Some aspects of analytical instrumentation: models, techniques, instruments

Summary The paper gives a review of investigations aimed at the development of instruments and techniques for analytical chemistry performed by the Institute for Analytical Instrumentation of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Advances in mass spectrometry of non-volatile labile compounds, determination of amino acid sequence in peptides, multidimensional Mössbauer spectroscopy, EPR recording optical techniques, microcolumn chromatography, field flow fractionation (FFF), and flow injection analysis (FIA) are considered.

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Einige Aspekte des analytischen Gerätebaus: Modelle, Verfahren, Instrumente

     

Shortened screening method for phosphorus fractionation in sediments: A complementary approach to the standards, measurements and testing harmonised protocol

The SMT protocol, a sediment phosphorus fractionation method harmonised and validated in the frame of the standards, measurements and testing (SMT) programme (European Commission), establishes five fractions of phosphorus according to their extractability. The determination of phosphate extracted is carried out spectrophotometrically. This protocol has been applied to 11 sediments of different origin and characteristics and the phosphorus extracted in each fraction was determined not only by UV-Vis spectrophotometry, but also by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The use of these two determination techniques allowed the differentiation between phosphorus that was present in the extracts as soluble reactive phosphorus and as total phosphorus. From the comparison of data obtained with both determination techniques a shortened screening method, for a quick evaluation of the magnitude and importance of the fractions given by the SMT protocol, is proposed and validated using two certified reference materials.     

Analysis of trace elements and their physico-chemical forms in natural waters

Trace elements in natural waters can be present in different physico-chemical forms, varying in size, charge and density properties. Knowledge of speciation is essential for understanding the transport, distribution, and biological uptake of trace elements in the environment. The development of techniques to provide reliable information on physico-chemical forms has, therefore, become a challenge within Analytical Chemistry.When selecting analytical methods for the determination of total concentrations or fractions of trace elements in natural waters, no exclusion of species should occur, or at least it must be accounted for. Furthermore, the determination limits must be sufficiently low to allow the actual concentrations to be determined with reasonable precision and accuracy. For very low concentrations, preconcentration techniques are applicable, provided the chemical yield of the spike represents that of the original species present. For methods meeting these criteria, the suitability for routine analysis should be considered.When the physico-chemical forms of trace elements are to be determined, the fractionation should take placein situ or shortly after sampling. As the concentrations involved in speciation studies may be extremely low, there is an increasing awareness of potential sources of errors influencing analytical results. Sample collection and separation/fractionation/concentration procedures prior to analysis are, therefore, essential within Analytical Chemistry, and the whole procedure must be taken into account when interpreting the results. There are, however, several requirements which should be met by techniques applicable for speciation purposes. In general, size fractionation techniques (e.g.in situ hollow fibre ultrafiltration) should be applied prior to the addition of any chemical reagents (charge fractionation techniques).     

Improved chemical composition separation of ethylene–propylene random copolymers by high-temperature solvent gradient interaction chromatography

High-temperature solvent gradient interaction chromatography (HT-SGIC) is a fast and efficient fractionation technique for the chemical composition analysis of olefin copolymers. The separation of ethylene–propylene random copolymers (EPRs) was achieved on a graphitic stationary phase, Hypercarb, at 160 °C by using linear solvent gradient elution from 1-decanol to 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (TCB). In the present work, the solvent gradient profile was modified to improve the chromatographic separation of EPRs. With the aim to obtain a better resolution in separation, a slow increase in the volume fraction of TCB was applied. This allowed for a relatively large retention region for linear polyethylene (PE) chains on the column; thereby, a broader elution volume zone between the start of the gradient and the PE elution was achieved. The efficiency of this new gradient profile was demonstrated by analysing two fully amorphous EPR samples. Clear differences in the chemical composition of these EPR samples with similar ethylene contents have been proven by using this modified solvent gradient. The comprehensive chemical composition and microstructure analysis of the SGIC-separated fractions by FTIR revealed that ethylene/propylene (EP) copolymer chains were eluted according to their ethylene/propylene contents and E or P sequence lengths, even though they are distributed in a random manner. These results showed that the solvent composition is an important factor to affect the interactive adsorption or desorption behaviour of EP chains on Hypercarb. In this way, for the first time, the determination of the complex composition and chain structure of EPR samples was achieved within short analysis time, which is not possible till now using other fractionation techniques reported.

