Simultaneous, sequential quantitative achiral-chiral analysis by two-dimensional liquid chromatography

In general, chromatographic analysis of chiral compounds involves a minimum of two methods; a primary achiral method for assay and impurity analysis and a secondary chiral method for assessing chiral purity. Achiral method resolves main enantiomeric pairs of component from potential impurities and degradation products and chiral method resolves enantiomeric pairs of the main component and diastereomer pairs. Reversed-phase chromatographic methods are preferred for assay and impurity analysis (high efficiency and selectivity) whereas chiral separation is performed by reverse phase, normal phase, or polar organic mode. In this work, we have demonstrated the use of heart-cutting (LC-LC) and comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LC × LC) in simultaneous, sequential achiral and chiral analysis and quantitation of minor, undesired enantiomer in the presence of major, desired enantiomer using phenylalanine as an example. The results were comparable between LC-LC and LC × LC with former offering better sensitivity and accuracy. The quantitation range was over three orders of magnitude with undesired D-phenylalanine detected at approximately 0.3% in the presence of predominant, desired L-phenylalanine (99.7%). The limit of quantitation was comparable to conventional high-performance liquid chromatography. A reversed-phase C18 achiral column in the primary and reversed-phase Chirobiotic Tag chiral column in the secondary dimension were used with a compatible mobile phase.     

Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatographic analysis of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) phenolics

Rooibos tea is an unique beverage prepared from unfermented and fermented plant material of the endemic Cape fynbos plant, Aspalathus linearis. The well-known health-promoting benefits of rooibos are partly attributed to its phenolic composition. Detailed investigation of the minor phenolic constituents of rooibos is, however, hampered by the limitations associated with conventional HPLC methods used for its analysis. In this study, the applicability of comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatographic methods for the in-depth analysis of rooibos phenolics was investigated. Phenolic compounds were separated according to polarity by hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) in the first dimension, whilst reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) provided separation according to hydrophobicity in the second dimension. Ultraviolet photodiode array and electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry were used to identify phenolic compounds. Comprehensive HILIC × RP-LC demonstrated its applicability for the analysis of a diverse range of phenolic compounds in unfermented and fermented rooibos samples, in which large qualitative differences in the phenolic composition were established. The combination of these orthogonal separations provided a significant improvement in resolution, as exemplified by practical peak capacities in excess of 2000 and 500 for off-line and on-line methods, respectively.     

Retention process in reversed phase TLC systems with polar bonded stationary phases

The retention of a solute in RP chromatography is a very complex process which depends on many factors. Therefore, the study of the influence of a mobile phase modifier concentration on the retention in different reversed phase chromatographic systems is very important for understanding the rules governing retention and mechanisms of substance separation in a chromatographic process. Composition changes and the nature of mobile phases enable tuning of the separated analytes' retention over a wide range of retention parameters and optimization of the chromatographic process as well. Optimization of the chromatographic process can be achieved by several different methods; one of them is the so-called interpretative strategy. The key approach adopted in this strategy is the implementation of adequate retention models that couple the retention of solute with the composition of a mixed mobile phase. The use of chemically bonded stationary phases composed of partially non-bonded silica matrix and organic ligands bonded to its surface in everyday chromatography practice leads to questions of the correct definition of the retention model and the dominant retention mechanism in such chromatographic systems. The retention model for an accurate prediction of retention factor as a function of modifier concentration and the heterogeneity of the adsorbent surface should be taken into consideration. In this work the influence of mobile-phase composition on the retention of sixteen model substances such as phenols, quinolines, and anilines used as test analytes in different RP-TLC systems with CN-, NH2-, and Diol-silica polar bonded stationary phases has been studied. The aim of this study is to compare the performance of three valuable retention models assumed as the partition, adsorption/partition, and adsorption mechanism of retention. All the models were verified for different RP-TLC systems by three statistical criteria. The results of investigations presented in this work demonstrate that the best agreement between the experimental and calculated Rf values was obtained by the use of new-generation retention models, which assume heterogeneity of adsorbent surface. The results reported here show that heterogeneity of the adsorbent surface may be important in analysis of the elution process in liquid chromatography. Consideration of the goodness of fit for the experimental data to the examined retention models is in conformity with the adsorption mechanism of retention on all polar bonded stationary phases in most eluent systems for most investigated compounds.     

