High-efficiency hydrophilic interaction chromatography by coupling 25 cm × 4.6 mm ID × 5 μm silica columns and operation at 80 °C

Recently, hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) has emerged as a valuable orthogonal tool to reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) as it allows for resolution of highly polar ionisable compounds. The relationships between separation efficiency, column length and speed of analysis for 4.6 mm ID × 5 μm silica particle columns in HILIC are demonstrated using kinetic plots. The kinetic plots constructed for conventional pressure systems operating at 350 bar and at 30 °C and 80 °C are confirmed using experimental data for different column lengths. Efficiencies of more than 130,000 theoretical plates could be achieved by connecting up to six columns of 25 cm. As expected, a significant gain in analysis speed without loss of efficiency could be obtained by operating at 80 °C compared to 30 °C. The advantages of using long columns in HILIC in combination with elevated column temperature for the pharmaceutical industry are illustrated using test mixtures comprised of commercially available ionisable compounds (including some containing functional groups with potential genotoxic typical structural alerts) as well as real polar ionisable pharmaceuticals.     

Practical assessment of frictional heating effects and thermostat design on the performance of conventional (3 μm and 5 μm) columns in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A practical investigation of frictional heating effects in conventional C18 columns was undertaken, to investigate whether problems found for sub-2 μm columns were also present for those of particle size 3 μm and 5 μm and different internal diameter. The influence of a water bath, a still air heater, and a forced air heater on performance was investigated. Heating effects were substantial, with a decrease in k of almost 15% for toluene over the flow rate range ∼0.4–2.3 mL/min with a 15 cm × 0.46 cm ID column packed with 3 μm particles. Heating effects on retention increased with increasing solute k, with increase in the column ID, with decrease in the column particle size, and with decrease in the set column oven temperature. While the water bath minimised axial temperature gradients and thus its effect on k, radial temperature gradients were potentially serious with this system, especially at high mobile phase velocity, even with columns containing 5 μm particles. In contrast to the effects of axial temperature gradients in 4.6 mm columns, very little difference in Van Deemter plots was noted between the three different thermostats with 2 mm ID columns, even when 3 μm particles were used. However, the efficiency of 2 mm columns for peaks of low or moderate k (k < 4) can be compromised by the extra dead volume introduced by the heating systems, even with conventional HPLC systems with otherwise minimised extra column volume.     

Study of electrooxidation of binary electrolytic deposit palladium–bismuth deposited on graphite electrode surface

The phase structure of palladium–bismuth binary electrolytic deposit was studied. The electrodeposition of deposit components on the surface of a graphite electrode (GE) was carried out in situ. On current–voltage curves, the peak of bismuth electrooxidation, the peak of palladium electrooxidation and an additional peak at 0.15 V vs. Ag/AgCl are observed. The peak current at 0.15 V depends both on the concentration of palladium(II) ions and on that of bismuth(III) ions. The thermodynamic theory of alloys in the approximation of the theory of regular solutions was used for calculations. The mixing heat of the binary alloy components and the equilibrium potential of bismuth in the bismuth–palladium alloy are calculated. The calculated equilibrium potential of bismuth in an alloy with palladium is 0.12 V vs. Ag/AgCl which corresponds to the Bi₂Pd intermetallic compound (IMC). Investigation of the surface of a GE with a palladium–bismuth deposit with use of scanning electron microscope showed that the electrolytic deposit contains bismuth, palladium and the Bi₂Pd IMC. Peak at the potential of plus 0.15 V vs. Ag/AgCl is due to selective bismuth electrooxidation from the Bi₂Pd IMC.     

Ultrasonic study on binary mixture containing dimethylformamide and methanol over the entire miscibility range (0 < x < 1) at temperatures 303–323 K

The experimental density and speed of ultrasound measurements in connection with literature data have been measured for pure N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), methanol and their binary mixtures over the whole miscibility range at different temperatures 303, 308, 313, 318 and 323 K. These parameters were used to determine the adiabatic compressibility, intermolecular free length, molar compressibility, molar sound velocity, acoustic impedance, relaxation strength and their excess values. The variation of these parameters with composition of mixture indicates the nature and extent of interaction between unlike molecules. The non-ideal behavior of the system studied was explained on the basis of the dipole-induced dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding. The complex formation through intermolecular hydrogen bonding was confirmed from the recorded FTIR spectra. Available thermal energy breaks the bonds between the associated molecules into their respective monomers on increasing the temperature.     

