Miniaturized Approaches to Conventional Liquid--Liquid Extraction.

Liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) is among the most widely used sample preparation methods. In this month's instalment of ‘Sample Preparation Perspectives,’ Ron Majors discusses newer LLE approaches that offer significant advantages over classic methods. The miniaturization of LLE has resulted in solvent and time savings, improved automation possibilities and faster sample preparation. The techniques of single-drop microextraction, extraction in levitated droplets, flow injection-, membrane-based- and solid-supported extractions are reviewed. Often, these techniques use the same immiscible solvent pairs of conventional LLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]