Electrochromatography and micro high-performance liquid chromatography with 320 μm I.D. packed columns

Electrochromatography is a chromatographic method in which the mobile phase (liquid or supercritical fluid) is “pumped” through a stationary phase in a microbore or capillary column by electroosmosis using an electric field. The technique permits separation of charged and uncharged compounds with higher resolution and superior efficiency when compared with micro-HPLC with an identical column. It is desirable to work with packed capillary columns with wide diameter in electrochromatography in order to improve detectability and column loadability. This study shows that we have moved a step forward towards this goal in spite of problems and difficulties, due to Joule heating, frit making and column packing in using wide-diameter columns. The paper demonstrates that the pressure pump of micro-HPLC with a commercially available 320 μm I.D. column can be replaced by the electroosmotic “pump” of capillary zone electrophoresis. Experiments were carried out in a chromatographic system under both electroosmosis and pressure-driven flow with 320 and 50 μm I.D. columns packed with 3- and 5-μm ODS. The advantage of electrochromatography over conventional micro-HPLC is shown.     

电渗泵在微柱液相上的应用

 设计评价了一种能够取代机械泵的电渗泵 (EOP) ,该泵可以产生 2 0MPa～ 6 0MPa的输出压力和几十nL/min～ 3μL/min的输出流量 ;用乙腈 水作为流动相 ,在 14cm× 32 0 μmi d (C18,5 μm )微柱上分离了萘、蒽、菲3种物质的混合试样 ,证明EOP在微柱液相领域有广阔的应用前景。     

Polybutadiene-coated zirconia packing materials in solvating gas chromatography using carbon dioxide as mobile phase

Summary In this paper, practical considerations of column efficiency, separation speed, thermal stability, and column polarity of capillary columns packed with polybutadiene-coated zirconia were investigated under solvating gas chromatography (SGC) conditions using carbon dioxide as mobile phase. When compared with results obtained from conventional porous octadecyl obtained from conventional porous octadecyl bonded silica (ODS) particles, PBD-zirconia particles produced greater change in mobile phase linear velocity with pressure than conventional ODS particles under the same conditions. The maximum plate number per second (N_t) obtained with a 30 cm PBD-zirconia column was approximately 1.5 times higher than that obtained with an ODS column at 100 °C. Therefore, the PBD-zirconia phase is more suitable for fast separations than conventional ODS particles in SGC. Maximum plate numbers per meter of 76,900 and 63,300 were obtained using a 57 cm×250 μm i.d. fused silica capillary column packed with 3 μm PBD-zirconia at 50 °C and 100 °C, respectively. The PBD-zirconia phase was stable at temperatures up to 320 °C under SGC conditions using carbon dioxide as mobile phase. Polarizable aromatic compounds and low molecular weight ketones and aldehydes were eluted with symmetrical peaks from a 10 cm column packed with 3 μm PBD-zirconia. Zirconia phases with greater inertness are required for the analysis of more polar compounds by SGC.     

Use of short-end injection capillary packed with a glycopeptide antibiotic stationary phase in electrochromatography and capillary liquid chromatography for the enantiomeric separation of hydroxy acids

A new chiral stationary phase (CSP) was prepared by reacting MDL 63,246 (Hepta-Tyr), a glycopeptide antibiotic belonging to the teicoplanin family, with 5-μm diol-silica particles. The CSP mixed with 5-μm amino silica particles (3:1) was packed into 75-μm fused-silica capillaries for only 6.6 cm and used for electrochromatographic experiments analyzing several hydroxy acid enantiomers. A reversed electroosmotic flow carried both analytes and mobile phase towards the anode in a short time (1–3 min), being baseline resolved all the studied analytes. In order to achieve the fastest enantiomeric resolution of the studied hydroxy acids, the effect of several experimental parameters such as mobile phase composition (organic modifier type and concentration, pH of the buffer and ionic strength), capillary temperature and applied voltage on enantioresolution factor, retention time, enantioselectivity were evaluated. The packed capillary column allowed the separation of mandelic acid enantiomers in less than 72 s with resolution factor R_s=2.18 applying a voltage of 30 kV and eluting with a mobile phase composed by 50 mM ammonium acetate (pH 6)–water–acetonitrile (1:4:5, v/v). The CSP was also tested in the capillary liquid chromatography mode resolving all the studied enantiomers applying 12 bar pressure to the mobile phase [50 mM ammonium acetate (pH 6)–water–methanol–acetonitrile, 1:4:2:3, v/v)], however, relatively long analysis times were observed (12–20 min).     