Optimization of micro‐HPLC peak focusing for the detection and quantification of low hepcidin concentrations

Micro‐high‐performance liquid chromatography is a miniaturized, economic and ecological chromatographic system allowing the use of reduced size chromatographic columns. Coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry, this technique can be used to detect and quantify low concentrations of peptides. In this study, hepcidin was used as the model compound and analysed using octadecylsilica stationary phase by means of a gradient elution mode at a flow rate of 4 μL/min. Several parameters were studied to optimize peak focusing. Using the methodology of experimental design, the mobile‐phase gradient conditions and the sample composition were optimized in order to maximize the sensitivity and minimize retention time. Stability of the target peptide in solution was also demonstrated.     

Recent developments in the HPLC separation of phenolic compounds

Phenolic compounds represent a class of highly complex naturally occurring molecules that possess a range of beneficial health properties. As a result, considerable attention has been devoted to the analysis of phenolics in a variety of samples. HPLC is the workhorse method for phenolic separation. However, conventional HPLC methods provide insufficient resolving power when faced with the complexity of real-world phenolic fractions. This limitation has been traditionally circumvented by extensive sample fractionation, multiple analysis methods and/or selective detection strategies. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand for improved throughput and resolving power from the chromatographic methods used for phenolic analyses. Fortunately, during the last decade, a number of important technological advances in LC have demonstrated significant gains in terms of both speed and resolution. These include ultra high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC), high-temperature liquid chromatography (HTLC), multi-dimensional separations as well as various new stationary phase chemistries and morphologies. In recent years, these technologies have also found increasing application for phenolic analysis. This review seeks to provide an updated overview of the application of recent advances in HPLC to phenolic separation, with the emphasis on how these methodologies can contribute to improve performance in HPLC analysis of phenolics.     

Water-organic solvent systems in countercurrent chromatography: Liquid stationary phase retention and solvent polarity

Countercurrent chromatography (CCC) is a separation technique in which the stationary phase is a liquid. The liquid stationary phase retention is a critical problem in CCC. The retention of 18 organic solvents in a hydrodynamic CCC apparatus was measured with an aqueous mobile phase, the centrifuge spin rate and the mobile phase flow rate being constant, 800 rpm and 2 ml/min, respectively. Conversely, water retention was measured when the 18 solvents were the mobile phases. A direct relationship between the liquid stationary phase retention and the phase density difference was found. The liquid phase density difference is the most important parameter for stationary phase retention in a hydrodynamic CCC apparatus with coiled tubes. The chromatographic retention of formanilide was measured in biphasic systems and expressed as the formanilide partition coefficient. It is shown that the partition coefficient correlates with the Reichardt polarity index of the organic solvent when the liquid stationary phase retention volume does not.     

Cellulose acetate as stationary phase in microcolumn LC

The retention characteristics of alkylbenzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been examined in liquid chromatography on a microcapillary column packed with cellulose acetate. Particulate and fibrous cellulose acetate were used as the stationary phase. Fibrous cellulose diacetate was found to be of use as an alternative stationary phase for liquid chromatography, although the separation efficiency was low. The retention characteristics for planar PAHs were linearly correlated with the size of the molecules, but the retention behavior for alkylbenzenes and nonplanar PAHs was affected by exclusion. The retention order was strongly influenced by the addition of dimethylformamide or water to methanol in the mobile phase. The results suggested that the retention behavior is influenced by a slight change in the polymer matrix of cellulose acetate.     

