A simplex optimization of the experimental parameters in preparative liquid chromatography

Summary A study of the optimization of the experimental conditions for the purification or extraction of pure compounds by liquid chromatography is presented. Optimum values of the parameters of overloaded elution are derived for maximum production rate, using a Simplex algorithm and the procedure previously described for the simulation of the elution profiles of binary mixtures. The mobile phase flow velocity and the sample size have been optimized together in a first step, simulating the procedure followed in practice, when a column is available. In a second part, the influence of the column length and the average particle size of the packing material on the column performance as well as the trade-offs between the production rate and the yield are discussed.There are three major conclusions in this work. First, the optimum experimental conditions are often very different, depending whether one is primarily interested in the first or in the second eluted component of a mixture. Second, the column efficiency under analytical conditions is very important: it is traded-off for high flow rates, hence short cycle time and increased production rate. Third, the production rate depends strongly on the maximum pressure at which the equipment can be operated. Finally, the optimum production rate varies rather smoothly with the mobile phase velocity and the sample size, so a high yield (70% or more) can usually be obtained with a limited loss in production rate (30 to 60%).     

Optimization of the operational parameters of the supported mercury drop electrode detector in high-performance liquid chromatography

The pendent (or supported) mercury drop electrode detector for high-performance liquid chromatography is examined with reference to the effects on its performance of solvent flow, the residual current, the flow cell characteristics, the size, shape and stability of the mercury drop, and some other factors. The signal-to-noise ratio varies widely with respect to these factors, whose optimization is discussed. Under the optimized conditions, picogram levels of organic nitro and nitrate compounds can be detected.     

Purification of CIS-trimedlure isomers by high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary High-performance liquid chromatographic procedures were developed to make it possible to obtain the fourcis-trimedlure isomers (V, W, X, and Y) in pure form. Trimedlure-V and-Y were each readilt separated from the four-componentcis-trimedlure mixture through high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis on 5-μm and 3-μm silica, but trimedlure-W and-X were not adequately resolved. Chromatography of 5-μm silica of the mixtures obtained by epimerization of thetrans-trimedlure isomers, C and B₂, yielded the respective epimers, trimedlure-W and-X, in pure form.     

Lipid class analysis by normal phase high performance liquid chromatography,development and optimization using multivariate methods

Summary A general method for the analysis of lipid classes by liquid chromatography has been developed using a multivariate optimization strategy to target optimal system conditions. The method was validated using a ruggedness test in the form of a Plackett-Burman design thereby exploring the immediate region around the optimum to ensure stable analytical conditions. Detection and quantitation were optimized by a factorial design in the light scattering detector parameters thus ensuring maximum detector response. This method was found to be suitable for a broad range of lipid sources from vegetable and animal origin, examples of the separation achieved are given for oat kernel, soybean and bovine milk lipids.     

Optimization of a high-performance liquid chromatography system by artificial neural networks for separation and determination of antioxidants

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system was used to determine the antioxidants tert-butyl-hydroquinone (TBHQ), tert-butylhydroxyanisole (BHA), and 3,5-di-tert-butylhydroxytoluene (BHT) simultaneously in oils. The paper presents a new methodology for the optimized separation of antioxidants in oils based on the coupling of experimental design and artificial neural networks. The orthogonal design and the artificial neural networks with extended delta-bar-delta (EDBD) learning algorithm were employed to design the experiments and optimize the variables. The response function (Rf) used was a weighted linear combination of two variables related to separation efficiency and retention time, according to which the optimized conditions were obtained. The above-mentioned antioxidants in rapeseed oils were separated and determined simultaneously under optimized conditions by HPLC with UV detection at 280 nm. Linearity was obtained over the range of 10-200 microg/mL with recoveries of 98.3% (TBHQ), 98.1% (BHT), and 96.2% (BHA).     

An expert system for the selection of criteria for selectivity optimization in high-pressure liquid chromatography

Summary Systematic procedures for the optimization of chromatographic selectivity require objective criteria to characterize the quality of separation in a chromatogram. Numerous criteria have been suggested. Different criteria yield different results and the choice will depend on a large number of factors. It is genuinely difficult to select the most suitable criterion in a particular situation. For these reasons, an expert system has been developed to assist chromatographers in the selection of optimization criteria. A structured representation of the required knowledge and its implementation in an expert-system shell are presented in this paper.     

