Increasing consumption of pharmaceuticals and the respective consequences for the aquatic environment have been the focus of many studies over the last thirty years. Various aspects in this field were investigated, considering diverse pharmaceutical groups and employing a wide range of research methodologies. Various questions from the perspectives of different research areas were devised and answered, resulting in a large mix of individual findings and conclusions. Collectively, the results of the studies offer a comprehensive overview. The large variety of methods and strategies, however, demands close attention when comparing and combining information from heterogeneous projects. This review critically examines the application of diverse sampling techniques as well as analytical methods in investigations concerning the behavior of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) and contrast agents (CAs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The combination of sampling and analysis is discussed with regard to its suitability for specific scientific problems. Different research focuses need different methods and answer different questions. An overview of studies dealing with the fate and degradation of PhACs and CAs in WWTPs is presented, discussing their strategic approaches and findings. This review includes surveys of anticancer drugs, antibiotics, analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs, antidiabetics, beta blockers, hormonal contraceptives, lipid lowering agents, antidepressants as well as contrast agents for X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging.

From the early precipitation-based techniques, introduced more than a century ago, to the latest development of enzymatic bio- and nano-sensor applications, the analysis of phytic acid and/or other inositol phosphates has never been a straightforward analytical task. Due to the biomedical importance, such as antinutritional, antioxidant and anticancer effects, several types of methodologies were investigated over the years to develop a reliable determination of these intriguing analytes in many types of biological samples; from various foodstuffs to living cell organisms. The main aim of the present work was to critically overview the development of the most relevant analytical principles, separation and detection methods that have been applied in order to overcome the difficulties with specific chemical properties of inositol phosphates, their interferences, absence of characteristic signal (e.g., absorbance), and strong binding interactions with (multivalent) metals and other biological molecules present in the sample matrix. A systematical and chronological review of the applied methodology and the detection system is given, ranging from the very beginnings of the classical gravimetric and titrimetric analysis, through the potentiometric titrations, chromatographic and electrophoretic separation techniques, to the use of spectroscopic methods and of the recently reported fluorescence and voltammetric bio- and nano-sensors.

Chiral column chromatography (CCC) is a revolutionary analytical methodology for the enantioseparation of novel positron emission tomography (PET) tracers in the primary stages of drug development. Due to the different behaviors of tracer enantiomers (e.g. toxicity, metabolism and side effects) in administrated subjects, their separation and purification is a challenging endeavor. Over the last three decades, different commercial chiral columns have been applied for the enantioseparation of PET-radioligand (PET-RL) or radiotracers (PET-RT), using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The categorization and reviewing of them is a vital topic. This review presents a brief overview of advances, applications, and future prospectives of CCC in radiopharmaceutical approaches. In addition, the effective chromatographic parameters and degravitation trends to enhance enantioseparation resolution are addressed. Moreover, the application and potential of chiral super fluidical chromatography (CSFC) as an alternative for enantioseparation in the field of radiopharmaceutical is discussed. Finally, the crucial application challenges of CCC are explained and imminent tasks are suggested.

Historical and archaeological textiles are among the most crucial and vulnerable records of our social and cultural history. Analysis of organic colorants found in these materials is unquestionably one of the most powerful tools to understand historical developments, cultural exchanges, and progress in science and technology. Natural anthraquinones represent the most commonly used natural colorants for textile dyeing until the late 19th century. The identification of anthraquinones in cultural heritage objects is a challenging task due to the small size of historical samples, diversity of potential dye sources, variable extraction procedures and dyeing methods, complex chemical constitution, structurally analogous chromophores, and possible presence of degradation products and contaminants. Developments in dye analysis of historical interest have originated and expanded along with the general advances in analytical science. In the last few decades, a close cooperation between science and cultural heritage disciplines contributed enormously to this field. The topic of historical dyes and their analysis in textiles, artworks, archaeological objects and cultural heritage materials has been reviewed several times in the last fifteen years. However, no review has been published to-date exclusively on the analysis of anthraquinone colorants in historical and archaeological textiles. Overall, liquid chromatography (LC)-based techniques have been the most widely used method for anthraquinone dye analysis. Owing to increasing demand of minimally invasive/non-invasive techniques, recent developments of novel techniques have resulted in the availability of many alternative/complementary methods to LC-based analysis. This review begins with a short overview of sources, chemistry and importance of natural anthraquinone dyes found in historical textiles before turning to a detailed discussion on developments involving established and emerging analytical techniques of anthraquinone dye analysis for textile cultural heritage materials. To illustrate the state-of-the-art, representative examples of analytical techniques highlighting their advantages, limitations and applicability are also presented.