Characterisation and determination of fullerenes: A critical review

A prominent sector of nanotechnology is occupied by a class of carbon-based nanoparticles known as fullerenes. Fullerene particle size and shape impact in how easily these particles are transported into and throughout the environment and living tissues. Currently, there is a lack of adequate methodology for their size and shape characterisation, identification and quantitative detection in environmental and biological samples. The most commonly used methods for their size measurements (aggregation, size distribution, shape, etc.), the effect of sampling and sample treatment on these characteristics and the analytical methods proposed for their determination in complex matrices are discussed in this review. For the characterisation and analysis of fullerenes in real samples, different analytical techniques including microscopy, spectroscopy, flow field-flow fractionation, electrophoresis, light scattering, liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry have been reported. The existing limitations and knowledge gaps in the use of these techniques are discussed and the necessity to hyphenate complementary ones for the accurate characterisation, identification and quantitation of these nanoparticles is highlighted.     

Hexamollamide, a hexapeptide from an Okinawan ascidian Didemnum molle

The bioassay-guided fractionation of the cytotoxic constituents of the Okinawan ascidian Didemnum molle led to the isolation of hexamollamide (1), a hexapeptide. The gross structure and relative stereostructure of 1 were established by spectroscopic analysis including 2D NMR techniques and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The absolute stereostructure was determined by chiral HPLC analysis of acid hydrolysates of 1. Hexamollamide (1) exhibits moderate cytotoxicity against HeLa S₃ cells.     

Prediction of the Behaviour of Biomass Ash in Fluidized Bed Combustors and Gasifiers

Two types of agricultural residues (wheat straw and olive residue) in untreated and pretreated (fractionation, leaching) form were tested as concerns their ash melting behaviour during fluidized bed combustion and gasification by means of thermal analysis techniques. The techniques applied included DSC, simultaneous DSC/TG and TG-MS for the determination of low-temperature ash melts and losses caused by the volatilization of alkali material. In combination with ash elemental analyses on the materials, the applied techniques proved to offer valuable information for prediction of the ash behaviour in fluidized bed reactors. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Microscale fractionation facilitates detection of differentially expressed proteins in Alzheimer's disease brain samples

Fractionation enhances the resolution of proteins with similar characteristics by reducing the number of proteins that comigrate in gels, thus facilitating the detection of lower-abundance proteins and the accurate determination of quantitative and qualitative differences in disease and normal samples. An efficient, reproducible microscale fractionation protocol for complex protein mixtures using novel ion-exchange membrane chromatographic substrates (PerkinElmer, Boston, MA, USA; Vivascience, Carlsbad, CA, USA) is described. The fractionation techniques were used in combination with two-dimensional (2-D) gels and orthogonal matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry to identify differentially expressed proteins in brain samples from persons with and without Alzheimer's disease.     

Determination of particle size distribution by gravitational field-flow fractionation: Dimensional characterization of silica particles

Summary Gravitational field-flow fractionation (GFFF) is the simplest and cheapest of field-flow fractionation (FFF) techniques, although it is still at an early development stage. The application of GFFF to the determination of particle size distribution (PSD) of silica particles used as chromatographic supports is described. The accuracy of the method is evaluated by comparing PSDs obtained by GFFF with those obtained by laser diffraction, a non-separative technique widely applied to particle characterization. It is ultimately demonstrated that a low-cost GFFF channel can simply replace the column of a standard HPLC system, allowing laboratories that are not specialized in size analysis to perform accurate PSD studies with standard HPLC expertise.     

New sesquiterpene lactones from water extract of the root of Lindera strychnifolia with cytotoxicity against the human small cell lung cancer cell, SBC-3

In the present study, new sesquiterpene lactones (1) and (2) were isolated from the EtOAc soluble fraction of the water extract of Linderae Radix through bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation methods. The structure of these compounds was elucidated by spectroscopic analysis of their 2D NMR spectra, including COSY, HMBC, and HMQC techniques. Two isolates showed significant cytotoxicity against the human small cell lung cancer cell SBC-3, and lesser cytotoxicity against mouse fibroblast cell 3T3-L1.     

