Computational fluid dynamics simulation of the adsorption separation of three components in high performance liquid chromatography

Summary The four stereoisomers of nadolol were successfully separated into three groups (SRS)-nadolol and (SSR)-nadolol, (RRS)-nadolol and (RSR)-nadolol using HPLC. The adsorption equilibrium coefficients, mass transfer coefficients of the three groups and the bed voidage were experimentally determined. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the separation was carried out using FEMLAB, which is application software from MATLAB. The simulation visualized the processes of dispersion and separation occurring inside the column. The curvature of the concentration profiles within the column were observed using the simulation. The simulated chromatogram correctly predicted the peak behavior of the eluted compounds except dispersion was overestimated, which is due to the limitation of the software used.     

Prediction of emulsion particle sizes using a computational fluid dynamics approach

For many food products emulsification processes play an important role. Examples are ice cream, spreads, sauces, etc. As is well known, droplet break-up and coalescence phenomena are the local processes underlying the control of particle size in an emulsion process. Quite a number of studies have generated scaling laws which can be easily applied and which are useful in the design of a process. However, the prediction of particle sizes in an inhomogeneous flow, where the flow velocity is changing spatially in strength and direction and with time, is not yet well established. For one-phase flows computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodologies are in use to predict details on the flow with quite some success. This methodology has been extended to capture the dispersed phase in an efficient way. The essence is that break-up and coalescence processes determine source terms in a transport equation for the moments of the particle size distribution, while velocity vectors as obtained in the one-phase CFD simulation determine the convective term. This method allows particle size prediction in any equipment. The approach is illustrated for the particle size evolution of an oil-in-water emulsion, for a phase-separated biopolymeric mixture (a so-called water-in-water emulsion) and for the escape of the included oil droplets from a double emulsion of the type oil-in-water-in-oil. In all cases experimental results are compared with simulation results, which match very well. This shows the strength of the method.     

Theoretical optimisation of the side-wall of micropillar array columns using computational fluid dynamics

The present study provides an overview of the ideal side-wall position in micro-pillar array columns for the case of semi-embedded side-walls. The position has been determined using computational fluid dynamics simulations of the flow field in flow domains with different side-wall shifts. Optimal side-wall shift values are presented for a wide range of shapes (cylinders, and diamonds and hexagons with different aspect ratios) and packing densities. Simple linear correlations that allow calculating the optimised side-wall geometries for the different considered variety of shapes and packing densities could be established. Interestingly, only two correlations are needed to represent all investigated cases: one correlation for all diamonds, and one correlation for the cylinders and all hexagons. Compared to the case of a flat side-wall, the minimal feature size on the mask can be increased by a factor of 2.5 in the case of cylindrical pillar bed with external porosity ? = 0.4, implying that that much smaller pillar diameters can be used in the bulk of the bed before the minimal feature size on the mask falls below the lithography resolution.     

Planarity selectivity in supercritical fluid and liquid chromatography using octadecylsilane-modified silicas with carbon dioxide

Summary The influence of column temperature and pressure on the planarity selectivity of encapsulated and polymeric octadecylsilane-modified silicas was examined using carbon dioxide mobile phase in supercritical fluid and liquid chromatography. The use of liquid carbon dioxide was found to enhance remarkably the molecular planarity recognition capability of the polymeric stationary phase compared with supercritical conditions. The influence of pressure and temperature on selectivity was seen to be significant with the polymeric phase but less with the encapsulated. It seems that pressure and temperature change the morphology of the polymeric phase to a greater extent than the encapsulated one.     

Quantitative determination of phospholipids in amniotic fluid by high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary A new quantitative analytical method for the determination of phospholipids in amniotic fluid by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. In addition to the main compounds, phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) and sphingomyelin, the so-called minor phospholipids, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylethanolamine can also be determined. Separation is achieved using a guard-column of Lichrosorb Si 60 and an analytical column of Lichrosorb DIOL. Acetonitrile/water is used as mobile phase at an elevated temperature. By determining the recovery rates, the within-run and the between-run precision, it was shown that sufficient accuracy and precision could be achieved for all the parameters examined. The method is highly sensitive, the detection limit for sphingomyelin is 0.2 μg and 0.1 μg for all the other components. A single determination of 5 phospholipids in an amniotic fluid sample takes about two hours. By performing simultaneous extractions it is possible to analyse 5 samples per day.     