Role of ion pairing in anionic additive effects on the separation of cationic drugs in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Mobile phase additives can significantly affect the separation of cationic drugs in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). Although there are many applications for anionic additives in RPLC separations, the retention mechanism of basic drugs in the presence of inorganic and highly hydrophilic anionic species in the mobile phase is not at all well understood. Two major retention mechanisms by which anionic additives can influence the retention of cations are: (1) ion pair formation in the mobile phase with subsequent retention of the neutral ion pair; (2) pre-sorption of anionic additives on the stationary phase followed by "dynamic ion-exchange" or "electrostatic interaction" with the analytes. Because the use of ion pair chromatography in the separation of proteins, peptides, and basic drugs is rapidly increasing, understanding the retention mechanism involved is becoming more important, especially for the smaller commonly used hydrophilic anionic additives (e.g., formate HCOO, chloride Cl-, trifluoroacetate CF3COO-, perchlorate ClO4-, and hexafluorophosphate PF6-). In this work, we compared various anionic additives in light of their effects on the retention of basic drugs. As did many others we found that the addition of anionic additives (Cl-, CF3COO-, ClO4-, PF6-) profoundly influences the retention of basic drugs. In order to explain the data and differentiate the mechanisms by which the anionic additives perturb the chromatography, we used ion pair formation constants independently measured by capillary electrophoresis (CE) under the mobile phase conditions (pH, solvent composition) identical to those used in chromatography. Agreement between the predicted and experimental chromatographic data under various conditions was evaluated. Under specific circumstances (e.g., pH, stationary phase, and nature of anionic additive), we conclude that the ion pair mechanism is more important than the dynamic ion-exchange and at other conditions it remains a significant contribution.     

肽段反相色谱保留时间预测算法及其在蛋白质鉴定中的应用

液相色谱-质谱(LC-MS)联用是当今规模化蛋白质鉴定的主流技术。肽段在反相液相色谱(RPLC)中的保留时间主要是由肽段的理化性质和LC条件(固定相、流动相)决定的。可以通过分析肽段的理化性质,并量化它们对肽段色谱行为的影响来预测保留时间。预测结果可以用于帮助提高蛋白质鉴定的数量和可信度,也可用于肽段的翻译后修饰等研究。现在已有的保留时间预测算法主要有保留系数法和机器学习法两大类,得到的预测保留时间与实际保留时间相关系数可达到0.93。随着色谱和质谱技术的不断发展,肽段色谱行为的稳定性和重现性越来越好,保留时间预测结果也越来越准确。预测肽段保留时间将成为提高蛋白质鉴定结果的重要技术手段之一。     

Green high‐performance liquid chromatography enantioseparation of lansoprazole using a cellulose‐based chiral stationary phase under ethanol/water mode

A simple and environmentally friendly reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography method for the separation of the enantiomers of lansoprazole has been developed. The chromatographic resolution was carried out on the cellulose‐based Chiralpak IC‐3 chiral stationary phase using a green and low‐toxicity ethanol‐aqueous mode. The effects of water content in the mobile phase and column temperature on the retention of the enantiomers of lansoprazole and its chiral and achiral related substances have been carefully investigated. A mixed‐mode hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography and reversed‐phase retention mechanism operating on the IC‐3 chiral stationary phase allowed us to achieve simultaneous enantioselective and chemoselective separations in water‐rich conditions. The enantiomers of lansoprazole were baseline resolved with a mobile phase consisting of ethanol/water 50:50 without any interference coming from chiral and achiral impurities within 10 min.     

Chemometric analysis of targeted 3DLC-DAD data for accurate and precise quantification of phenytoin in wastewater samples

A variety of pharmaceuticals have been found in various water systems, including wastewater treatment effluent. Due to the possible environmental and human health implications, it is important to be able to quickly and reliably quantify the amount of pharmaceuticals and personal care products that may be present in such samples. To this end, a new chromatographic analysis technique involving three dimensions of liquid chromatography, including selective comprehensive separations in the second and third dimensions, was applied to the analysis of a wastewater treatment plant effluent (WWTPE) sample using both standard addition and external calibrations. Iterative key set factor analysis alternating least squares with the application of both sample and spectral selectivity constraints was used to resolve the phenytoin peak at a concentration corresponding to about 40 parts-per-trillion using UV absorbance detection. Both the precision and accuracy of the method are investigated. We determined that the concentration of phenytoin in WWTPE using selective three dimensional liquid chromatography with diode array detection was 42 ± 1 ng/L, after resolution from an unknown interferent. The estimated concentration was not significantly different from that obtained by the reference 2DLC/MS/MS method, but was four and a half times more precise.     

