Simultaneous sample preparation for high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of Vitamin A and β-carotene in emulsified nutritional supplements after solid-phase extraction

Determination of small amounts of the fat-soluble species Vitamin A (VA) (2.5 μg/g) and β-carotene (9 μg/g) from emulsified nutritional supplements containing 50 kinds of co-existing compounds and a fat content between 2000 and 8000 times higher was performed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection set at ex. 350 nm and em. 480 nm, and visible detection at 450 nm using an Inertsil ODS 80A (5 μm) analytical column. Mobile phases of methanol-ethanol (50:50) and acetonitrile-ethanol (70:30) were used for the both vitamins. A Bond Elut C₁₈ cartridge was chosen for SPE after comparison with eight other types of SPE cartridge. Retention time of VA and β-carotene was 7 and 8 min, respectively, giving a limit of detection of ca. 0.1 ng per injection at a signal-to-noise ratio 3:1. Recoveries of VA and β-carotene were over 90% by the standard addition method. Relative standard deviation of VA and β-carotene were ca. 2.9 (n=5) and 2.3% (n=5), respectively.     

Routine determination of major anions in atmospheric aerosols by capillary electrophoresis

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) with indirect UV detection utilizing a pyromellitate-based electrolyte was used for the routine analysis of major anions in atmospheric aerosols collected on filters with high-volume (Hi-Vol) samplers. The long-term reliability of the CE system was checked over an 8-month period during which over 2900 samples were analyzed. In addition, approximately 1100 samples were analyzed in parallel by ion chromatography (IC). It has been shown that acceptable analytical performance can be routinely obtained. The agreement between the CE and IC results is good, generally better than 20% at concentrations larger than 1 mg l⁻¹.     

Tetrachloroferrate(III)-selective liquid membrane electrode based on crystal violet

An extract of crystal violet-tetrachloroferrate(III) in nitrobenzene was used to prepare a tetrachloroferrate(III)-selective liquid membrane electrode with a poly(vinyl chloride) support. The optimal conditions to determine 2.5 × 10^–5 – 5.0 × 10^–2 M iron(III) as tetrachloroferrate(III) (anionic slope 56 mV/decade, detection limit 7.9 × 10^–6 M) were found to be 4.0–5.5.M total chloride in 0.75–1.5M hydrochloric acid. The electrode was reliably applied to determine iron in human blood, haematite and mineralized vitamin syrup by direct potentiometry, standard and sample additions as well as standard subtraction techniques.     

An attempt on the VOC oxidation using mechanically activated catalyst

A catalytic action of the mechanochemical products of copper hydroxocarbonate with calcium carbonate was investigated in n-butyl alcohol oxidation tests. The solid products of high-energy milling were identified using thermogravimetry supplemented by X-ray diffraction method. It was shown that the mechanical activation induces more effective tested catalyst because it promotes the alcohol conversion at lower temperatures than that unmilled one. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

流动注射光度法同时测定铜基合金中的铝和铁

提出了同时测定铜基合金中铝和铁的流动注射分析法。以０．０４ｍｏｌ／ＬＨＣｌ作载液，铬天青Ｓ为显色剂，通过测定６２８ｎｍ处铝、铁两配合物的吸光度之和及铝配合物的吸光度，实现了两组分的同时测定。在优化的实验条件下，检测限：Ａｌ和Ｆｅ分别为１．６９×１０－３和１．７３×１０－３ｍｇ／Ｌ，Ａｌ浓度在０～０．８ｍｇ／Ｌ；Ｆｅ浓度在０～１．０ｍｇ／Ｌ时服从比耳定律。进样频率为６０样／ｈ，所拟方法用于实际样品分析，获得满意结果。     

Two-dimensional separation system of coupling capillary liquid chromatography to capillary electrophoresis for analysis of Escherichia coli metabolites

