Trace carbonyl analysis in water samples by integrating magnetic molecular imprinting and capillary electrophoresis

In order to obtain high derivatization efficiency, the overuse of derivative agent 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH) is necessary for carbonyl detection. But, the 2,4-DNPH residue will cause background interferences and limit the pre-concentration factor of the target analytes. In order to overcome the bottleneck problems, the magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer based solid-phase extraction (MMIPs-SPE) method was developed with 2,4-dinitroaniline (2,4-DNAN) as the dummy template. The characteristics and selectivity of the MMIPs were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the enrichment of carbonyls-DNPH derivatives with simultaneous removal of the surplus 2,4-DNPH was achieved. By coupling with capillary electrophoresis (CE), a satisfactory analytical performance was obtained with the detection limit ranging from 1.2 to 8.7 μg L(−1) for 8 carbonyls. The MMIPs-SPE-CE method was applied successfully for the carbonyl assessment in stream water, tap water and bottled water. In addition, the migration of carbonyls in bottled drinking water was investigated under UV irradiation and heating.