Studies on external peak broadening in open-tubular liquid chromatography systems using the exponentially modified Gaussian model

Summary To optimize performance in Open-Tubular Liquid Chromatography (OTLC) it is necessary to minimize external peak broadening. To see how to reduce the external broadening an insight into its origins is required. This can be obtained by careful evaluation of experimental results with peak deconvolution methods based on the exponentially modified Gaussian model and comparison with theoretical predictions. It is assumed that the column response is Gaussian and that the responses due to the external effects are exponential.For peak deconvolution the algorithm described by Yau was used. Simulations were carried out to check the performance of the algorithm in calculating the standard deviation and the time constant. The effects of the presence of more than one time constant and of the number of data points and their position were investigated. The limits within which reliable results can be obtained are reported.Experimental results were obtained with laser-induced fluorescence and mass spectrometric detection. It is shown that the Yau algorithm can be used to obtain physically realistic estimates of the contribution to peak distortion in the various system components. By suitable design external effects can be reduced to the order of 1 nl and in some cases even lower limits can be reached.Part of this paper was presented at the 3rd Workshop on LC/MS and MS/MS, October, 24–26, 1984 in Montreux, Switzerland.     

修正高斯模型在制备液相色谱收集区间优化中的应用

近年来制备液相色谱得到了越来越广泛的应用。制备液相色谱操作条件的优化对提高其效率及节约成本非常重要。对制备高效液相色谱而言,其样品收集区间的确定及优化是其操作条件优化的重要步骤。该文以修正高斯模型(EMG模型)为理论基础,编写了一个小软件,可有效地帮助用户确定合理的样品收集区间。此软件对制备液相色谱实际应用有积极的指导及参考意义。     

Exponentially modified Gaussian relevance to the distributions of translocation events in nanopore-based single molecule detection

Nanopore technique plays an important role in single molecule detection, which illuminates the properties of an individual molecule by analyzing the blockage durations and currents. However, the traditional exponential function is lack of efficiency to describe the distributions of blockage durations in nanopore experiments. Herein, we introduced an exponentially modified Gaussian （EMG） function to fit the duration histograms of both simulated events and experimental events. In comparison with the traditional exponential function, our results demonstrated that the EMG provides a better fit while covers the entire range of the distributions. In particular, the fitted parameters of EMG could be directly used to discriminate the sequence length of the oligonucleotides at single molecule level.     

The peak width of nearly Gaussian peaks

Summary In chromatography the peak shape is often described by the method of statistical moments and therefore the second central moment is considered as the correct measure of peak width. Using the exponentially modified Gaussian peak model as an example and a criterion more related to chromatography, the extent of separation, it is shown that for nearly Gaussian peaks the width measured at 1/8 of the peak height is a more meaningful width parameter to evaluate the efficiency of chromatography and the resolution. The second central moment gives too much weight to the remote parts of the tail of the usual, somewhat skewed, peak.     

Estimation of the band broadening parameters in single detection size-exclusion chromatography: a comparative study of various column combinations

Alternative approaches for the determination of band broadening in size-exclusion chromatography based on the use of exponentially modified Gaussian (EMG) functions were used to experimentally investigate the performance of two different column sets. In both cases, the columns were combined in order to cover the complete fractionation range (from 10³ to 5 × 10⁶ g mol⁻¹), which is of interest in many applications. When analyzing experimental chromatograms the question of proper data treatment (especially the necessary smoothing routines) became obvious and is discussed accordingly. First results indicate that the exponential decay time of the EMG decreases and the standard deviation of its Gaussian component slightly increases (or remains almost constant) with increasing retention volumes. As a consequence, the total variance and the asymmetry of the EMG both decrease with the retention volume. A favorable agreement with independent experimental results (obtained by other researchers on the basis of analyzing ultra narrow standards) was found. Additionally, the skew was also investigated as a function of the retention volume and the trend was found to be in concordance with the predictions of theoretical models. The comparison with theoretical models is also discussed.     

Injection profiles in liquid chromatography II: predicting accurate injection-profiles for computer-assisted preparative optimizations

In computer assisted optimization of liquid chromatography it has been known for some years that it is important to use experimental injection profiles, instead of rectangular ones, in order to calculate accurate elution bands. However, the incorrectly assumed rectangular profiles are still mostly used especially in numerical optimizations. The reason is that the acquisition of injection profiles, for each injection volume and each flow rate considered in a computer-assisted optimization requires a too large number of experiments. In this article a new function is proposed, which enables highly accurate predictions of the injection profiles and thus more accurate computer optimizations, with a minimum experimental effort. To model the injection profiles for any injection volume at a constant flow rate, as few as two experimental injection profiles are required. If it is desirable to also take the effect of flow rate on the injection profiles into account, then just two additional experiments are required. The overlap between fitted and experimental injection profiles at different flow rates and different injection volumes were excellent, more than 90%, using experimental injection profiles from just four different injection volumes at two different flow rates. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the flow rate has a minor influence on the injection profiles and that the injection volume is the main parameter that needs to be accounted for.     