Retention behavior of basic compounds on alkylphosphonate-modified magnesia-zirconia composite stationary phase in RPHPLC

Summary The chromatographic properties of an alkylphosphonate-modified magnesia-zirconia composite stationary phase have been investigated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with basic compounds as probes. The influence of organic modifier composition and mobile phase pH was studied. The new stationary phase, similar to a silica-based reversed-phase stationary phase, has hydrophobic properties, but greater pH stability. Use of the phase results in more symmetric peaks for basic compounds. A possible mechanism of retention of basic solutes on the new stationary phase is discussed. The chromatographic behavior of the basic solutes depends mainly on hydrophobic interactions between the solutes and the hydrophobic moiety of the stationary phase. Br?nsted acidic and basic sites on the surface of the new stationary phase play an important role in the retention of ionized solutes by ion-exchange interaction. Promising separations of some basic compounds have been achieved by use of methanolic TRIS buffer, pH 10.0, as the mobile phase.     

Supercritical fluid chromatographic solvatochromic modifier polarity studies

To understand the chromatographic process as a whole, whether it be for gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC), or supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), one needs to know the chemical and physical nature of the mobile and stationary phases and also the interactions that take place between analytes (solutes) and the two phases. An approach towards Investigating the ways that stationary and mobile phases contribute to chromatographic retention Involves exploring the effects of solvent polarity on the strength of the mobile phase. In SFC this could involve determining the polarity of several different modifier/carbon dioxide mobile phases. In this paper, the use of a solvatochromic indicator to learn more about the effects of SFC modifier/mobile phase polarity will be investigated and discussed using several different modifiers and a diolmodified silica column.     

Dual‐mode hydrophilic interaction normal phase and reversed phase liquid chromatography of polar compounds on a single column

Adopting a stationary phase convention circumvents problematic definition of the boundary between the stationary and the mobile phase in the liquid chromatography, resulting in thermodynamically consistent and reproducible chromatographic data. Three stationary phase definition conventions provide different retention data, but equal selectivity: (i) the complete solid phase moiety; (ii) the solid porous part carrying the active interaction centers; (iii) the volume of the inner column pores. The selective uptake of water from the bulk aqueous‐organic mobile phase significantly affects the volume and the properties of polar stationary phases. Some polar stationary phases provide dual‐mode retention mechanism in aqueous‐organic mobile phases, reversed‐phase in the water‐rich range, and normal‐phase at high concentrations of the organic solvent in water. The linear solvation energy relationship model characterizes the structural contributions of the non‐selective and selective polar interactions both in the water‐rich and organic solvent‐rich mobile phases. The inner‐pore convention provides a single hold‐up volume value for the retention prediction on the dual‐mode columns over the full mobile phase range. Using the dual‐mode monolithic polymethacrylate zwitterionic micro‐columns alternatively in each mode in the first dimension of two‐dimensional liquid chromatography, in combination with a short reversed‐phase column in the second dimension, provides enhanced sample information.     

New advances in countercurrent chromatography and centrifugal partition chromatography: focus on coupling strategy

Countercurrent chromatography (CCC) is an attractive separation method because the analytes are partitioned between two immiscible liquid phases avoiding problems related to solid stationary phase. In recent years, this technique has made great progress in separation power and detection potential. This review describes coupling strategies involving high speed CCC (HSCCC) or centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC). It includes on-line extraction–isolation, hyphenation with mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) detectors, multidimensional CCC (MDCCC), two-dimensional CCC (2D-CCC), on-line coupling with liquid chromatography (LC), and biological tests, and innovative off-line developments. The basic principles of each method are presented and applications are summarized.     