Sequences distribution of poly(ethylene terephthalate-isophthalate) copolymers: Experimental TREF study and numerical simulation

The fractionation of a statistical copolyester made of poly(ethylene terephthalate- isophthalate) has been performed using Temperature Rising Elution Fractionation (TREF). TREF fractions were analyzed by size exclusion chromatography, thermal analysis, ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance and small angle X-Ray diffractometry. Results show that the fractions exhibit both interchain and intrachain defect distribution. As the intrachain defect distribution can not be determined by experimental techniques, a computer simulation based on the determination of terephthalic sequences length in a virtual polymeric distribution was performed. The simulated chains were constructed using a stochastic process. The analysis of the results obtained on the distribution of the simulated sequences in the polymer correlates quantitatively well between the new fractionation mechanism proposed for copolyesters and the experimental results.     

Trends in liquid-phase microextraction, and its application to environmental and biological samples

Liquid phase microextraction (LPME) is a popular technique for sample pretreatment before the trace determination of target compounds from complex matrices, examples being pesticides in environmental and food samples, or drug residuals in biological samples such as blood or urine. LPME is simple, affordable, easy to operate, and highly sensitive. It is a miniaturized implementation of conventional liquid-liquid extraction in which only a few microliters of solvents are used instead of several hundreds of milliliters. This review focuses on newly developed LPME-based techniques, their application to environmental and biological samples, on their limitations, and on future applications.

A comprehensive analysis in one run – in-depth conformation studies of protein–polymer chimeras by asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation

Polymer-based protein engineering has enabled the synthesis of a variety of protein–polymer conjugates that are widely applicable in therapeutic, diagnostic and biotechnological industries. Accurate characterizations of physical–chemical properties, in particular, molar masses, sizes, composition and their dispersities are critical parameters that determine the functionality and conformation of protein–polymer conjugates and are important for creating reproducible manufacturing processes. Most of the current characterization techniques suffer from fundamental limitations and do not provide an accurate understanding of a sample''s true nature. In this paper, we demonstrate the advantage of asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) coupled with multiple detectors for the characterization of a library of complex, zwitterionic and neutral protein–polymer conjugates. This method allows for determination of intrinsic physical properties of protein–polymer chimeras from a single, rapid measurement.

Precise characterization of structural parameters and their polydispersities of protein–polymer conjugates is performed with rapid analysis using asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation coupled with multiple detectors.     

结晶分级技术在支化聚乙烯研究中的应用

介绍了近年发展起来的几种结晶分级技术及其在支化聚乙烯结构表征及性能研究方面的应用。利用升温淋洗分级技术(TREF),可根据结晶特性的不同将高分子分离成多个分布较窄的级份,通过分别表征各级份的链结构,从而可获得高分子链结构方面较为准确的信息。基于差示扫描量热技术(DSC)发展起来的两类热分级技术,主要包括逐步结晶热分级(SC)和连续自成核退火分级(SSA)技术,虽然不能从物理上对高分子进行分级,但通过选择适当的操作参数,也能得到一系列与升温淋洗分级实验类似的链结构信息,并且具有设备简单、操作方便、样品用量少、耗时短等优点。本文结合我们自己的工作,对各种分级技术的原理、实验操作及应用进行了系统综述,并展望了结晶分级技术发展的某些可能趋势。     

Aurilide, a cytotoxic depsipeptide from the sea hare Dolabella auricularia: isolation, structure determination, synthesis, and biological activity

The bioassay-guided fractionation of the cytotoxic constituents of the Japanese sea hare Dollabella auricularia led to the isolation of aurilide (1), a 26-membered cyclodepsipeptide. The gross structure of 1 was established by spectroscopic analysis including 2D NMR techniques. The absolute stereostructure was determined by chiral HPLC analysis of acid hydrolysates of 1 and by the enantioselective synthesis of a degradation product arising from a dihydroxylated fatty acid portion. The enantioselective synthesis of 1 was achieved in 12% overall yield (16 steps) and confirmed the absolute stereostructure of 1. The cytotoxicity of 1 was evaluated using a synthetic sample, which was found to exhibit potent cytotoxicity against HeLa S₃ cells with an IC₅₀ of 0.011 μg/mL. Further biological and pharmacological studies of 1 have been carried out by using synthetic 1.     