Application of a high-pressure electro-osmotic pump using nanometer silica in capillary liquid chromatography

A novel designed electro-osmotic pump (EOP) with simple structure was assembled using three 20 cm x 530 microm i.d. fused-silica capillaries packed with 20 +/- 5 nm silica grains for capillary liquid chromatography. It was found that the pump could generate pressures over 20 MPa and several microL/min flow rate for most of the liquids being delivered with the applied voltage less than 10 kV. By increasing the pressure, decreasing the applied voltage and the electrical current, the thermodynamic efficiency was about 1-4%. A practical application of the EOP in a 20cm x 150 microm i.d. 3 microm C18 fused-silica analytical capillary column demonstrated the applicability of the pump.     

Monolithic silica columns with various skeleton sizes and through-pore sizes for capillary liquid chromatography

Reduction of through-pore size and skeleton size of a monolithic silica column was attempted to provide high separation efficiency in a short time. Monolithic silica columns were prepared to have various sizes of skeletons (approximately 1-2 microm) and through-pores (approximately 2-8 microm) in a fused-silica capillary (50-200 microm I.D.). The columns were evaluated in HPLC after derivatization to C18 phase. It was possible to prepare monolithic silica structures in capillaries of up to 200 microm I.D. from a mixture of tetramethoxysilane and methyltrimethoxysilane. As expected, a monolithic silica column with smaller domain size showed higher column efficiency and higher pressure drop. High external porosity (> 80%) and large through-pores resulted in high permeability (K = 8 x 10(-14) -1.3 x 10(-12) m2) that was 2-30 times higher than that of a column packed with 5-mirom silica particles. The monolithic silica columns prepared in capillaries produced a plate height of about 8-12 microm with an 80% aqueous acetonitrile mobile phase at a linear velocity of 1 mm/s. Separation impedance, E, was found to be as low as 100 under optimum conditions, a value about an order of magnitude lower than reported for conventional columns packed with 5-microm particles. Although a column with smaller domain size generally resulted in higher separation impedance and the lower total performance, the monolithic silica columns showed performance beyond the limit of conventional particle-packed columns under pressure-driven conditions.     

Preparation of Fritless Packed Silica Columns for Capillary Electrochromatography

Fritless packed silica gel columns were prepared using sol‐gel technology. A part of a 75 μm i.d. fused silica capillary was filled with a mixture of tetramethoxysilane and poly(ethylene glycol). After gelling at 40°C and heating at 300°C, the resultant silica gel was derivatized with dimethyloctadecylchlorosilane. A scanning electron micrograph of a cross‐section of the capillary column showed that the gel took the form of a spherical particle aggregate and adhered to the column inner wall. The column performance was evaluated for electrochromatography using acetonitrile–50 mM HEPES buffer (pH 6.6) (60/40 or 40/60, v/v) as the mobile phase. An electroosmotic flow of 1.0 mm/s was generated with (60/40, v/v) acetonitrile/HEPES buffer at a field strength of 546 V/cm. Using a sol‐gel‐derived packed column at an electroosmotic flow of 0.5 mm/s, efficiencies of up to 1.1×10⁵ plates/m were obtained for retained solutes.     

Coupling capillary electrochromatography with mass spectrometry by using a liquid-junction nano-spray interface

Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) was coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) for the separation of some selected pesticides and drug enantiomers. CEC separations were carried out in fused silica capillaries packed with either 5 μm RP₁₈ silica or 5 μm silica modified vancomycin particles. The capillary column was connected with the MS utilizing a laboratory-made liquid-junction interface equipped with a 50 μm I.D. capillary-tip positioned at a few mm from the orifice of the MS. The CEC–MS set-up was operated without external pressure assistance during the electrochromatographic run commonly used to avoid bubble formation. However a hydrostatic pressure of a few kPa was applied only to the liquid-junction interface to optimize the ion-spray due to the low I.D. of the capillary-tip. In order to optimize the CEC–MS method, several experimental parameters were studied, namely the inlet pressure, the hydrostatic pressure into the liquid-junction interface, the type of sheath-liquid and the mobile phase. The application of an inlet pressure influenced only analyte retention times that were shortened by increasing the pressure. On the contrary the hydrostatic pressure applied to the interface increased the flow rate into the tip also increasing the ion-signal recorded in the mass spectrometry. The ion-signal raised almost linearly by increasing the outlet pressure till 3.5 kPa and then decreased. The separation of the selected pesticides was not influenced at all changing the hydrostatic pressure on the interface. Some basic enantiomeric compounds of pharmaceutical interest were successfully separated by CEC achieving good resolution. They were detected by MS with limit of detection in a range of 0.24–0.60 μg/mL.     