Two-dimensional liquid chromatography of peptides: An optimization strategy

Summary An optimization strategy for the separation of a small number of peptides from a complex biological sample by two-dimensional liquid chromatography is presented. Ion-exchange chromatography is followed by reversed-phase separation. The ion-exchange separation is performed with a step gradient which admits a high sample load and simplifies instrumentation. The reversed-phase separation complements the first dimension with a different retention mechanism and higher resolution by linear gradient elution.Chromatographic theory is combined with experimental design to find separation conditions, for both dimensions, that allow the fastest gradient in the second dimension, giving short separation time, low detection limits and high load capacity. This is illustrated by the separation of a peptide from rat brain tissue, with a simple off-line arrangement. The strategy presented is useful in both analytical and preparative applications, and is widely applicable as it does not rely on special instrumentation or extensive knowledge of the sample.Dedicated to Professor Leslie S. Ettre on the occasion of his 70th birthday.     

Computer-assisted optimization of pesticides separation by two-dimensional high-performance thin-layer chromatography

Summary A computer-assisted method is presented for optimization of two mobile phase selection for separation of a mixture of eight pesticides in two-dimensional TLC. Optimization of the separation over the experimental region is based on two special polynomial estimations from preliminary runs of two groups. Using D (distance of two spots) as the selection criterion with a two factor statistical scanning technique excellent agreement is obtained between predicted and experimental results.     

Computer-assisted transposition of conditions in high-performance thin-layer chromatography to high-performance liquid chromatography for the separation of pesticides

Summary A computer-assisted method is presented for mobile phase selection for the optimal separation of pesticides by HPTLC and HPLC. The system is based on a plot of solute retention value and separation criterion vs. binary mobile phase composition for graphic optimization. The result of HPTLC can be transposed to HPLC for optimal separation. The transposition equation is given.     

Discrimination of Semen cassiae from two related species based on the multivariate analysis of high‐performance liquid chromatography fingerprints

A simple and efficient high‐performance liquid chromatography fingerprint method was developed to discriminate Semen cassiae from two related species: Cassia obtusifolia L. (CO) and Cassia tora L. (CT), the seeds of which are abbreviated as COS and CTS, respectively. 22 major bioactive ingredients in 42 samples (20 COS and 22 CTS) collected from different provinces of China were identified. The statistical methods included similarity analysis and partial least‐squares discriminant analysis. The pattern analysis method was specific and could be readily used for the comprehensive evaluation of Semen cassiae samples. Therefore, high‐performance liquid chromatography fingerprint in combination with pattern analysis provided a simple and reliable method for discriminating between COS and CTS.     

Handling time misalignment and rank deficiency in liquid chromatography by multivariate curve resolution: Quantitation of five biogenic amines in fish

Biogenic amines (BAs) are used for identifying spoilage in food. The most common are tryptamine (TRY), 2-phenylethylamine (PHE), putrescine (PUT), cadaverine (CAD) and histamine (HIS). Due to lack of chromophores, chemical derivatization with dansyl was employed to analyze these BAs using high performance liquid chromatography with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). However, the derivatization reaction occurs with any primary or secondary amine, leading to co-elution of analytes and interferents with identical spectral profiles, and thus causing rank deficiency. When the spectral profile is the same and peak misalignment is present on the chromatographic runs, it is not possible to handle the data only with Multivariate Curve Resolution and Alternative Least Square (MCR-ALS), by augmenting the time, or the spectral mode. A way to circumvent this drawback is to receive information from another detector that leads to a selective profile for the analyte. To overcome both problems, (tri-linearity break in time, and spectral mode), this paper proposes a new analytical methodology for fast quantitation of these BAs in fish with HPLC-DAD by using the icoshift algorithm for temporal misalignment correction before MCR-ALS spectral mode augmented treatment. Limits of detection, relative errors of prediction (REP) and average recoveries, ranging from 0.14 to 0.50 µg mL⁻¹, 3.5–8.8% and 88.08%–99.68%, respectively. These are outstanding results obtained, reaching quantification limits for the five BAs much lower than those established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization (FAO/WHO), and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), all without any pre-concentration steps. The concentrations of BAs in fish samples ranged from 7.82 to 29.41 µg g⁻¹, 8.68–25.95 µg g⁻¹, 4.76–28.54 µg g⁻¹, 5.18–39.95 µg g⁻¹ and 1.45–52.62 µg g⁻¹ for TRY, PHE, PUT, CAD, and HIS, respectively. In addition, the proposed method spends less than 4 min in an isocratic run, consuming less solvent in accordance with the principles of green analytical chemistry.     

