Automated Derivatization, SPE Cleanup and LC/MS/MS Determination of Glyphosate and other Polar Pesticides

Abstract

App Note 9/2013

Glyphosate and glufosinate are widely used herbicides and, thus, there is an interest in the reliable and sensitive determination of glyphosate in water and food. These pesticides are difficult to extract and analyze because of their high polarity. In this report, we describe an automated work flow for the FMOC derivatization, sample cleanup, and LC/MS/MS analysis using a GERSTEL MultiPurpose Sampler (MPS XL) configured with an online solid phase extraction (SPEXOS) module coupled to an AB SCIEX QTRAP® 4500 system for the identification and quantitation of glyphosate, its major metabolite AMPA, and glufosinate in water and food samples. The online SPE-LC/MS/MS method allowed detection and quantitation of all target pesticides in matrix samples at 10 μg/kg concentration levels with excellent reproducibility and values well within the ±20 % range.