FLOW NETWORK FOR AUTOMATIC DETERMINATION OF
FLUOROQUINOLONES IN WATER BY SOLID PHASE EXTRACTION COUPLED
TO FLUORIMETRIC DETECTION
Luisa Barreiros1,2*, Patrícia S. Peixoto1, Marcelo V. Osório1, Ildikó V. Toth1, José L. F. C.
Lima1 and Marcela A. Segundo1
1
REQUIMTE, Departamento de Ciências Químicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Rua de
Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
2 Núcleo de Investigação e Intervenção em Farmácia (NIIFA), Centro de Investigação em Saúde e Ambiente
(CISA), Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Porto (ESTSP) – Instituto Politécnico do Porto (IPP),
Rua Valente Perfeito 322, 4400-330 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
The presence in the environment of compounds potentially harmful to animal and
human health has been raising concern over the years. Antibiotics constitute a large
group of pharmaceuticals which extensive use may result in the contamination of the
different environmental compartments. Among antibiotics, fluoroquinolones are one of
the groups most frequently detected in aqueous matrices.
Having this in mind, the major aim of this work was the development of a screening
method for the rapid determination of fluoroquinolones in waters, based on automatic
solid phase extraction (SPE) coupled to fluorimetric detection. SPE procedure was
implemented using a molecular recognition strategy. Hence, a flow-through column,
containing a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as sorbent, was incorporated to a
multisyringe flow injection system (MSFIA), where all the steps from sample loading to
analyte elution were controlled by computer programming. Different SPE parameters
were tested and evaluated, namely sample volume, washing volume for matrix removal,
eluent volume and flow rate. The proposed flow based strategy was established for
three fluoroquinolones, particularly norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin and it is
our goal to extend its application for the monitorization of other fluoroquinolones.
Moreover, method validation is currently under development, comprising application to
real samples.
Keywords: fluoroquinolones, solid phase extraction, flow analysis, fluorimetric detection.
Acknowledgements: Financial support from FEDER funds under the National Strategic
Reference Framework (NSRF) through Project NORTE-07-0162-FEDER-000124 is
acknowledged. This work was performed in the framework of project NEPCAT (NORTE-070202-FEDER-038900), financed by FEDER funds, through the North Portugal Regional
Operational Programme (ON2) in the NSRF. L. Barreiros and M. V. Osório thank FCT and
POPH (Programa Operacional Potencial Humano) for their Post-Doc (SFRH/BPD/89668/2012)
and PhD (SFRH/BD/91251/2012) grants, respectively, and P. Peixoto thanks the CAPES,
Ciencia sem Fronteiras program for financial support through grant BEX 9532/13-7.