A core-shell structured magnetic covalent organic framework (type Fe3O4@COF) as a sorbent for solid-phase extraction of endocrine-disrupting phenols prior to their quantitation by HPLC.

A magnetic covalent organic framework (Fe3O4@COF) with core-shell structure was fabricated at room temperature and used as an adsorbent for magnetic solid-phase extraction of polar endocrine-disrupting phenols (4-n-nonylphenol, 4-n-octylphenol, bisphenol A and bisphenol AF). The sorbent was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, FTIR, powder X-ray diffraction and other techniques. The main parameters governing the extraction efficiency were optimized. The phenols were quantified by HPLC with fluorometric detection. The method has attractive features such as low limits of detection (0.08-0.21 ng.mL-1), wide linear ranges (0.5-1000 ng.mL-1), and good repeatability (intra-day: 0.39%-4.99%; inter-day: 1.57%-5.21%). Satisfactory results were obtained when the developed method was applied to determine the four target pollutants in real world drink samples with spiked recoveries over the range of 81.3~118.0%. This indicates that the method is a powerful tool for the enrichment and determination of endocrine-disrupting phenols in drink samples. Graphical abstract A magnetite based covalent organic framework (Fe3O4@COFs) was synthesized with TPAB, TPA and Fe3O4. It was used for magnetic solid-phase extraction of endocrine-disrupting phenols from plastic-packaged tea drink samples coupled with liquid chromatography (LC) for determination.