Measurement and calculation of vapor–liquid equilibria for methanol + glycerol and ethanol + glycerol systems at 493–573 K

The vapor–liquid equilibria for methanol + glycerol and ethanol + glycerol systems were measured by a flow method at 493–573 K. The pressure conditions focused in this work were 3.03–11.02 MPa for methanol + glycerol system and 2.27–8.78 MPa for ethanol + glycerol system. The mole fractions of alcohol in vapor phase are close to unity at the pressures below 7.0 MPa for both systems. The pressures of liquid saturated lines of the liquid phase for methanol + glycerol and ethanol + glycerol systems are higher than that for the mixtures containing alcohol and biodiesel compound, methyl laurate or ethyl laurate.     

Optimized use of a 50 μm ID secondary column in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

The objective of the present research is directed towards the optimized use of a 50 μm ID secondary column, in a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC × GC–qMS) system. The analytical aim was achieved by exploiting a split-flow GC × GC approach, and a rapid-scanning qMS instrument. The stationary phase combination consisted of an apolar (silphenylene polymer) 30 m × 0.25 mm ID column, linked by means of a Y-union, to an MS-connected 1 m × 0.05 mm ID polar one [poly(ethyleneglycol)], and to a 0.20 m × 0.05 mm ID uncoated capillary segment; the latter was connected to a manually operated split-valve. It will be herein demonstrated that the split-flow GC × GC approach, successfully employed in previous H₂-based, flame ionization detection experiments, provides equally satisfactory results using mass spectrometric detection and helium as carrier gas. An optimized split-flow GC × GC–qMS method was developed and exploited for the analysis of a perfume sample. The results attained were compared with those observed using the same analytical column combination, but with no flow-splitting. It was found that it is not convenient to employ a 50 μm ID secondary column in a conventional GC × GC–MS instrument. On the contrary, the use a 50 μm ID secondary column, in a split-flow, twin-oven system, provided a good performance. A recently developed comprehensive chromatography software was used for data processing.     

Vapor–liquid equilibria and density measurement for binary mixtures of o-xylene + NMF, m-xylene + NMF and p-xylene + NMF at 333.15 K, 343.15 K and 353.15 K from 0 kPa to 101.3 kPa

Isothermal vapor–liquid equilibria at 333.15 K, 343.15 K and 353.15 K for three binary mixtures of o-xylene, m-xylene and p-xylene individually mixed with N-methylformamide (NMF), have been obtained at pressures ranged from 0 kPa to 101.3 kPa over the whole composition range. The Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC activity coefficient models have been employed to correlate experimental pressures and liquid mole fractions. The non-ideal behavior of the vapor phase has been considered by using the Peng–Robinson equation of state in calculating the vapor mole fraction. Liquid and vapor densities were measured by using two vibrating tube densitometers. The excess molar volumes of the liquid phase were also determined. Three systems of o-xylene + NMF, m-xylene + NMF and p-xylene + NMF mixtures present large positive deviations from the ideal solution and belong to endothermic mixings because their excess Gibbs energies are positive. Temperature dependent intermolecular parameters in the NRTL model correlation were finally obtained in this study.     

Liquid–liquid equilibrium of (water + 1-propanol + 1-pentanol) system at 298.15 and 323.15 K

Liquid–liquid equilibrium data for the ternary system water + 1-propanol + 1-pentanol have been determined experimentally at 298.15 and 323.15 K using “static–analytic” apparatus involving ROLSI™ samplers. The experimental data are correlated considering both NRTL and UNIQUAC activity coefficient models. The results obtained show the ability of both models for the determination of liquid–liquid equilibrium data of the studied system. The reliability of the experimental tie-line data is determined through the Othmer–Tobias and Bachman equations.     

Liquid–liquid equilibrium of the ternary system water + acetic acid + sec-butyl acetate

Experimental liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) of the water–acetic acid–sec-butyl acetate ternary system was investigated at 298.15, 303.15, 308.15 and 313.15 K and at atmospheric pressure. Separation factors were also evaluated for the immiscibility region. The NRTL and UNIQUAC models were applied to fit the experimental data for the ternary system. The binary interaction parameters obtained from both models were found to be successfully correlated with the equilibrium compositions. The UNIFAC group contribution method was employed to predict the observed ternary LLE data. It was found that four types of the UNIFAC model (UNIFAC, UNIFAC-LL, UNIFAC-DMD, and UNIFAC-LBY) did not provide a good prediction of the LLE data for this ternary system.     

