Chiral pesticides with asymmetric sulfur: extraction, separation, and determination in different environmental matrices

Chiral pesticides with S atoms as asymmetric centers are gaining great importance in the search for new pesticides with new modes of action. As for the rest of the chiral pesticides, the determination of the stereoisomers separately has become crucial in the environmental risks assessment of these pesticides. Therefore, the development of suitable extraction and clean-up methods as well as efficient stereoselective analytical techniques for stereoisomers determination in environmental samples is essential. Currently, liquid/solid phase extraction, microextraction, and QuEChERS-based methods are most commonly used to obtain chiral pesticides from environmental samples. Gas, liquid, and supercritical fluid chromatography together with capillary electrophoresis techniques are the most important for the determination of the stereoisomers of chiral pesticides containing S atoms in its structure. In this study, all these techniques are briefly reviewed, and the advantages and disadvantages of each are discussed.