Soxhlet extraction is a solid-liquid extraction performed on a soxhlet apparatus. It is often used to pretreat environmental samples such as sediments and soil. The extraction apparatus consists of a solvent reservoir with a sample holder sitting on top and a condenser tube that brings vaporized solvent back to the reservoir.
A solvent that provides good solubility of target analytes is refluxed. When the solvent condenses into the sample holder, it dissolves analytes and carries them back to the reservoir. Fresh solvent in reflux travels back to sample holder and carries more analytes to reservoir. This cycle continues for a set period of time to complete extraction.
The resulting extract typically contains a number of matrix interferences and will require further cleanup that is more selective such as SPE.
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