Analysis of ochratoxins from buffered rumen fluid by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Summary An efficient procedure for the extraction and analysis of ochratoxins A, B, C and α from buffered rumen fluid has been developed. The samples have been cleaned up byliquid-liquid extraction and the separation of chratoxins was by isocratic elution on a 5μm C₁₈ ODS-column which 0.083 M phosphoric acid/acetonitrile/isopropanol (55/35/10).     

Supercritical fluid extraction-high performance liquid chromatography on-line coupling: Extraction of some model aromatic compounds

Summary An SFE-HPLC system has been tested with a simple model aromatic mixture on spiked silica. The spiked silica was extracted with pure CO₂ and the extract retained in a trap packed with C18 material. Quantitative separation and reproducity have been investigated and are reported.     

Supercritical fluid extraction-high performance liquid chromatography on-line coupling: Extraction of some model aromatic compounds

Summary An SFE-HPLC system has been tested with a simple model aromatic mixture on spiked silica. The spiked silica was extracted with pure CO₂ and the extract retained in a trap packed with C18 material. Quantitative separation and reproducity have been investigated and are reported.     

The chromatographic quantification of hydrophobicity using micellar mobile phases

Summary In micellar liquid chromatography (MLC), the hydrophobicity of a compound is the predominant factor in its retention and interaction with micelles. A non-linear empirical model can describe the dependence between the retention factor (logk) in MLC and the logarithm of partition coefficients octanol-water (logP). An algorithm based on such a model has been used to makelogP predictions. Retention data for series of neutral compounds eluted with different mobile phases and alkyl-bonded stationary phases have been used to test the predictive ability of the algorithm. The results of this approach are compared with those obtained from automatic computational software packages.     

Effect of column diameter on efficiency in capillary supercritical fluid chromatography

Fused silica capillary columns with internal diameters from 100 to 25 μm were coated with SE-54 and evaluated under supercritical fluid chromatographic conditions using carbon dioxide as mobile phase. Experimental results compared well with theoretical predictions. At ten times the optimum mobile phase velocity and for a capacity factor, k of 3, efficiencies of 2300 to 5600 plates m^?1 were obtained for column diameters of 100 to 25 μm, respectively.     

Can food quality be enhanced by chromatography?

Summary Quality of food is the utmost goal of all food producers. It is determined by chemical, physical, microbiological, and even psychological aspects. The chemical and microbiological quality aspects are especially responsible for health and welfare of the consumer. Quality of food, therefore, at all times has to be ensured and be enhanced as far as possible. From the chemical point of view, foods contain a great number of major and minor components. That determine the nutritional value of a food product. Furthermore, taste and flavour are the result of many food minor components. Foods also may contain unwanted compounds like residues and contaminants. Which represent undesirable aspects of food quality. With chromatography as a powrful analytical tool in food chemistry, the quality of food products cannot only be characterized but also be enhanced. Examples of enhancing quality of food by applying chromatography to cheese, margarine, meat, and other products is reported. Presented at the 21^st ISC held in Stuttgart, Germany, 15^th–20^th September, 1996     

Anion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography of proteins in mouse ascites fluid: Changes in the protein pattern during tumour growthIn vivo

Summary During the transition of Ehrlich mouse ascites tumour cells from the proliferating to the resting state of growth a large loss of purine and pyrimidine compounds occurs. This decrease is accompanied by a change in the amount of protein in the supernate of ascites fluid, which is known from the study of the ATP-consumption during protein synthesis. The ascites fluid was investigated by anion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). SDS-PAGE (sodium, dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) data were compared with SEC data. The total amount of protein increased by 50% between day 5 and 12 of growth. At least 5 new peaks are observed in the chromatograms of an ion-exchange separation of Ehrlich ascites fluid at day 12 postinoculation. The amounts of transferrin, albumin and IgG (immunoglobulin G) were increased to 132, 134, 157%, respectively duringin vivo growth.     

Interlaboratory study of analysis of phenoxymethylpenicillin by liquid chromatography

Summary A liquid chromatography method for analysis of phenoxymethylpenicillin has been examined in a collaborative study involving 6 laboratories. The method comprised an isocratic part, which is used in the assay. When the isocratic part is combined with gradient elution, the method is suitable for purity control. Five samples of phenoxymethylpenicillin (potassium salts and acid) were analysed. The main component, the most important side product 4-hydroxyphenoxymethyl-penicillin and other impurities were determined. An analysis of variance proved the absence of consistent laboratory bias. Laboratory-sample interaction was not significant. Estimates of the repeatability and reproducibility of the method, expressed as standard deviations (SD) of the result of the determination of phenoxymethylpenicillin, were 0.50 and 0.63 respectively.     

