Determination of sulfonamides, quinolones, benzimidazoles and the metabolites of benzimidazoles in chicken livers by dispersive solid-phase extraction and ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A method for the determination of 12 sulfonamides, 19 quinolones and 8 benzimidazoles and the metabolites of benzimidazoles in chicken livers by quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe (QuEChERS) extraction and ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) has been developed. The samples were extracted with 1% acetic acid-acetonitrile solution, cleaned up with amine (NH2) sorbent and defatted with n-hexane. The identification and quantification were achieved by using electrospray ionization in positive ion mode (ESI+) with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The matrix-matched internal standard calibration curves were used for quantitative determination. The linear range was from 5 to 100 microg/kg. The average recoveries and relative standard deviations were 72% - 121% and 1.5% -23.4% respectively in the spiked range of 10 -50 microg/kg. The limits of detection were 5 microg/kg and the limits of quantification were 10 microg/kg for the 39 drugs. The method is simple, rapid, sensitive and accurate. It is suitable for the quantitative determination and confirmation of 12 sulfonamides, 19 quinolones, 8 benzimidazoles and the metabolites of benzimidazoles.