Polyethylene glycol-based polymeric supramolecular solvent for solid-liquid microextraction of neonicotinoids from vegetables

This study established a new polymeric supramolecular solvent (Poly-SUPRAS) for the effective solid-liquid microextraction of neonicotinoids from vegetables, with subsequent determination by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection. Biocompatible polyethylene glycols were used as low-toxicity coacervation agents to prepare the Poly-SUPRASs for the first time. The method achieved wide linear ranges with good determination coefficients (R² ≥ 0.9971). The detection and quantification limits were 0.01-0.06 and 0.05-0.20 μg g^-1, respectively. The method was then used to analyze neonicotinoids in seven vegetables. Extraction recoveries ranged from 87.4% to 103%. Density functional theory calculations showed that the extraction driver was noncovalent interactions between the Poly-SUPRAS and neonicotinoids. The method achieved an Analytical GREEnness preparation metric of 0.67 and a Blue Applicability Grade Index score of 77.5. Thus, the Poly-SUPRAS-based method was validated as a robust tool for the routine detection of neonicotinoid residue in vegetables.