Covalent Triazine Framework Sorbent for Solid Phase Extraction of Fipronil and Its Metabolite in Eggs with Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A solid-phase extraction (SPE) method was established for fipronil and its metabolite residues (fipronil desulfinyl, fipronil sulphone and fipronil sulphide) in eggs with a covalent triazine framework (CTF) porous material as the adsorbent followed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) detection. Multiple probes and quantum chemistry theory calculations were conducted to describe the versatile adsorption property directly and quantifiably. The conjugated structure of CTF and N-containing triazine generated pi-pi interactions and hydrogen bonds between the CTF and the targets, which led to high extraction efficiency and recoveries. The solid-phase extraction parameters, including amount of the adsorbent, type of eluent, amount of eluent and loading rate were investigated. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the recoveries of the analytes were between 85.5% and 103.2%, and the RSD (n = 5) was between 1.8% and 3.6%. The LODs and LOQs were 0.13-0.2 ng g(-1) and 0.5-0.8 ng g(-1), respectively. The sorbent can effectively reduce the interference of the matrix and meet the detection requirements of fipronil and its metabolites in eggs. These results imply that the CTF as adsorbents have great potential in the analysis of trace targets in samples with complex matrices.