Preparation of cyclodextrin‐modified monolithic hybrid columns for the fast enantioseparation of hydroxy acids in capillary liquid chromatography

Cyclodextrins and their derivatives are one of the most common and successful chiral selectors. However, there have been few publications about the use of cyclodextrin‐modified monoliths. In this study, organic hybrid monoliths were prepared by the immobilization of derivatized β‐cyclodextrin alone or with l‐ 2‐allylglycine hydrochloride to the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane methacryl substituted monolith. The main topic of this study is a combined system with dual chiral selectors (l‐ 2‐allylglycine hydrochloride and β‐cyclodextrin) as monolithic chiral stationary phase. The effect of l‐ 2‐allylglycine hydrochloride concentration on enantioseparation was investigated. The enantioseparation of the four acidic compounds with resolutions up to 2.87 was achieved within 2.5 min on the prepared chiral monolithic column in capillary liquid chromatography. Moreover, the possible mechanism of enantioseparation was discussed.     

Exponentially Modified Gaussian functions—A good model for chromatographic peaks in isocratic HPLC?

Summary The Exponentially Modified Gaussian (EMG) function is fitted to a variety of typical peaks from isocratic HPLC, to assess its validity for peak characterization. This model has previously been applied, but with simplifying assumptions, allowing estimation of peak parameters from simple front and rear half-width measurements. The full EMG function is employed in this work. The results of the simplified approach have been compared to the EMG fitted results. Comparison is also made to fitted Gaussian functions. Results show that the EMG function is a good model for typical LC peaks, under a range of conditions, and that the simplified approaches give close correlation for a range of peak assymetries.     

Deconvolution of overlapped peaks based on the exponentially modified Gaussian model in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) has attracted much attention for the analysis of complex samples. Even with a large peak capacity in GC x GC, peak overlapping is often met. In this paper, a new method was developed to resolve overlapped peaks based on the mass conservation and the exponentially modified Gaussian (EMG) model. Linear relationships between the calculated sigma, tau of primary peaks with the corresponding retention time (tR) were obtained, and the correlation coefficients were over 0.99. Based on such relationships, the elution profile of each compound in overlapped peaks could be simulated, even for the peak never separated on the second-dimension. The proposed method has proven to offer more accurate peak area than the general data processing method.     

Chemically modified teflon wall-coated open tubular columns for gas chromatography

Summary Wall-coated open tubular columns prepared from chemically modified teflon tubing have been developed for gas chromatography. Chemical reaction of the inner walls of teflon tubing allows bonding of an adhesive layer on which a variety of stationary phaes can be coated. Test mixtures of alkanes and alcohols were used to investigate the chromatographic properties of these columns and the stability and mixing of the adhesive and stationary phae layers. the results in dicate that mixing of the layers is negligible and that the column is stable for a long period of time.Principle author     

Correction method for quantitative area determination of overlapping chromatographic peaks based on the exponentially modified Gaussian (EMG) model

A simple method is presented for peak area correction of overlapping peaks. This correction is necessary for the normal approach of dealing with overlapping peaks by a vertical line at the valley point. The relative area errors caused by this vertical line are calculated as the correction factors in three dimensions of peak separation, peak ratio, and peak tailing skew. The calculation is based on the exponentially modified Gaussian asymmetric peak model.     

Anion chromatography in open tubular capillary columns with indirect fluorometric detection

Summary A C₈ reversed-phase open tubular capillary column is dynamically modified with cetylpyridinium chloride to provide anion-exchange sites. Sodium salicylate is used as the eluent at the micromolar concentration range. The low capacity of the dynamically modified column allows the elution of common anions with k′ values similar to those in conventional ion chromatography. The reduced salicylate concentration allows good detectability in the indirect fluorescence mode, even though the baseline noise increased because the fluorescence intensity is lower. The noise level is equivalent to one picogram of non-fluorescing anions.     

