simultaneous determination of foramsulfuron and orthosulfamuron in four common grains using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Foramsulfuron and orthosulfamuron are two important sulfonylurea herbicides and have been widely used for the weed control in grain field. but their residues and toxicities have also caused many problems. in this study, the quechers (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) method and uplc-ms/ms (ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry) were combined to simultaneously determine them in soybeans, wheat, rice, and maize. the suitable extractants (acetonitrile for soybeans and wheat while acetonitrile containing 1% formic acid for rice and maize) and sorbents (octadecylsilane (c18) for soybeans and wheat while primary secondary amine (psa) for rice and maize) were tested and selected. in this study, the determinations of the target compounds were achieved in < 5.0 min and the limits of quantification were 0.005 mg kg−1 in the four grain matrices. the method showed excellent linearity (r2 > 0.9990) for the target compounds. and the recovery studies of foramsulfuron and orthosulfamuron performed in the four matrices at three spiked levels (5, 10, and 100 μg l−1) showed good average recoveries (75.16~106.45%) and reproducibility (inter-day relative standard deviations (n = 15) ranged from 4.08 to 15.95%). this method will be useful for the quick and simultaneous detection of foramsulfuron and orthosulfamuron residues in soybeans, wheat, rice, and maize.