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 diarylethene-based photoswitchable isomeric compounds by high-performance liquid chromatography and supercritical fluid chromatography

Diarylethene-based photoswitches have become very popular over the last few decades for potential applications in chemistry, materials science, and biotechnology due to their unique physical and chemical properties. We report the isomeric separation of a diarylethene-based photoswitchable compound using high-performance liquid chromatography. The separated isomers were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and mass spectrometry confirmed the isomeric nature of the compounds. The isomers were purified by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography, providing fractionated samples to study the isomers individually. A total amount of 13 mg of an isomer of interest was fractionated from a solution of 0.4 mg/ml of the isomeric mixture. Because the preparative high-performance liquid chromatographic method required large quantities of solvent, we explored the use of supercritical fluid chromatography as an alternative separation mode which, to the best of our knowledge, is the first time this technique is used to separate diarylethene-based photoswitchable compounds. Supercritical fluid chromatography provided faster analysis times while maintaining sufficient baseline resolution for the separated compounds and consuming less organic solvent in the mobile phase compared to high-performance liquid chromatography. It is proposed that the supercritical fluid chromatographic method be upscaled and used in future fractionation of the diarylethene isomeric compounds, becoming a more environmentally benign approach for compound purification.     

Separation of gonadal steroid epimers using high performance liquid chromatography

Summary Chromatographic separation of biologically active epimeric steroids was carried out using a combination of normal and reversed phases. Testosterone (17-OH) was separated from its 17-OH epimer epitestosterone using a normal phase silica column whereas their reduced 5-metabolites were separated on a reversed phase system. The separation of other gonadal steroids including the epimers 20- and 20-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one is also discussed. The technique is particularly useful for separating mixtures of naturally occurring steroid epimers prior to radioimmunoassay.     

A comparative study of chiral separation of proton pump inhibitors by supercritical fluid chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography

A comparative study of chiral separation of pantoprazole and rabeprazole is carried out using supercritical fluid chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The columns used were Chiralpak IA and Chiralpak IE. The best mobile phase in supercritical fluid chromatography was carbon dioxide-0.2% triethylamine in methanol (60:40) and 0.1% triethylamine in n-hexane-ethanol (50:50) in high-performance liquid chromatography. For supercritical fluid chromatography, values of the retention factor of pantoprazole enantiomers were 3.97 and 4.88. These values for rabeprazole enantiomers were 6.10 and 7.52. The values of separation and resolution factor for pantoprazole and rabeprazole were 1.23 and 1.23 and 2.20 and 3.36, respectively. Similarly, for high-performance liquid chromatography, the values of retention factor for enantiomers of pantoprazole were 4.02 and 7.32. These values for rabeprazole enantiomers were 5.32 and 7.88, respectively. The values of separation and resolution factor for pantoprazole and rabeprazole were 1.82 and 1.48 and 9.22 and 6.58, respectively. A comparison was carried out, which confirmed supercritical fluid chromatography as the best method due to its fastness, eco-friendly, and inexpensiveness. The reported methods are effective, efficient, and reproducible and may be used to separate and identify pantoprazole and rabeprazole in any unknown samples.     

Modelling and prediction of retention in high-performance liquid chromatography by using neural networks

Summary Multi-layer feed-forward neural networks trained with an error back-propagation algorithm have been used to model retention behaviour of liquid chromatography as a function of the composition of the mobile phases. Conventional hydro-organic and micellar mobile phases were considered. Accurate retention modelling and prediction have been achieved using mobile phases defined by two, three and four parameters. With micellar mobile phases, the parameters involved included the concentrations of surfactant and organic modifier, pH and temperature. It is shown that neural networks provide a competitive tool to model varied inherent nonlinear relationships of retention behaviour with respect to the mobile phase parameters. The soft models defined by the weights of the networks are capable of accommodating all types of linear and nonlinear relationships, neural networks being specially useful when the relationships between retention behaviour and the mobile phase parameters are unknown. However, to train neural networks more experimental points than with hard-modelling methods are required, hence the use of the networks is recommended only for those cases where adequate theoretical or empirical models do not exist.