Multivariate optimisation of the experimental conditions for determination of three methylxanthines by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine), theobromine (3,7-dimethylxanthine) and theophylline (1,3-dimethylxanthine) are the most important naturally occurring methylxanthines. Caffeine is a constituent of coffee and other beverage and included in many medicines. Theobromine and theophylline are formed as metabolites of caffeine in humans, and are also present in tea, cocoa and chocolate products.

In order to improve the chromatographic resolution (R_s) with a good analysis time, experimental designs were applied for multivariate optimisation of the experimental conditions of an isocratic reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method used for the simultaneous determination of caffeine, theobromine and theophylline. The optimisation process was carried out in two steps using full three-level factorial designs. The factors optimised were: flow rate and mobile phase composition. Optimal conditions for the separation of the three methylxanthines were obtained using a mixture of water/ethanol/acetic acid (75:24:1%, v/v/v) as mobile phase and a flow rate of 1.0 mL min⁻¹. The RP-HPLC/UV method was validated in terms of limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), linearity, recovery and the precision, calculated as relative standard deviation (R.S.D.). In these conditions, the LOD was 0.10 μg L⁻¹ for caffeine, 0.07 μg L⁻¹ for theobromine and 0.06 μg L⁻¹ for theophylline. The proposed method is fast, requires no extraction step or derivatization and was suitable for quantification of these methylxanthines in coffee, tea and human urine samples.     

Chemometric approach in optimization of micellar liquid chromatographic separation of some halogenated phenols

Simultaneous optimization of separation quality and analysis time of the micellar liquid chromatography of nine chlorophenol isomers was investigated. The effect on retention of three experimental parameters was studied using multivariate analysis. The factors studied were the concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate, propanol content and pH of the mobile phase. The experiments were performed according to the face-centred cube central composite design and the inverse form of the experimental retention times for analytes were fitted to the polynomial models. The results of the analysis of variance showed that the models obtained explain greater than 99% of the variance observed in the chromatograms. Good predictive ability of the models was verified as high values of the statistics R² and F were obtained for the linear relationship between predicted cross-validated and experimental values of the dependent variable. The study showed that the use of Pareto-optimality method, an approach from multi-criteria decision-making, allows the selection of the best possible combinations of separation and analysis time in micellar liquid chromatography of chlorophenols.     

Influence of injection parameters on column performance in nanoscale high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary The influence of the injection volume and the sample solvent on column efficiency has been evaluated in packed nano liquid chromatography using columns 150μ i.d. Evaluation of column performance was by means of reduced plate height (h) versus reduced velocity (v) for four polyaromatic hydrocarbon test compounds (PAHs). When compounds are dissolved in a weak solvent (such as MeCN: H₂O, 30∶70), and whatever the injection volume −60 or 200 nL-a gain in efficiency can be observed due to the well-known on-column focusing phenomenon, but keeping constant solute retention factors. Under optimized conditions (flow rate: 150 nLmin⁻¹, solvent sample MeCN: H₂O, 30∶70, injection volume 200 nL), a reduced plate height of 1.83 has been obtained for a 15 μm C₁₈ packing corresponding to 36000 plates m⁻¹, which illustrates the absence of any extracolumn band broadening under nano LC conditions.     

Separation of bromo- and iodosubstituted thyronines by high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method on C-18 bonded silica is described for the separation of trisubstituted iodo/bromothyronines, which exert thyroid hormone activity. The composition of the mobile phase has been systematically optimized resulting in a ternary mixture of methanol/acetonitrile/water acidified with trifluoroacetic acid. The applicability of ultraviolet absorption detection, amperometric detection and off-line radioimmunoassay was investigated. The latter method allows detection of the different iodo/bromothyronines down to 40–120 ng/l mobile phase; this sensitivity is high enough for application to thyroid hydrolysates in order to clarify the question as to whether bromine can substitute iodine in the biosynthesis of thyroid hormones.     