Effect of filler incorporation route on the properties of polysulfone–silver nanocomposite membranes of different porosities

Flat sheet porous polysulfone–silver nanocomposite membranes were synthesized by the wet phase inversion process. The effects of casting mixture composition and nanoparticle incorporation route on the morphological and separation properties of prepared membranes were studied by comparing nanocomposites of different preparations with silver-free controls. Silver nanoparticles were either synthesized ex situ and then added to the casting solution as an organosol or produced in the casting solution via in situ reduction of ionic silver by the polymer solvent. Nanocomposite membranes of three types differing in skin porosity and macrovoid structure were prepared. The structure and properties of nanocomposites were interpreted in terms of the coupling between the processes of nanoparticle formation and gelling of the polymer-rich phase during phase inversion. Larger nanoparticles preferentially located in the skin layer were observed in composites prepared via the ex situ method while in situ reduction of silver led to formation of smaller nanoparticles homogeneously distributed along the membrane cross-section. In some cases, incorporation of nanoscale silver formed ex situ resulted in macrovoid widening and an order of magnitude decrease in hydraulic resistance accompanied by only a moderate decrease in rejection. The accessibility of the silver nanoparticles embedded in the membrane was quantitatively assessed by the degree of the growth inhibition of a membrane biofilm due to the ionic silver released by the nanocomposites and was found to depend on the method of silver incorporation.     

Liquid–liquid equilibrium of ternary systems 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate + aromatic + aliphatic hydrocarbons

The phase behavior of six ternary systems involving an aromatic hydrocarbon (benzene, toluene or m-xylene), an aliphatic hydrocarbon (nonane or undecane), and an ionic liquid (1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, [omim][PF₆]) was experimentally studied at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure, totalizing 26 tie-lines. The main goal is to determine if [omim][PF₆] is a good solvent for the separation of the aromatic and aliphatic compounds, a common operation in the processing of reformed naphtha. All the ternary diagrams are of type 1, with high and wide two-phase regions, which show that [omim][PF₆] is a good solvent for the extraction of aromatic from aliphatic hydrocarbons. The Othmer–Tobias correlation was used for evaluation of the quality of the tie-line data, with good results. The data were correlated with the NRTL model for the activity coefficient, with estimation of new interaction energy parameters by using a modified Simplex method and a composition-based objective function. The results, expressed by root mean square deviations between experimental and calculated compositions, are very satisfactory.     

Theoretical insight into stereodynamics of the O(D) + H2 (v = 0–3, j = 0) → OH + H reaction: A quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) study

In this work, the reaction O(¹D) + H₂ → OH + H has been theoretically studied using the quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) method developed by Han and co-workers. All the quasiclassical trajectory calculations are performed on the DK (Dobbyn and Knowles) potential energy surface (PES). The vector correlation information on the reaction O(¹D) + H₂ → OH + H has been obtained. It has been demonstrated that the product alignment is sensitive to the reactant vibrational quantum number (v) at collision energy of 19 kcal/mol. Moreover, with increasing the value of v, backward scattering becomes weaker and forward scattering becomes stronger.     

Vapor–liquid equilibrium for binary system of tetrahydrothiophene + 2,2,4-trimethylpentane and tetrahydrothiophene + 2,4,4-trimethyl-1-pentene at 358.15 and 368.15 K

Isothermal vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) for tetrahydrothiophene + 2,2,4-trimethylpentane and tetrahydrothiophene + 2,4,4-trimethyl-1-pentene at 358.15 and 368.15 K were measured with a circulation still. All systems studied exhibit positive deviation from Raoult's law. No azeotropic behavior was found in all systems at the measured temperatures. The experimental results were correlated with the Wilson model and compared to COSMO-SAC predictive model. Analyses of liquid and vapor phase composition were determined with gas chromatography. All VLE measurements passed the three thermodynamic consistency tests used. The activity coefficients at infinite dilution are also presented.     

Isothermal vapor–liquid equilibrium at 333.15 K,excess molar volumes and refractive indices at 298.15 K for mixtures of tert-amyl methyl ether + ethanol + 2,2,4-trimethylpentane

Isothermal vapor–liquid equilibrium data at 333.15 K are measured for the binary system tert-amyl methyl ether + ethanol and tert-amyl methyl ether + 2,2,4-trimethylpentane and for ternary system tert-amyl methyl ether + ethanol + 2,2,4-trimethylpentane by using headspace gas chromatography. The experimental vapor–liquid equilibrium data were correlated with G^E models (Margules, van Laar, Wilson, NRTL, UNIQUAC) equations. The excess volume and deviations in molar refractivity data are also reported for the same binary and ternary systems at 298.15 K. These data were correlated with the Redlich–Kister equation for the binary systems and the Cibulka equation for the ternary system, respectively. The experimental ternary excess volume and deviations in molar refractivity data, were also compared with the estimated values from the binary contribution models of Tsao–Smith, Kohler, Rastogi and Radojkovi?.     