A two-dimensional (2-D) separation system of coupling chromatography to electrophoresis was developed for profiling Escherichia coli metabolites. Capillary liquid chromatography (LC) with a monolithic silica-octadecyl silica column (500 x 0.2 mm ID) was used as the first dimension, from which the effluent fractions were further analyzed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) acting as the second dimension. Field-enhanced stacking was selectively employed as a concentration strategy to interface the two dimensions, which proved to be beneficial for the detection of metabolites. An artificial sample containing 118 standards, some of which lack chromophores or have weak UV absorbance, was used to optimize the 2-D separation system. Under the optimum conditions, 63 components in the artificial sample having absorbance at 254 nm could be well resolved and detected. The utility of the system was demonstrated by comprehensive analysis of E. coli metabolites. Comparing with the previous 2-D separation system we published in Anal. Chem. 2004, 76, 1419-1428, using a longer monolithic column in the first dimension improved the separation efficiency and offered the possibility of increasing the injection volume without compromising the separation efficiency. In the second dimension, field-enhanced stacking was used to improve the concentration sensitivity of the metabolites, and more metabolites in E. coli cell extract were detected and identified using the developed 2-D separation system. In addition, preliminary investigation for future CE-mass spectrometry coupling was also made in the study by using volatile buffers in the capillary LC and CE techniques.     

Structure analytical methods for quantitative reference applications

The analytical methods mass spectrometry, UV/Vis, IR, Raman, Fluorometry, XRD, Mössbauer, and NMR used to elucidate chemical structure are evaluated regarding their capabilities to be used as primary analytical techniques in quantitative measurements, considering the criteria in the CCQM definition of primary methods. This includes a review of the respective measurement equations, the evaluation of the measurement uncertainty, and a discussion of evidence for the “highest metrological level”, as obtained from intercomparisons in contest with other methods. It is shown that only few methods fulfill the CCQM criteria. Quantitative NMR spectroscopy is one of them and may be considered as a potential primary method as recommended by CCQM because of being free of empirical factors in the uncertainty budget.     

Comparison of the retention behaviour of phenol derivatives on porous graphitized and octadecylsilica columns

Summary The retention of 22 ring-substituted phenol derivatives on porous graphitized carbon (PGC) (eluents: acetonitrile — water and methanol — water mixtures) and on octadecylsilica (ODS) (eluents: methanol — 0.025 M KH₂PO₄ mixtures) was determined, and the relationship between retention and physicochemical parameters were evaluated by principal component analysis followed by two-dimensional nonlinear mapping and by cluster analysis as well as by canonical correlation analysis. Calculations proved that marked differences can be detected between the retention characteristics of PGC and ODS columns, and the electronic parameters of phenol derivatives have the highest impact on their retention. The comparison of various multivariate mathematical-statistical methods indicated that principal component analysis followed by two dimensional non-linear mapping is the most appropriate method for the evaluation of large data matrices in RP-HPLC.     

Fuzzy theory in analytical chemistry

The concept of fuzzy theory is described in order to provide the analyst with the means for dealing with vague statements, uncertain observations or the fuzziness of human perception and interpretation, in general. In a theoretical part, basic notions of fuzzy theory are given, such as types of membership functions, operations with fuzzy sets, definitions of fuzzy numbers, points, functions, and relations, and the use of linguistic variables. The difference between fuzziness and probability is outlined. The applications section demonstrates advantages of fuzzy theory methods compared to common mathematical methods with respect to data handling for calibration of analytical methods, to classification of Chromatographie and spectroscopic patterns, to component identification and multicomponent analysis, and to designing fuzzy expert systems for selection of analytical procedures.     

Improvement of the electrophoretic protein profiles of Leguminosae gums extracts using gamanase and application to the evaluation of carob-guar mixtures

A quantitative assay for guar gum in carob gum, based on the extraction of proteins in acetonitrile-water (7:3), separation by capillary electrophoresis and multiple linear regression (MLR) using the areas of nine selected peaks as predictors, was improved by performing the extraction in the presence of gamanase. In the absence of the enzyme, peak migration times and areas depended on the guar content, which complicated peak identification and evaluation. Manual correction of the migration times by comparison with standard electropherograms obtained with pure carob and carob-guar mixtures was required; however, when the proteins were extracted under sonication at 60 °C for 30 min in the presence of gamanase, the migration times and peak areas did not vary with the composition of the carob-guar mixtures, and its reproducibility improved largely. These effects were attributed to the reduction of the viscosity of the extracts and the removal of the galactomannose interactions with the proteins and the capillary walls. Peak identification and evaluation were easily and directly performed on these electropherograms without further processing. An MLR model constructed with 36 carob-guar mixtures containing up to 20% guar, and by measuring the areas of 12 selected peaks and using eight of them as predictors, yielded a detection limit of 2.8% guar (α=β=0.05 criterion). A model of similar quality was obtained by partial least-squares (PLS) regression.