organic polymers (POPs), 2,4,6-tris(2,4,6-trihydroxyphenyl)-1,3,5-triazine-1,3,5-tris(4-aminophenyl) benzene (CTT-TAPB) and CTT-triptycene (CTT-TPC), via a green and mild diazo-coupling reaction. Following this, stable solid phase microextraction (SPME) fibers were produced and efficient enrichment of antibiotics in water samples was achieved. The prepared CTT-TPC fibers demonstrate significantly superior performance to single- and multi-component commercial fibers in terms of ANTIs detection (37-10770 times). Under the optimum experimental conditions, the developed method by combining the CTT-TPC coated fiber with high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), demonstrated a wide linearity (5-10000 ng L^-1), low limits of detection (0.060-0.68 ng L^-1) and good reproducibility (relative standard deviations 3.0-8.9 %). Finally, the proposed method has been successfully used for the determinations of macrolide and lincomycin from environmental water samples, and satisfactory recoveries (82.2-118.0 %) were achieved.

POPs were synthesized via a green and mild diazo-coupling reaction that eliminated the need of organic solvents during preparation, fulfilling the requirement of environmental sustainability. Moreover, when applied as SPME fiber coatings, the hydroxyl-rich POPs demonstrate significantly higher extraction efficiency for antibiotics in environmental samples than commercial fiber materials. This study opens up broader prospects for the use of green POPs in enrichment and separation applications targeting a wider range of high-risk environmental pollutants.