LAUSR

Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)/room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs) are presented as separation/enrichment coupled with ultraviolet spectrometry for separation/analysis safranine T in food samples. The main factors affecting the ATPSs, such as amount of SDS, RTILs, pH, and time, have been investigated in detail. Under the optimal conditions, the linear calibration curves for safranine T was obtained over the concentration ranges of 0.05–4.0 μg mL−1 with the correlation coefficient (R) 0.9984 and the detection limits of safranine T was 3.8 ng mL−1. The mechanism of ATPS phase separation for safranine T has been discussed. The method was successfully applied to the determination of safranine T in food samples.