Designed 3D N-doped magnetic porous carbon spheres for sensitive monitoring of biogenic amine by simultaneous microwave-assisted derivatization and magnetic-solid phase extraction

In this paper, the novel 3D N-doped magnetic porous carbon spheres (3D N-MPCSs) was constructed via a simple template-free and self-doping method, followed by a direct carbonization of polymer with Fe 3+ for simultaneous activation and magnetization. For the first time, the designed 3D N-MPCSs was used as multifunctional (for extraction and magnetic separation) adsorbents for microwave-assisted derivatization and magnetic solid phase extraction, which exhibited excellent extraction ability for its large surface area, mesoporous structure, spherical morphology, and incorporation of N/O heteroatoms. Moreover, when the microwave-assisted derivatization was combined with the magnetic solid phase extraction, the extraction, derivatization and concentration was completed simultaneously within 135 s. Furthermore, this method has a low detection limit (0.059–0.073 ng mL −1 ) and high enhancement factors (333 < EFs < 382) for trace biogenic amine (BAs). The recoveries were between 92.3 and 108.8% with relative standard deviations less than 5.9%. Overall, a simple, rapid, efficient and sensitive method for the analysis of BAs in food samples was developed, which provided the basis for routine detection of food safety.