激光烧蚀-电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定塑料中的Pb、Cd、Cr和Hg

采用激光烧蚀固体进样技术的电感耦合等离子体质谱法(LA-ICP-MS)测定了塑料中的Pb、Cd、Cr和Hg。选择了线扫描激光烧蚀方式,并从灵敏度和稳定性角度优化了工作参数。根据计算分馏因子考察了分馏效应,结果表明,所测元素分馏效应小。塑料中Hg的记忆效应严重,认为主要来自样品表面吸附,减小样品的表面积可减小Hg的记忆效应。以聚丙烯标准物质及其空白片作校准曲线,应用于ABS、PPS、PA66+30%GF、PVC、PTFE等实际塑料样品的测定,测定结果与ICP-OES(XRF)法测定值基本吻合。Pb、Cd、Cr和Hg的检测下限分别为0.002、0.001、0.08和1.5 mg/kg。     

Characterisation of the comonomer composition and distribution of copolymers using chemometric techniques

Chemometric techniques have been applied to FTIR and DSC data to correlate polymer composition. Since structural differences in the polymers with only hydrocarbon structure, often cause subtle changes in spectra, the ability of chemometric techniques is required to discern these differences. FTIR spectra and thermal fractionation using DSC were measured for 28 types of polyethylenes (PE) varying in chain branching type, content and distribution. Unsupervised clustering methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) and supervised discriminant analysis were used to classify the PEs according to their structural class. The DSC data was the more successful in both classifying PEs according to their class. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Determination of vanadium in petroleum and petroleum products using atomic spectrometric techniques

Vanadium is recognized worldwide as the most abundant metallic constituent in petroleum. It is causing undesired side effects in the refining process, and corrosion in oil-fired power plants. Consequently, it is the most widely determined metal in petroleum and its derivatives. This paper offers a critical review of analytical methods based on atomic spectrometric techniques, particularly flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET AAS), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In addition an overview is provided of the sample pretreatment and preparation procedures for vanadium determination in petroleum and petroleum products. Also included are the most recent studies about speciation and fractionation analysis using atomic spectrometric techniques.     

The role of chemometrics in single and sequential extraction assays: a review. Part II. Cluster analysis, multiple linear regression, mixture resolution, experimental design and other techniques

Single and sequential extraction procedures are used for studying element mobility and availability in solid matrices, like soils, sediments, sludge, and airborne particulate matter. In the first part of this review we reported an overview on these procedures and described the applications of chemometric uni- and bivariate techniques and of multivariate pattern recognition techniques based on variable reduction to the experimental results obtained. The second part of the review deals with the use of chemometrics not only for the visualization and interpretation of data, but also for the investigation of the effects of experimental conditions on the response, the optimization of their values and the calculation of element fractionation. We will describe the principles of the multivariate chemometric techniques considered, the aims for which they were applied and the key findings obtained. The following topics will be critically addressed: pattern recognition by cluster analysis (CA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and other less common techniques; modelling by multiple linear regression (MLR); investigation of spatial distribution of variables by geostatistics; calculation of fractionation patterns by a mixture resolution method (Chemometric Identification of Substrates and Element Distributions, CISED); optimization and characterization of extraction procedures by experimental design; other multivariate techniques less commonly applied.     

Natural sample fractionation by FlFFF-MALLS-TEM: sample stabilization, preparation, pre-concentration and fractionation

Two flow field flow fractionation (FlFFF) systems: symmetrical (SFlFFF) and asymmetrical (ASFlFFF) were evaluated to fractionate river colloids. Samples stability during storage and colloids concentration are the main challenges limiting their fractionation and characterization by FlFFF. A pre-fractionation (<0.45 microm) and addition of a bactericide such as NaN3 into river colloidal samples allowed obtaining stable samples without inducing any modification to their size. Stirred cell ultra-filtration allowed colloidal concentration enrichment of 25-folds. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs confirmed the gentle pre-concentration of river samples using the ultra-filtration stirred cell. Additionally, larger sample injection volume in the case of SFlFFF and on channel concentration in the case of ASFlFFF were applied to minimize the required pre-concentration. Multi angle laser light scattering (MALLS), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques are used to evaluate FlFFF fractionation behavior and the possible artifacts during fractionation process. This study demonstrates that, FlFFF-MALLS-TEM coupling is a valuable method to fractionate and characterize colloids. Results prove an ideal fractionation behavior in case of Brugeilles sample and steric effect influencing the elution mode in case of Cézerat and Chatillon. Furthermore, comparison of SFlFFF and ASFlFFF fractograms for the same sample shows small differences in particle size distributions.