Hexafluorobutanol primary alcohol ethoxylate-based supramolecular solvent formation and their application in direct microextraction of malachite green and crystal violet from lake sediments

A new type of hexafluorobutanol (HFB) primary alcohol ethoxylate (AEO)-based supramolecular solvent (SUPRAS) with density higher than water was prepared for the first time. HFB acted as AEO micelle-forming agent and density-regulating agent for SUPRAS formation. The prepared SUPARS was applied as extraction solvent for vortex-assisted direct microextraction of malachite green (MG) and crystal violet (CV) from lake sediment followed by high-performance liquid chromatographic determination. In the present work, SUPRASs prepared from AEO with different carbon chains as the amphiphiles and various coacervation agents were investigated. SUPARS formed from MOA-3 and HFB provided better extraction efficiency in comparison with other SUPRASs. Parameters influencing the extraction recovery of target analytes including the type and volume of AEO, volume of HFB, and vortex time were investigated and optimized. Under optimized conditions, linearity in the range of 2.0–400 μg g −1 for MG and 2.0–500 μg g −1 for CV with a correlation coefficient higher than 0.9947 was obtained. Limits of detection of 0.5 μg g −1 and relative standard deviations in the range of 0.9–5.8% were obtained. Compared to conventional extraction techniques for analysis of analytes in solid samples, the proposed method reduced sample usage and eliminated a primary extraction process by using a toxic organic solvent. The proposed method is simple, fast, and green and can be used for the analysis of target analytes in solid samples. Graphical Abstract