Prediction of the retention in thin layer chromatography screening systems by atomic contributions

A novel atomic-contribution system for predicting of R_M values is presented and validated on 13 thin layer chromatography screening systems on silica gel, where the large experimental datasets (198-761 R_M values) are available. The R_M is predicted with error less than 0.5 in majority of solutes (besides several outliers), which corresponds to difference in R_F equal to 0.28 in the worst case. The system was validated by dividing the data into training and validation datasets, proving its accuracy. The main reason of larger errors in outliers are: large conjugated heterocycles, quarternary ammonium cations, large amount of polar atoms or very simple but unique molecules. The calculations are very easy and can be performed on free software or even manually. The presented method can be used in the retention prediction of new solutes in existing chromatographic screening systems.     

Quick prediction of the retention of solutes in 13 thin layer chromatographic screening systems on silica gel by classification and regression trees

The use of classification and regression trees (CART) was studied in a quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) context to predict the retention in 13 thin layer chromatographic screening systems on a silica gel, where large datasets of interlaboratory determined retention are available. The response (dependent variable) was the rate mobility (RM) factor, while a set of atomic contributions and functional substituent counts was used as an explanatory dataset. The trees were investigated against optimal complexity (number of the leaves) by external validation and internal crossvalidation. Their predictive performance is slightly lower than full atomic contribution model, but the main advantage is the simplicity. The retention prediction with the proposed trees can be done without computer or even pocket calculator.     

Validation of thin layer and high performance thin layer chromatographic methods

Analytical validation is a key requirement to asses and to prove a method's reliability and suitability for an intended use. Planar chromatographic procedures are used in different applications ranging from simple screening tests to sophisticated instrumental quantitative assays of analytes in complex matrices. This paper intends to give guidance on how to adopt international accepted formal requirements and guidelines for validation of these different TLC/HPTLC procedures. In addition, some selected parameters for robustness testing and for on going quality assurance of analytical performance based on control charts are reported.     

The advantage of dual-column approach and retention indices combined with refined reporting in gas chromatographic drug screening

A dual-column gas chromatographic retention index method was evaluated for the toxicological screening for basic drugs in autopsy blood samples. The dual-column approach with DB-5 and DB-1701 capillary columns doubles the Identification Power of the corresponding single column methods. The long-term intralaboratory variation of the dialkylfluoroaniline series based retention indices of drugs in blood ranged from 0.03% to 0.2% which was generally better than that obtained using the relative retention time. Novel software is described for the processing and reporting of the dual-column chromatographic data in analytically useful form. Besides retention data, the response factors served as an additional identification factor.     

High performance thin layer chromatographic determination of erythromycin in pharmaceutical preparations

Summary A high performance thin layer chromatographic method was developed for the determination of erythromycin. The drug was separated on a silica gel 60 plate and developed in methanol by means of an automatic multiple development. The chromatogram was sprayed with 10% sulphuric acid solution and heated at 100°C for 10–15 minutes. The area of the spot was quantified by a TLC scanner at a wavelength of 410 nm. A linear calibration curve was established over the range of 4–6 μg in 10μl of erythromycin. The relative standard deviation for five replicate determinations was found to be 1.45% for 5 μg in 10 μl of erythromycin standard. The average percentage recovery was found to be 99.87. The method has been applied to the determination of erythromycin in various pharmaceutical dosage forms. Common excipients in formulations do not interfere. After optimizing the solvent system, it was found that the use of silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ TLC plate with a DVS composed of ethyl acetate, ethanol and 10% sodium acetate pH 9.5 (9:7:8) led to the differentiation and quantitation of erythromycins A, B and C with an R.S.D. of less than 2.0%. The method is simple, precise and inexpensive. It should be used for routine analysis.     

Prediction of protein retention times in gradient hydrophobic interaction chromatographic systems

A two-step methodology has been developed for the prediction of protein retention time in linear-gradient HIC systems. Isocratic retention parameters were determined from ln(k')-salt concentration plots for a number of commercially available proteins with a range of properties. Quantitative structure property relationship (QSPR) models based on a support vector machine (SVM) approach were generated for predicting isocratic retention parameters for proteins not included in the model generation. The predicted parameters were then used to calculate protein gradient retention times and the results indicate that this approach is well suited for predicting experimental gradient retention data. The approach presented in this paper may have implications for HIC methods development at both the bench and process scales.     