液相色谱-毛细管气相色谱/质谱离线联用分析烟草中的挥发性及半挥发性成分

建立了一种用于烟草样品中挥发性、半挥发性成分分析的液相色谱-毛细管气相色谱/质谱(LC-CGC/MS)离线联用方法。研究了LC-CGC/MS的分离机理。LC分析选用氨基分析柱(250 mm×2.0 mm, 5 μm)作为分析柱,正己烷-二氯甲烷-乙腈(90:6.6:3.4, v/v/v)作为流动相,对挥发性、半挥发性成分进行分离,收集得到5个馏分,并存放在5个氮吹瓶中。多次进样并收集相同时间段的馏分,氮吹浓缩至1 mL,然后分别进行CGC/MS分析,所用的CGC柱为DB-5MS(60 m×0.25 mm×0.25 μm)。结果显示,与直接采用CGC/MS分析相比,采用LC-CGC/MS分析复杂样本的效果更好,定性的可靠性更高。     

Study of an electroosmotic pump for liquid delivery and its application in capillary column liquid chromatography

A packed-bed electroosmotic pump (EOP) was constructed and evaluated. The EOP consisted of three capillary columns packed in parallel, a gas-releasing device, Pt electrodes and a high-voltage power supply. The EOP could generate output pressure above 5.0 MPa and constant flow rate in the range of nl/min to a few microl/min for pure water, pure methanol, 2 mM potassium dihydrogenphosphate buffer, the buffer-methanol mixture and the pure water-methanol mixture at applied potentials less than 20 kV. The composition of solvent before/after pumping was quantitatively determined by using a gas chromatograph equipped with both flame ionization detector and thermal conductivity detector. It was found that there were no apparent changes in composition and relative concentrations after pumping process for a methanol-ethanol-acetonitrile mixture and a methanol-water mixture. Theoretical aspect of the EOP was discussed in detail. An capillary HPLC system consisting of the EOP, an injection valve, a 15 cm x 320 microm i.d., 5 microm Spherigel C18 stainless steel analytical column, and an on-column UV detector was connected to evaluate the performance of the EOP. A comparative study was also carried out with a mechanical capillary HPLC pump on the same system. The results demonstrated that the reproducibility of flow rate and the pulsation-free flow property of the EOP are superior to that of mechanical pump in capillary HPLC application.     

Simultaneous determination of caffeine,paracetamol, and ibuprofen in pharmaceutical formulations by high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV detection and by capillary electrophoresis with conductivity detection

Paracetamol, caffeine and ibuprofen are found in over‐the‐counter pharmaceutical formulations. In this work, we propose two new methods for simultaneous determination of paracetamol, caffeine and ibuprofen in pharmaceutical formulations. One method is based on high‐performance liquid chromatography with diode‐array detection and the other on capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection. The separation by high‐performance liquid chromatography with diode‐array detection was achieved on a C₁₈ column (250×4.6 mm², 5 μm) with a gradient mobile phase comprising 20–100% acetonitrile in 40 mmol L^?1 phosphate buffer pH 7.0. The separation by capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection was achieved on a fused‐silica capillary (40 cm length, 50 μm i.d.) using 10 mmol L^?1 3,4‐dimethoxycinnamate and 10 mmol L^?1 β‐alanine with pH adjustment to 10.4 with lithium hydroxide as background electrolyte. The determination of all three pharmaceuticals was carried out in 9.6 min by liquid chromatography and in 2.2 min by capillary electrophoresis. Detection limits for caffeine, paracetamol and ibuprofen were 4.4, 0.7, and 3.4 μmol L^?1 by liquid chromatography and 39, 32, and 49 μmol L^?1 by capillary electrophoresis, respectively. Recovery values for spiked samples were between 92–107% for both proposed methods.     

