One-pot synthesis of magnetic adsorbent with integrated pH regulation for convenient and rapid determination of antidepressant in biofluids

Therapeutic drug monitoring is essential for ensuring the safe and effective administration of medications, for example antidepressants, which require precise dosing to avoid adverse effects. Developing efficient and reliable methods for extracting and determining antidepressants in biofluids is crucial for advancing personalized medicine. This study presents the development of a one-pot synthesis of magnetic adsorbent with integrated pH regulation for the efficient extraction and determination of antidepressants in biofluids. Magnetic particles (Fe 3 O 4 ), multi-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized with hydroxyl groups (MWCNTs-OH), and calcium oxide (CaO) as a pH regulator were combined in a single-step grinding process to synthesize the magnetic adsorbent. The resulting adsorbent not only exhibit a high surface area and strong magnetic properties, enabling the efficient and selective adsorption of target compounds, but they also directly adjust the solution’s pH to alkaline conditions. This built-in pH regulation enhances the extraction efficiency of antidepressants without requiring external pH adjustment, significantly simplifying the sample preparation process. Coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection, the synthesized magnetic adsorbent were successfully applied to the extraction and quantification of antidepressants in human plasma and urine samples. The validated method demonstrated good linearity, with a coefficient of determination (R 2 ) greater than 0.99, along with high accuracy and precision. Analysis of real samples further confirmed the method’s reliability and robustness. This approach offers a rapid, convenient, and cost-effective solution for therapeutic drug monitoring, demonstrating significant potential for widespread clinical and bioanalytical applications.