Two-dimensional liquid chromatography with mixed mode stationary phases

Mixed mode stationary phases with ion-pairing reagent (acidic or basic) as integral part of hydrophobic chain offers unique selectivity, and hence, are ideal for multidimensional separations. The retention of hydrophobic components is a function of organic content, whereas that of charged species is a function of organic content, ionogenic modifier and its level in the mobile phase. Hence, by controlling the parameters influencing component retention (stationary phase and mobile phase), the selectivity of chemical components in the two-dimensional plane can be manipulated to improve the separation. A two-dimensional liquid chromatograph has been developed by coupling similar and dissimilar mixed mode stationary phases in the two dimensions. This technique has immense potential in resolving co-eluting components as the retention mechanism in the two-dimensions are complementary. However, with only part of the primary column eluent sampled into the secondary column, the technique is limited to qualitative analysis.     

Application of the Solvatic Model for Prediction of Retention in RP-LC for Multi-Step Gradient Profiles

Application of the solvatic retention model of reversed-phase liquid chromatography was studied to predict retention of phenylisothiocyanate derivatives of amino acids from structural formulae and stationary and mobile phase properties. The gradient elution mode with methanol and acetonitrile aqueous mobile phases was used. It was shown that practically acceptable prediction or retention time values can be achieved after the first approximation step when experimental data of one run are used. The zero approximation level predictions—from structural formulae, column and mobile phase properties can be used as a “first guess” method from which further optimization can begin.

     

一个描述液相色谱体系中溶质进样量与保留值关系的方程

通过考虑溶质和溶剂在液相色谱体系中的相互作用,从理论上给出了一个描述溶质在液相色谱体系中进样量与保留值之间关系的方程。由方程可以证明,当进样量趋于零时,溶质的保留值为一定值,当进样量无限大时,溶质的保留值趋于零,且随着进样量的增加,溶质的保留值必然减小。通过方程的线性形式,可以获得两个描述色谱体系特征的重要参数：一个是溶质与固定相相互作用的平衡常数Ｋ,另一个是假想的分布在固定相表面上的活性点总数。     

A unified classification of stationary phases for packed column supercritical fluid chromatography

The use of supercritical fluids as chromatographic mobile phases allows to obtain rapid separations with high efficiency on packed columns, which could favour the replacement of numerous HPLC methods by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) ones. Moreover, despite some unexpected chromatographic behaviours, general retention rules are now well understood, and mainly depend on the nature of the stationary phase. The use of polar stationary phases improves the retention of polar compounds, when C18-bonded silica favours the retention of hydrocarbonaceous compounds. In this sense, reversed-phase and normal-phase chromatography can be achieved in SFC, as in HPLC. However, these two domains are clearly separated in HPLC due to the opposite polarity of the mobile phases used for each method. In SFC, the same mobile phase can be used with both polar and non-polar stationary phases. Consequently, the need for a novel classification of stationary phases in SFC appears, allowing a unification of the classical reversed- and normal-phase domains. In this objective, the paper presents the development of a five-dimensional classification based on retention data for 94-111 solutes, using 28 commercially available columns representative of three major types of stationary phases. This classification diagram is based on a linear solvation energy relationship, on the use of solvation vectors and the calculation of similarity factors between the different chromatographic systems. This classification will be of great help in the choice of the well-suited stationary phase, either in regards of a particular separation or to improve the coupling of columns with complementary properties.     

Retention behaviors of natural products in reversed-phase liquid chromatography using mobile phase comprising methanol, acetonitrile and water

The three-component mobile phase, methanol-acetonitrile-water, has been frequently used for the separation of natural products in complicated herbal extracts by reversed-phase liquid chromatography, especially when two-component solvent systems do not work. However, the rational for optimization of this three-solvent system is not clear, so far. In this study, the retention behavior of different types of natural products in RP-LC with a methanol-acetonitrile-water elution system was studied. A total of 27 compounds from four classes, including steroids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and triterpene saponins were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry or ultraviolet detectors. It was interesting to find that prolonged retention times and improved separation capabilities were obtained when the acetonitrile-to-methanol ratio was 3-16%. This rule applied to all four classes of natural products under different instrumental conditions, and could be valuable for the separation of natural products in complicated samples.