Feasibility of ultra high performance supercritical neat carbon dioxide chromatography at conventional pressures

The implementation of columns packed with sub-2 μm particles in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is described using neat carbon dioxide as the mobile phase. A conventional supercritical fluid chromatograph was slightly modified to reduce extra column band broadening. Performances of a column packed with 1.8 μm C18-bonded silica particles in SFC using neat carbon dioxide as the mobile phase were compared with results obtained in ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) using a dedicated chromatograph. As expected and usual in SFC, higher linear velocities than in UHPLC must be applied in order to reach optimal efficiency owing to higher diffusion coefficient of solutes in the mobile phase; similar numbers of theoretical plates were obtained with both techniques. Very fast separations of hydrocarbons are presented using two different alkyl-bonded silica columns.     

Comprehensive two‐dimensional monolithic liquid chromatography of polar compounds

Two‐dimensional liquid chromatography largely increases the number of separated compounds in a single run, theoretically up to the product of the peaks separated in each dimension on the columns with different selectivities. On‐line coupling of a reversed‐phase column with an aqueous normal‐phase (hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography) column yields orthogonal systems with high peak capacities. Fast on‐line two‐dimensional liquid chromatography needs a capillary or micro‐bore column providing low‐volume effluent fractions transferred to a short efficient second‐dimension column for separation at a high mobile phase flow rate. We prepared polymethacrylate zwitterionic monolithic micro‐columns in fused silica capillaries with structurally different dimethacrylate cross‐linkers. The columns provide dual retention mechanism (hydrophilic interaction and reversed‐phase). Setting the mobile phase composition allows adjusting the separation selectivity for various polar substance classes. Coupling on‐line an organic polymer monolithic capillary column in the first dimension with a short silica‐based monolithic column in the second dimension provides two‐dimensional liquid chromatography systems with high peak capacities. The silica monolithic C₁₈ columns provide higher separation efficiency than the particle‐packed columns at the flow rates as high as 5 mL/min used in the second dimension. Decreasing the diameter of the silica monolithic columns allows using a higher flow rate at the maximum operation pressure and lower fraction volumes transferred from the first, hydrophilic interaction dimension, into the second, reversed‐phase mode, avoiding the mobile phase compatibility issues, improving the resolution, increasing the peak capacity, and the peak production rate.     

填充毛细管液相色谱-毛细管气相色谱在线联用分析八角茴香挥发油

首次将填充毛细管高效液相色谱-毛细管气相色谱在线联用技术(μ-HPLC-CGC)用于分离分析八角茴香果实的挥发油成分。液相色谱选用氰基分析柱(250 mm×0.32 mm i.d.),正己烷-乙腈-二氯甲烷(体积比为80∶8∶12)为流动相,对挥发油样品做族组分分离,得到的5个族组分被依次存放在多位储存接口内,然后不分流分别转入毛细管气相色谱仪做详细分析。气相色谱柱由10 m×0.53 mm i.d.保留间隔柱和30 m×0.53 mm i.d.×1.0 μm SE-54分析柱组成。采用了不分流柱内进样模     

1 μm硅胶颗粒固定相的加压电色谱分离性能

制备了1 μm无孔硅胶颗粒。通过电动填充法得到总长度为45 cm(固定相填充长度为20 cm)、内径为100 μm的毛细管色谱柱。以乙腈-水体系作为流动相,详细考察了碱性化合物在该色谱柱上的加压电色谱(pCEC)分离性能,讨论了流动相比例、缓冲液浓度、pH值及操作电压等因素对分离的影响。实验结果表明,裸硅胶柱在乙腈-水体系分离碱性样品中表现出典型的反相色谱分离性能;缓冲液浓度的改变则对分离影响不大。当pH值改变时,碱性化合物的解离程度发生变化,它们与固定相之间的作用力发生变化,使得分离度发生相应的变化。分离柱效随施加电压的增加而增加,在1 kV电压下,裸硅胶柱对邻甲苯胺的柱效为35000理论塔板/m。     

Ultra high-performance liquid chromatography of porphyrins in clinical materials: column and mobile phase selection and optimisation

Ultra high-performance liquid chromatographic (UHPLC) systems on columns packed with materials ranging from 1.9 to 2.7 μm average particle size were assessed for the fast and sensitive analysis of porphyrins in clinical materials. The fastest separation was achieved on an Agilent Poroshell C(18) column (2.7 μm particle size, 50 × 4.6 mm i.d.), followed by a Thermo Hypersil Gold C(18) column (1.9 μm particle size, 50 × 2.1 mm i.d.) and the Thermo Hypersil BDS C(18) column (2.4 μm particle size, 100 × 2.1 mm i.d.). All columns required a mobile phase containing 1 m ammonium acetate buffer, pH 5.16, with a mixture of acetonitrile and methanol as the organic modifiers for optimum resolution of the type I and III isomers, particularly for uroporphyrin I and III isomers. All UHPLC columns were suitable and superior to conventional HPLC columns packed with 5 μm average particle size materials for clinical sample analysis.     

