Microextraction Tech

Continuous flow micro-electroextraction for enrichment of low abundant compounds   I It is well known by all the readers that achieving the highest enrichment is the key factor in any miniaturized extraction technique. In this sense, the use of highly efficient materials is a valuable alternative but not the only one. The use of auxiliary energies which force the analyte migration from the sample to the extractant phase is also a widespread alternative. Among them, electromigration-based microextraction is an elegant approach which allows the focusing and stacking of charged compounds within a short temporal window.  (Read more) Switchable hydrophilicity solvents in the microextraction context The concept of switchable solvents (SS) was firstly introduced by Canter in 2006, in the framework of industrial processes. The initial idea was to introduce solvents which can switch between a polar and non-polar chemical form, aiming to reduce the number of organic solvent and toxi

The concept of switchable solvents (SS) was firstly introduced by Canter in 2006, in the framework of industrial processes. The initial idea was to introduce solvents which can switch between a polar and non-polar chemical form, aiming to reduce the number of organic solvent and toxic wastes generated during extraction procedures [1]. Recently, professor Jessop and co-workers expands the application field of this kind of solvents in order to develop cheaper and greener chemical processes. Jessop proposed gaseous CO 2 as trigger reagent to switch between the two chemical forms of the SS (see equation 1), which is pretty interesting since it is cheap, easily available and non-toxic. Moreover, it can be easily introduced and removed from the solution, thus simplifying the "switching" process. Solvents presenting this behavior were named as "switchable hydrophilicity solvents" (SHS) as they are miscible with water in the presence of CO 2 while become immiscible wh

It is well known by all the readers that achieving the highest enrichment is the key factor in any miniaturized extraction technique. In this sense, the use of highly efficient materials is a valuable alternative but not the only one. The use of auxiliary energies which force the analyte migration from the sample to the extractant phase is also a widespread alternative. Among them, electromigration-based microextraction is an elegant approach which allows the focusing and stacking of charged compounds within a short temporal window. In this context, Lindenburg and coworkers have proposed a continuous flow micro-electroextraction approach for the enrichment of low abundant compounds of relevance in metabolomics (1). The article has been recently published in Analytical Chemistry and it has been selected for the cover of issue 16 . Analytical Chemistry cover The authors have designed an electroextraction flow cell incorporated in a microfluidic chip where the organic donor phase