Is click chemistry attractive for separation sciences?

Trends in LC focus on dedicated separation developments spanning different fields of applications ranging from sample preparation to miniaturization. Chromatographic performances result from the porous media, its implantation inside the “column,” and its surface functionalization. Because molecular interactions govern chromatographic phenomena, surface functionalization is still a hot research topic. Besides standard approaches for surface functionalization, the use of new surface chemistry reactions opens new perspectives. Click chemistry belongs to this new class of chemical reactions, characterized by its specificity, compatibility with aqueous media, and high reaction yields. In this frame, we review the use of click chemistry reactions in chromatographic sciences. In a first part, we present click chemistry with a specific focus on its implementation in stationary phases. The use of these new clicked materials is detailed and discussed with respect to the chromatographic mode.     

Emission spectroscopy from optically thick laboratory acetylene samples at high temperature

Recently, a high temperature source has been used to produce high temperature emission spectra of acetylene in the 3 μm spectral range, under Doppler limited resolution, and the complete spectral assignment has been performed using a global rovibrational Hamiltonian [Amyay B, Robert S, Herman M, Fayt A, Raghavendra B, Moudens A et al. Vibration-rotation pattern in acetylene (II): Introduction to Coriolis coupling in the global model and analysis of emission spectra of hot acetylene around 3 μm. J Chem Phys 2009;131:114301]. The present investigation focuses on the relative emission line intensities which are observed to be affected. The strongest lines intensity may be considerably reduced for high column density acetylene samples, hence affecting the 3:1 ortho:para intensity ratio. A radiative model is developed to take into account the effects generated by the strong opacity of the acetylene samples including self-absorption and absorption of the radiation emitted by the hot environment. The model is used to extract the absolute concentration of the high temperature acetylene samples from the observed relative spectral intensities. The relevance of the procedure for infrared remote sensing in high temperature astrophysical environments, such as circumstellar envelopes of cool carbon rich evolved stars, is discussed.     

Novel chemo-enzymatic access to amphiphilic cyclodextrins

A new class of mono-substituted amphiphilic cyclodextrins was synthesized in a one-step lipase catalysed amidification. Microbial and animal lipases were able to catalyse this reaction. Depending on the acyl donors, various hydrophobic moieties have been grafted on methylated β-cyclodextrin. Azoninyl-methylated-β-cyclodextrin derivatives were also obtained by reaction of acetaldehyde and modified cyclodextrins in presence of dedicated lipase.     

Detecting trace pesticides in real time using single particle aerosol mass spectrometry

Pesticides are toxic substances and may cause unintentional harm if improperly used. The ubiquitous nature of pesticides, with frequent use in agriculture and the household, and the potential for harm that pesticides pose to non-target organisms such as wildlife, humans, and pets, demonstrate the need for rapid and effective detection and identification of these compounds. In this study, single particle aerosol mass spectrometry (SPAMS) was used to rapidly detect compounds from four classes of pesticides commonly used in agricultural and household applications. These include permethrin (pyrethroid class), malathion and dichlorvos (organophosphate class), imidacloprid (chloronicotinyl class), and carbaryl (carbamate class). Analytical standards of each compound were diluted and aerosolized using a nebulizer to create particles for analysis in the SPAMS instrument. The resultant dual-polarity time-of-flight mass spectra were then analyzed to identify the characteristic peaks of the compound in each sample. In addition, samples of commercial products containing pesticides, a commercial insecticide spray, containing permethrin, and a canine flea collar, containing carbaryl, were analyzed in their original form using SPAMS without any significant sample preparation. The characteristic mass spectral peaks of the active pesticides in these samples were identified using the mass spectra obtained earlier from the pesticide analytical standards. By successfully identifying pesticides in analytical standards and in commercial products, it is demonstrated herein that the SPAMS system may be capable of pesticide detection in numerous environmental and agricultural situations.     

A new evaluation technique for the detection of impurities in purified proteins via CE with native UV‐LIF

An analytical methodology for quality control analyses of IgG and their impurities is presented using a new UV‐LIF (266 nm) detector inside the cassette of a CE instrument and its performance was evaluated. The observed sensitivity was very close to that obtained by silver staining of slab gels (LOD of 25 ng/mL), while the sensitivity of the analysis is 80 times better than with CE/UV absorption (214 nm). Examples of the analysis of pharmaceutical and other commercial IgGs are provided and the kinetics of the reduction of IgG by β‐mercaptoethanol is reported, demonstrating the ease of performing the analysis.     

Improving detection in capillary electrophoresis with laser induced fluorescence via a bubble cell capillary and laser power adjustment

Bubble cells have been frequently employed in capillary electrophoresis (CE) to increase the light path length with UV detection to provide an increase in the observed sensitivity of CE; however this approach has not been commonly used for laser-induced fluorescence detection (LIF) with CE. In this paper we study the influence of laser power on the sensitivity of detection in using conventional and enlarged fused silica capillaries for CE with LIF. When using the bubble cell capillary, the laser power must be decreased relative to use of the conventional capillary to reduce the effects of photodegradation of the species being illuminated by the laser. Even though the light intensity was decreased, an increase in sensitivity of detection was observed for most compounds when a bubble cell was used. This increase ranged from a factor of 8 for riboflavin (410 nm excitation) to 3.2 for most aromatic compounds (266 nm excitation), when using a 3x bubble cell compared with a conventional capillary. The bubble cell capillary was used for native detection of IgG by LIF at 266 nm. A limit of detection of 60 ng mL(-1) was obtained from a 20 pg injection, which was 40 times more sensitive than silver staining in conventional SDS/PAGE.