Fast Solvating Gas Chromatography of Environmentally Important Compounds Using Polymer-Encapsulated Silica Particles

Rapid separations of selected environmentally important polar compounds using polymer-encapsulated silica stationary phases and a carbon dioxide mobile phase under solvating gas chromatography (SGC) conditions are reported. Ten underivatized short chain aldehydes and ten nitrogen-containing herbicides were separated within 1 min and 5 min, respectively, using a 30 cm×250 μm i. d. column packed with diol-bonded, polyethylenimine (PEI)-coated, and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS)-end-capped silica particles (5 μm, 120 Å). Seven organophosphorus pesticides were resolved in less than 5 min using a 30 cm×250 μm i. d. column packed with polymethylhydrosiloxane-deactivated and SE-54 encapsulated silica particles. Separation numbers per unit time increased with pressure and temperature ramps. Both rapid pressure and temperature programming can be used to increase the speed of SGC. The effects of pressure and temperature on apparent retention factors of solutes with various polarities were investigated using diol-PEI-HMDS silica particles in SGC.     

Capillary electrochromatography of 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone derivatives of some mono-and disaccharides

Summary A packing procedure was adopted for capillary electrochromatography (CEC) that produces capillary columns with high separation efficiencies. The columns were fully packed, 50 cm long, with UV detection being performed through the packed section 30 cm from the inlet end. The CEC experiments were run at ambient pressure, with no additional pressure applied to the ends of the column. The stationary phase (octadecyl silica (ODS), 5 μm) promoted a high velocity electroosmotic flow (EOF), enabling rapid and efficient separation of a hydrocarbon test mixture. Some 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP) derivatives of mono- and disaccharides were baseline separated, using a 5 mM NaH₂PO₄ in 80% acetonitrile and 20% water (v/v) buffer solution. CEC shows promise for future applications in carbohydrate analysis. Presented at Balaton Symposium on High Performance Separation Methods, Siófok, Hungary, September 1–3, 1999     

Effect of column diameter on efficiency in capillary supercritical fluid chromatography

Fused silica capillary columns with internal diameters from 100 to 25 μm were coated with SE-54 and evaluated under supercritical fluid chromatographic conditions using carbon dioxide as mobile phase. Experimental results compared well with theoretical predictions. At ten times the optimum mobile phase velocity and for a capacity factor, k of 3, efficiencies of 2300 to 5600 plates m^?1 were obtained for column diameters of 100 to 25 μm, respectively.     

Electroosmotic pump‐supported molecularly imprinted monolithic column for capillary chromatographic separation of nitrophenol isomers

In this work, a novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) monolithic column with integrated in‐column electroosmotic pump (EOP) was designed and successfully prepared to facilitate the capillary chromatography with MIP column. A silica‐based EOP was synthesized at the detection end of the MIP monolithic capillary column by so‐gel to provide the hydrodynamic driven force for the capillary chromatography. Because of large surface area and low fluidic resistance of the silica monolith,a strong and steady EOF was generated by silica‐based EOP, indicating that the EOP was quite compatible with MIP capillary column. With the sufficient EOF provided by EOP, the electro‐driven based capillary chromatographic separation of nitrophenol isomers was achieved in 4‐vinylpyridine‐based MIP monolithic capillary, which was originally proved infeasible because of the EOF shortage. No significant influence upon the specific recognition of the MIP was found due to the setting of EOP after the detection window of the column. The influence of experimental parameters on the EOF such as voltage and pH value of running buffer was investigated. The column was also evaluated by capillary liquid chromatographic mode to compare with EOP‐driven capillary chromatography. Higher column efficiency was obtained by EOP‐driven separation with improved peak shape. The results suggested that EOP‐supported technique would be a good way to solve the problem of weak EOF generation in electro‐driven capillary chromatography.