Comparative study of new shell-type,sub-2 μm fully porous and monolith stationary phases,focusing on mass-transfer resistance

Today sub-2 μm packed columns are very popular to conduct fast chromatographic separations. The mass-transfer resistance depends on the particle size but some practical limits exist not to reach the theoretically expected plate height and mass-transfer resistance. Another approach applies particles with shortened diffusion path to enhance the efficiency of separations. In this study a systematical evaluation of the possibilities of the separations obtained with 5 cm long narrow bore columns packed with new 2.6 μm shell particles (1.9 μm nonporous core surrounded by a 0.35 μm porous shell, Kinetex™, Core-Shell), packed with other shell-type particles (Ascentis Express™, Fused-Core), totally porous sub-2 μm particles and a 5 cm long narrow bore monolith column is presented. The different commercially available columns were compared by using van Deemter, Knox and kinetic plots. Theoretical Poppe plots were constructed for each column to compare their kinetic performance. Data are presented on polar neutral real-life analytes. Comparison of a low molecular weight compounds (MW = 270–430) and a high molecular weight one (MW ∼ 900) was conducted. This study proves that the Kinetex column packed with 2.6 μm shell particles is worthy of rivaling to sub-2 μm columns and other commercially available shell-type packings (Ascentis Express or Halo), both for small and large molecule separation. The Kinetex column offers a very flat C term. Utilizing this feature, high flow rates can be applied to accomplish very fast separations without significant loss in efficiency.     

High-efficiency liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry separations with 50 mm, 250 mm,and 1 m long polymer-based monolithic capillary columns for the characterization of complex proteolytic digests

In this study, high-efficiency LC–MS/MS separations of complex proteolytic digests are demonstrated using 50 mm, 250 mm, and 1 m long poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) monolithic capillary columns. The chromatographic performance of the 50 and 250 mm monoliths was compared at the same gradient steepness for gradient durations between 5 and 150 min. The maximum peak capacity of 400 obtained with a 50 mm column, increased to 485 when using the 250 mm long column and scaling the gradient duration according column length. With a 5-fold increase in column length only a 20% increase in peak capacity was observed, which could be explained by the larger macropore size of the 250 mm long monolith. When taking into account the total analysis time, including the dwell time, gradient time and column equilibration time, the 50 mm long monolith yielded better peptide separations than the 250 mm long monolithic column for gradient times below 80 min (n_c = 370). For more demanding separation the 250 mm long monolith provided the highest peak production rate and consequently higher sequence coverage. For the analysis of a proteolytic digest of Escherichia coli proteins a monolithic capillary column of 1 m in length was used, yielding a peak capacity of 1038 when applying a 600 min gradient.     

Empirical line parameters of methane in the 1.63–1.48 μm transparency window by high sensitivity Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy

The positions and intensities of methane in the 1.58 μm transparency window have been measured by high sensitivity Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy at room temperature. The achieved sensitivity allowed measuring intensities as small as 3 × 10⁻²⁹ cm/molecule i.e. three orders of magnitude smaller than the intensity cut off of the HITRAN line list of methane. The complete list contains a total of 16,149 transitions between 6165 and 6750 cm⁻¹. Their intensity values vary over six orders of magnitude from 1.6 × 10⁻²⁹ to 2.5 × 10⁻²³ cm/molecule. Transitions due to CH₃D in “natural” abundance in our methane sample were identified using a new spectrum of CH₃D recorded separately with a Fourier Transform spectrometer. From simulations of the CH₃D and methane spectra at low resolution, the CH₃D isotopologue has be found to contribute by up to 30% of the absorption near 1.58 μm.     

Solid–liquid equilibria of the ternary system m-nitrobenzoic acid + p-nitrobenzoic acid + acetone

Solubility data and the density of equilibrium liquid phase for the ternary system m-nitrobenzoic acid + p-nitrobenzoic acid + acetone were determined at 283.1 K and 313.1 K, and the phase diagrams of the system were constructed. Two solid phases, pure solid m-nitrobenzoic acid and p-nitrobenzoic acid are confirmed by the Schreinemaker's wet residue method. The crystallization regions of m-nitrobenzoic acid and p-nitrobenzoic acid increase as the temperature decreases. At the same temperature, the crystallization region of p-nitrobenzoic acid is larger than that of m-nitrobenzoic acid.