Ueber die Reaction auf Alkohol mit einer L?sung von Molybd?ns?ure in concentrirter Schwefels?ure

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Evaluation of standard and advanced preprocessing methods for the univariate analysis of blood serum 1H-NMR spectra

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR)-based metabolomics enables the high-resolution and high-throughput assessment of a broad spectrum of metabolites in biofluids. Despite the straightforward character of the experimental methodology, the analysis of spectral profiles is rather complex, particularly due to the requirement of numerous data preprocessing steps. Here, we evaluate how several of the most common preprocessing procedures affect the subsequent univariate analyses of blood serum spectra, with a particular focus on how the standard methods perform compared to more advanced examples. Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill 1D ¹H spectra were obtained for 240 serum samples from healthy subjects of the Asklepios study. We studied the impact of different preprocessing steps—integral (standard method) and probabilistic quotient normalization; no, equidistant (standard), and adaptive-intelligent binning; mean (standard) and maximum bin intensity data summation—on the resonance intensities of three different types of metabolites: triglycerides, glucose, and creatinine. The effects were evaluated by correlating the differently preprocessed NMR data with the independently measured metabolite concentrations. The analyses revealed that the standard methods performed inferiorly and that a combination of probabilistic quotient normalization after adaptive-intelligent binning and maximum intensity variable definition yielded the best overall results (triglycerides, R = 0.98; glucose, R = 0.76; creatinine, R = 0.70). Therefore, at least in the case of serum metabolomics, these or equivalent methods should be preferred above the standard preprocessing methods, particularly for univariate analyses. Additional optimization of the normalization procedure might further improve the analyses.     

Selection of suitable operating conditions to minimize the gradient equilibration time in the separation of drugs by Ultra-High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography with volatile (mass spectrometry-compatible) buffers

Reversed phase gradient elution is the method of choice for pharmaceuticals analysis since it allows reducing the analysis time while improving both the quality of the separation and the detection limits. The current trends are towards faster separations which can be achieved thanks to equipments withstanding ultra-high pressures and/or high temperatures. Under such conditions, gradient separations can be carried out within a few minutes or even a few tens of seconds. A long equilibration time in addition to the gradient time can be therefore very detrimental. In this work, we investigated the extent to which the gradient equilibration time can be reduced and which parameters mainly affect the retention variability of ionizable compounds when using volatile buffers. We first found out an excellent repeatability between run-to-run experiments whatever the equilibration time and the operating conditions. We then pointed out the key operating parameters which allow achieving reproducible runs when varying the equilibration time between runs. With a view of reducing the equilibration time, the effects of various conditions were examined. The latter include the type of additive for mobile phase pH adjustment, the initial eluent composition, the type of stationary phase, the temperature and the flow-rate. Although much remains to be understood about the equilibration process, our study allows making progress in the knowledge of this phenomenon. Based on the present results, a beneficial effect of both temperature and flow-rate was highlighted and operating conditions leading to faster column equilibration are suggested.     

Aminoglycoside analysis in food of animal origin with a zwitterionic stationary phase and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

In this study, fourteen highly polar aminoglycoside (AGs) antibiotics were selected. Various stationary phases were tested, including Obelisc R, ZIC-HILIC, BEH amide and aminopropyl. The nature of the stationary phase, mobile phase (water or buffer solutions and acetonitrile), pH (percentage of formic acid), gradient conditions and injection solvents were systematically studied as relevant parameters for tuning retention selectivity and detectability of AGs in liquid chromatography electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC–(ESI)–MS/MS). Only the two zwitterionic phases (Obelisc R and ZIC-HILIC) achieved a proper chromatographic separation considering interferences due to the crosstalk effect in low resolution mass spectrometers. The water/acetonitrile mobile phase containing 1% formic acid used with Obelisc R provided more sensitivity than the highly concentrated buffered mobile phases required for ZIC-HILIC. A solid phase extraction (SPE) clean-up procedure with polymeric weak cation exchange (WCX) cartridges was optimized for honey, milk and liver samples. Different brands of cartridges and elution solvents were tested, and the Taurus WCX offered the best recovery rate with a buffer elution at pH 3. The final optimized method was validated in these matrices according to Decision 2002/657/EC. A monitoring campaign for sixty honey, milk and liver samples was carried out at the Food Authority Control in Geneva. The concentration of dihydrostreptomycin (DSTP) found in one ovine liver exceeded the established maximum residue levels (MRLs) within the European and Swiss legislations but it was compliant taking into account the validation data.     