Separation and quantification of 9-(alkylthio)acridines by capillary micellar electrokinetic chromatography and capillary liquid chromatography

Various thioacridine derivatives are potential chemotherapeutics against various diseases which are intensively synthesized, characterized, and investigated by many research groups. Efficient, fast, and reliable separation and quantification methods for their analysis are still to be developed. MEKC and capillary LC (CLC) were applied for the separation and quantification of five highly hydrophobic, weakly basic, and structurally similar 9-(alkylthio)acridines. Since the common anionic and cationic surfactants failed to separate the strongly hydrophobic thioacridines by MEKC, sodium cholate was used in an alkaline BGE and successfully employed for their fast separation. In CLC, the weakly basic nature of the thioacridines necessitated use of LiChrosorb RP-select B sorbent as the stationary phase, which combined with a very simple mobile phase methanol/water yielded an efficient chromatographic separation system. Both, the MEKC and CLC optimized separation methods were then applied to quantify the thioacridines within a concentration range of 1.0 x 10(-5)-1.0 x 10(-3) mol/L and the obtained experimental results were critically compared. In practical terms, the MEKC analytical method can quantify the analytes much faster but with a lower reliability while the CLC method performs slower analysis with a higher repeatability of the experimental results.     

毛细管液相色谱法分离植物内源激素

建立了毛细管液相色谱法(CLC)同时分离测定4种植物内源激素的方法.采用硅胶基质ODS整体柱(27 cm×100 μm i.d.)作为分离柱,以带有光程为3 mm的光纤检测池的紫外检测器作为检测手段,在室温下以含10 mmol/L乙酸(pH 3.0)的V(甲醇):V(水)＝35:65为流动相,以0.6 μL/min的流速进行等度洗脱.采用溶剂梯度效应和扩展光程的检测池来提高检测灵敏度,该方法测定4种植物内源激素的检出限(S/N=3)在27.7～196.1 ng/mL之间,峰面积和保留时间的相对标准偏差(RSD)小于2.8%.方法已用于不同种类玉米样品的测定.     

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography and argentation chromatography of the minor capsaicinoids

An investigation of the liquid chromatography of the minor capsaicinoids in a commercial capsaicinoid mixture is reported. Twelve stationary phases including C₈, C₁₈, C₃₀, phenyl, and cation-exchange chemistries were examined in combination with isocratic aqueous methanol and aqueous acetonitrile mobile phases. A phenyl stationary phase and aqueous acetonitrile mobile phase baseline-resolved 7 of 11 capsaicinoids, and selected ion chromatograms (LC–ESI-MS) demonstrated this was the most effective reversed-phase separation. Argentation chromatography with an alkyl or phenyl column and aqueous silver nitrate–methanol mobile phase revealed the presence of the 6-ene-8-methyl and 6-ene-9-methyl homocapsaicin isomers and the absence of 7-ene-9-methyl homocapsaicin. A mixed phenyl–cation-exchange stationary phase (charged with silver ion) enabled unique and useful separations of the capsaicinoids.     

System peaks observed in capillary liquid chromatography with eluents containing triethylamine

Summary Triethylamine is often added to mobile phases in reversed-phase liquid chromatography for dynamic deactivation of free silanol groups of the stationary phase. It has been observed that eluents composed of methanol and triethylamine generate two system peaks in chromatograms obtained with LiChrosorb RP-select B stationary phase, whose retention times correspond to the dead time and to the retention time of triethylamine. It has been demonstrated that the system peaks can be positive or negative depending on the experimental conditions and may be incorrectly interpreted as peaks corresponding to sample components. An approach is outlined to unambiguous identify these system peaks in chromatograms of practical samples.     

The utility of statistical moments in chromatography using trapezoidal and Simpson's rules of peak integration

Modern chromatographic data acquisition softwares often behave as black boxes where the researchers have little control over the raw data processing. One of the significant interests of separation scientists is to extract physico‐chemical information from chromatographic experiments and peak parameters. In addition, column developers need the total peak shape analysis to characterize the flow profile in chromatographic beds. Statistical moments offer a robust approach for providing detailed information for peaks in terms of area, its center of gravity, variance, resolution, and its skew without assuming any peak model or shape. Despite their utility and theoretical significance, statistical moments are rarely incorporated as they often provide underestimated or overestimated results because of inappropriate choice of the integration method and selection of integration limits. The Gaussian model is universally used in most chromatography softwares to assess efficiency, resolution, and peak position. Herein we present a user‐friendly, and accessible approach for calculating the zeroth, first, second, and third moments through more accurate numerical integration techniques (Trapezoidal and Simpson's rule) which provide an accurate estimate of peak parameters as compared to rectangular integration. An Excel template is also provided which can calculate the four moments in three steps with or without baseline correction.     

严重重叠的色谱峰对的解析

本文根据指数修正的高斯函数模型(EMG),并利用回归分析提出了一种解析严重重叠的色谱峰对的方法。此法可适用于相对峰谷在50％～95％的严重重叠的色谱峰对的解析。