Thiol-yne click post-synthesis of phenylboronic acid-functionalized magnetic cyclodextrin microporous organic network for selective and efficient extraction of antiepileptic drugs

Owing to their incomplete digestion in the human body and inadequate removal by sewage treatment plants, antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) accumulate in water bodies, potentially affecting the exposed humans and aquatic organisms. Therefore, sensitive and reliable detection methods must be urgently developed for monitoring trace AEDs in environmental water samples. Herein, a novel phenylboronic acid-functionalized magnetic cyclodextrin microporous organic network (Fe3O4@CD-MON-PBA) was designed and synthesized via the thiol-yne click post-modification strategy for selective and efficient magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) of trace AEDs from complex sample matrices through the specific B–N coordination, π-π, hydrogen bonding, electrostatic, and host-guest interactions. Fe3O4@CD-MON-PBA exhibited a large surface area (118.5 m2 g−1), rapid magnetic responsiveness (38.6 emu g−1, 15 s), good stability and reusability (at least 8 times), and abundant binding sites for AEDs. Under optimal extraction conditions, the proposed Fe3O4@CD-MON-PBA-MSPE-HPLC-UV method exhibited a wide linear range (0.5–1000 μg L−1), low limits of detection (0.1–0.5 μg L−1) and quantitation (0.3–2 μg L−1), good anti-interference ability, and large enrichment factors (92.2–104.3 to 92.3–98.0) for four typical AEDs. This work confirmed the feasibility of the thiol-yne click post-synthesis strategy for constructing novel and efficient multifunctional magnetic CD-MONs for sample pretreatment and elucidated the significance of B–N coordination between PBA and N-containing AEDs.