Robust UHPLC Separation Method Development for Multi-API Product Containing Amlodipine and Bisoprolol: The Impact of Column Selection

This paper describes a new and fast ultra-high pressure liquid chromatographic separation of amlodipine and bisoprolol and all their closely related compounds, for impurity profiling purposes. Computer-assisted method development was applied and the impact of several state-of-the-art stationary phase column chemistries (50 × 2.1 mm, sub-2 μm, and core–shell type materials) on the achievable selectivity and resolution was investigated. The work was performed according to quality by design principles using design of experiment with three experimental factors; namely the gradient time (t _G), temperature (T), and mobile phase pH. Thanks to modeling software, it was proved that the separation of all compounds was feasible on numerous column chemistries within <10 min, by proper adjustments of variables. It was also demonstrated that the reliability of predictions was good, as the predicted retention times and resolutions were in good agreement with the experimental ones. The final, optimized method separates 16 peaks related to amlodipine and bisoprolol within 7 min, ensuring baseline resolution between all peak-pairs.     

Practical method transfer from high performance liquid chromatography to ultra-high performance liquid chromatography: the importance of frictional heating

In theory, with identical stationary phase chemistry, the transfer of an HPLC method to UHPLC conditions is straightforward and necessitates the calculation of new conditions based on column and instrument geometries. Occasionally, undesirable changes in selectivity, retention or efficiency have been reported and have been attributed to a frictional heating phenomenon that is due to the elevated generated pressure drop. In the present study, the frictional heating in a UHPLC system was evaluated experimentally under gradient elution conditions (acetonitrile/buffer at pH 3 and 9) with generated pressure drops in the range of 100-1000 bar on both 1.0mm and 2.1mm I.D. columns using a mixture of 10 representative basic, acidic and neutral pharmaceutical compounds. Under adiabatic conditions (i.e., still-air oven), the longitudinal temperature gradient was estimated at +4 °C, +8 °C and +16 °C at 300, 600 and 1000 bar, respectively, on a 2.1mm I.D. column using an empirical measurement procedure. With the 1.0mm I.D. column, these values were reduced to +3 °C, +6 °C and +12 °C, respectively. Finally, various approaches to eliminate or at least to reduce the effect of frictional heating are briefly discussed.     

A Stochastic Analysis of Some Two‐Person Sports

We consider two‐person sports where each rally is initiated by a server, the other player (the receiver) becoming the server when he/she wins a rally. Historically, these sports used a scoring based on the side‐out scoring system, in which points are only scored by the server. Recently, however, some federations have switched to the rally‐point scoring system in which a point is scored on every rally. As various authors before us, we study how much this change affects the game. Our approach is based on a rally‐level analysis of the process through which, besides the well‐known probability distribution of the scores, we also obtain the distribution of the number of rallies. This yields a comprehensive knowledge of the process at hand, and allows for an in‐depth comparison of both scoring systems. In particular, our results help to explain why the transition from one scoring system to the other has more important implications than those predicted from game‐winning probabilities alone. Some of our findings are quite surprising, and unattainable through Monte Carlo experiments. Our results are of high practical relevance to international federations and local tournament organizers alike, and also open the way to efficient estimation of the rally‐winning probabilities.     

Evaluation of the coupling between ultra performance liquid chromatography and evaporative light scattering detector for selected phytochemical applications

Fast analysis in LC can be performed with sub-2 microm particles at very high pressures (up to 1000 bar) known as ultra performance LC (UPLC). With this configuration, it is possible to obtain fast and/or highly efficient separations compared to conventional LC. For the analysis of compounds without chromophores, the evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) is an attractive alternative because of its quasi-universality, versatility, low-cost and good sensitivity. The UPLC-ELSD was investigated in terms of sensitivity and apparent efficiency, with a conventional ELSD instrument, for two types of commercially available nebulisers, using different mobile phase flow rates and column ids. Results were finally compared with the UPLC-UV configuration. Three applications with phytochemical compounds were selected to highlight the potential of this approach (i.e. the isocratic separations of artemisinin and its derivatives, of calystegines and the gradient separation of several tropane alkaloids). Depending on the used column length, baseline separations were obtained in 3-10 min, with an average apparent efficiency ranging from 7000 to 30,000 plates.