Multivariate optimization of a liquid-liquid extraction of the EPA-PAHs from natural contaminated waters prior to determination by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

This paper reports the multivariate optimization of a liquid–liquid extraction procedure for the determination of 15 EPA-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. A Doehlert design was used to find optimum conditions for the procedure through Response Surface Methodology. Three variables (total volume of hexane, number of extraction steps and duration of such steps) were elected as factors in the optimization study. A principal component analysis (PCA) was run with optimized data, resulting in four groups of PAHs, ordered according to their molecular weight. Final working conditions were established in order to achieve a more robust methodology in relation to all fifteen PAHs under study. Best results could be observed when 77 mL of hexane were divided in four consecutive extraction steps with 18 min each. These experimental conditions were applied in the analysis of a spiked river water sample, and the recoveries varied between 80.9 and 106%, with an average value of 97.1 ± 6.8%. The application of the methodology to river water showed that the method has a good average precision for the studied PAHs.     

Methodological approach for evaluating operational parameters and the characterization of a popular sorbent for solid-phase extraction by high pressure liquid chromatography

The kinetic and retention properties of a silica-based octadecylsiloxane bonded phase sorbent used in solid-phase extraction (SPE) were determined by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). This sorbent had a high bonded phase density resulting in a material with very low intraparticle porosity. This led to favorable retention and mass transfer properties over the normal sampling flow rate range. Typical cartridges for SPE have a low and variable packing density which is recognized as a significant cause of poor sampling performance and, under some circumstances, results in poor repro-ducibility. The apparent particle size for the sorbent at 55–57 μm is considerably larger than generally indicated in the trade literature but this is not detrimental to its use for SPE since sorbent cartridges are able to function adequately with only a few theoretical plates. Solute size is identified as the primary driving force for sorbent retention under SPE conditions with polar interactions favoring retention in the aqueous mobile phase and a decrease in the breakthrough volume. All parameters required to predict the optimum sampling conditions, breakthrough volume and recovery in SPE can be conveniently obtained from data generated by HPLC. The sampling characteristics of particle-loaded membranes are compared to those of conventional sorbent cartridges and differences in operating characteristics which affect the sampling efficiency for both devices are discussed.     

制备液相色谱法分离纯化碘帕醇

基于制备液相色谱法,开发与优化了碘帕醇的分离纯化工艺,制备得到高纯度碘帕醇样品。实验首先在分析水平发展碘帕醇的反相分离方法,考察了两种不同键合量的反相C18固定相、柱温和上样量对碘帕醇的保留、分离度和峰形等的影响。结果表明,碘帕醇在键合量为13.7%的反相C18-1分析柱（250 mm×4.6 mm,10 μm）上保留较好,且可与杂质有效分离;柱温升高,碘帕醇保留变弱,和杂质之间的分离度降低,最终选用20~25℃作为分离纯化的温度;上样量增加,碘帕醇出峰时间提前,不利于前杂的去除。在制备水平上,以水和甲醇为洗脱剂,在20℃条件下使用装填C18-1固定相的制备柱（270 mm×50 mm,10 μm）对碘帕醇进行分离纯化,制备的碘帕醇样品的色谱纯度可达98.97%,回收率为93.44%,各项有关物质均符合限量规定。该方法可以在保证高回收率的条件下有效降低杂质水平,为碘帕醇分离纯化生产工艺的开发提供新方法。     

Simple determination of pirfenidone in rat plasma via high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple, rapid and reliable high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the determination of pirfenidone and its major metabolites in rat plasma. Plasma proteins were precipitated with perchloric acid (10%, v/v) and the supernatant after centrifugation was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography. The analysis was carried out on a Lichrospher C(18) column (250 x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microm). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water containing 0.2% acetic acid (23:77, v/v) at a flow-rate of 1 mL/min. The eluant was detected at 310 nm. The calibration curves were linear over a concentration range from 0.15 to 76.67 microg/mL. The accuracy (relative error) of the assay ranged from -2.6 to 7.9% and the precision (coefficient of variation) was less than 4.5%. The established method has been successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of pirfenidone following a single oral dose to rats.