Surfactant assisted enrichment of nucleosides by using a sorbent consisting of magnetic polysulfone capsules and mesoporous silica nanoparticles modified with phenylboronic acid

Boronate affinity materials have been widely used for selective extraction of cis-diols, but their extraction efficiency is far from adequate. We have synthesized porous magnetic polysulfone capsules containing mesoporous silica nanoparticles of type SBA-15 that were functionalized with boronic acid derivative. The spheres were then coated with the cationic surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide which binds to the surface due to hydrophobic and ionic interactions. The surfactant coated sorbents possess an enrichment capability and selectivity that is distinctly better than that of non-coated sorbents. The limits of detection for four nucleosides extracted from aqueous sample solutions are in the range from 1.13 to 1.74 ng mL−1. The selective enrichment of trace quantities of nucleosides is illustrated by quantifying nucleosides after extraction from HepG2 cells.