Since the discovery of the \"fish arsenic\" arsenobetaine in a mushroom, arsenic species have been studied in all kinds of mushrooms, with very diverse results, for more than 20 years. Depending on the fungal species, inorganic arsenic, methylarsonic acid, dimethylarsinic acid, arsenobetaine and a couple of other arsenic-containing compounds have been detected in all kinds of concentrations in natural samples. A rule to predict the arsenic speciation of a new mushroom is yet to be found. Some research has been devoted to the question about the origin of the different arsenic species in mushrooms. It is still not clear whether mushrooms are able to transform arsenic by themselves or if they just take it up from the environment. For the determination of the arsenic species in mushrooms, high performance liquid chromatography coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is used most of the times, but a few alternative approaches exist. This review will give an overview of these different techniques and critically discuss them. The arsenic species that have been found in mushrooms so far will be summarized, and the work that has been devoted to unraveling the origins of these compounds will be discussed in depth. The interesting phenomenon of arsenic hyperaccumulation by mushrooms will be reviewed as well.

Vitamin K is an essential nutrient in the body and involved in numerous physiological and pathophysiological functions. Both the lack and surplus of vitamin K can put human health at risk. Therefore, it becomes necessary to monitor vitamin K concentrations in different biomatrices through establishing sensitive and specific analytical methods. This review collectively describes an updated overview of the sample pretreatment methodologies and methods for quantitative determination of vitamin K that have been used in last two decades. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is commonly utilized as a standard for separation of vitamin K in combination with different detection including spectroscopic, spectrometric, fluorometric and mass spectroscopy. Recent progress in sample pretreatment technologies and quantitation methodologies have enhanced the ability to identify and quantitate vitamin K in biomatrices to further advance our understanding of the role of this vitamin in human health and disease.

Isoniazid is a synthetic antimicrobial and one of the most important first-line drugs used in the treatment of tuberculosis. Since it was introduced in the therapy in 1952, the drug remains at the front line of the antituberculosis treatment mainly due to its potency and high selectivity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Pharmaceutical analysis and therapeutic drug monitoring of isoniazid in both, pharmaceuticals and biological samples, plays an important role to comprehend aspects regarding to bioavailability, bioequivalence and therapeutic monitoring during patients following-up. In the last case, validated and simple methods are extremely useful for Public Healthy in order to guarantee the drug efficacy, safety and reduce the tuberculosis resistance. Among the available analytical tools, HPLC-based methods coupled to ultraviolet or mass spectroscopy are the most widely used techniques to quantify isoniazid. Therefore, this review highlights the main analytical methods reported in the literature for determination of isoniazid focusing in HPLC-based methods.

The analysis of drugs in various biological fluids is an important criterion for the determination of the physiological performance of a drug. After sampling of the biological fluid, the next step in the analytical process is sample preparation. Sample preparation is essential for isolation of desired components from complex biological matrices and greatly influences their reliable and accurate determination. The complexity of biological fluids adds to the challenge of direct determination of the drug by chromatographic analysis, therefore demanding a sample preparation step that is often time consuming, tedious and frequently overlooked. However, direct online injection methods offer the advantage of reducing sample preparation steps and enabling effective pre-concentration and clean-up of biological fluids. These procedures can be automated and therefore reduce the requirements for handling potentially infectious biomaterial, improve reproducibility, and minimize sample manipulations and potential contamination. This review is focused on the discovery and development of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC) with different detectors. The drugs covered in this review are antiepileptics, antidepressant (AD), and quinolones. The application of these methods for determination of these drugs in biological, environmental and pharmaceutical samples has also been discussed.

The application of \'soluble\' (colloidal) manganese(IV) for chemiluminescence detection is reviewed, focussing on papers published since the last comprehensive review of the subject in 2008. Advances in this reagent system include: the on-line formation of manganese(IV); new insight into the light-producing pathway and selectivity of the reagent; its application to assess total antioxidants in plant derived samples and oxidative stress in biological fluids and tissues; and the replacement of the formaldehyde enhancer with ethanol.

We review the analytical applications of acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence published since our previous comprehensive review in mid-2007 to early 2013. This includes a critical evaluation of evidence for the emitting species, the influence of additives such as polyphosphates, formaldehyde, sulfite, thiosulfate, lanthanide complexes and nanoparticles, the development of a generalized reaction mechanism, and the use of this chemistry in pharmaceutical, clinical, forensic, food science, agricultural and environmental applications.