Stability-indicating high performance thin layer chromatographic determination of sulfanilamide in human urine

A simple, sensitive, selective, precise and stability-indicating high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method was developed and applied to human urine for the densitometric determination of sulfanilamide. A mixture of chloroform-ethyl acetate-xylene (2.5: 4.0: 1.0, v/v/v) was used as a mobile phase. The system was found to give compact spots for sulfanilamide (retardation factor, R _f = 0.21±0.02). The linear regression analysis data for the calibration plots showed good linear relationship with r ² = 0.9970 ± 0.0003 and r ² = 0.9947 ± 0.020 within the concentration range of 50–250 ng per spot and 100–1000 ng per spot with respect to peak area, respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 8 and 25 ng per spot, respectively. Sulfanilamide was subjected to acid and alkali hydrolysis, oxidation, dry heat and wet heat treatment. According to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines the method was validated for precision, recovery and robustness. The ultraviolet (UV) spectra of the degradation products which had different spectra from sulfanilamide were also recorded. The article is published in the original.     

A new conceptual approach to assigning biomass combustion-derived methoxyphenol structures by using a gas chromatographic retention index model

A new conceptual approach towards iteratively constructing chromatographic retention time/index models is presented. The approach is applicable where there is potential structural uncertainty in a number of members of the dataset used in constructing the model, and where limited spectroscopic information is available to guide the process. The model is demonstrated on a suite of biomass combustion-derived methoxyphenols for which gas chromatographic polydimethylsiloxane retention index data was available in the literature, but where there was ambiguity regarding the identity of several members of the dataset. The retention property model is populated by sequentially screening a series of candidate structures that meet basic mass spectrometric requirements by using a multiple linear regression model containing molecular and physicochemical properties that have been previously shown to yield reliable predictions of chromatographic behaviour within a compound class. The criteria for deciding on the likely structure(s) out of a suite of candidate structures is based upon the improved quality of fit the most probable structure gives the regression model relative to other candidate structures. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

A pseudo-ligand approach to virtual screening

A virtual screening method is presented that is grounded on a receptor-derived pharmacophore model termed "virtual ligand" or "pseudo-ligand". The model represents an idealized constellation of potential ligand sites that interact with residues of the binding pocket. For rapid virtual screening of compound libraries the potential pharmacophore points of the virtual ligand are encoded as an alignment-free correlation vector, avoiding spatial alignment of pharmacophore features between the pharmacophore query (i.e., the virtual ligand) and the candidate molecule. The method was successfully applied to retrieving factor Xa inhibitors from a Ugi three-component combinatorial library, and yielded high enrichment of actives in a retrospective search for cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors. The approach provides a concept for "de-orphanizing" potential drug targets and identifying ligands for hitherto unexplored or allosteric binding pockets.     

Evaluation of thin layer chromatography—Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry: Application to the determination of midazolam intoxication by use of 3-glycidoxypropyl-treated thin layer chromatographic plates

Summary The effectiveness of 3-glycidoxypropyl-treated thin layer chromatographic plates in the determination of midazolam intoxication has been studied by thin layer chromatography/fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. Silica plates treated with 3-glycidoxypropyldimethylethoxysilane were used for the measurement of their physical composition and for chemical analysis. From elemental carbon analysis data, the maximum number of bonded 3-glycidoxypropyl surface groups per gram was calculated to be 0.417×10²¹. Midazolam in human serum from patients suffering from intoxication could be separated on a 3-glycidoxypropyl-treated thin layer chromatographic plate with chloroform as eluent. After applying the technique of diffused spot condensation on the 3-glycidoxypropyl-treated thin layer chromatographic plate, the established thin layer chromatography/fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry method was used for the identification of midazolam intoxication, and improved the detection limit for midazolam in the serum of an intoxication patient by 30 times.     

Evaluation of the lipophilicity of selected sunscreens—A chemometric analysis of thin‐layer chromatographic retention data

The lipophilicities of 22 selected sunscreens, preservatives, and vitamins used in topical skin products were measured by thin‐layer chromatography. Lipophilicity was calculated in silico from the sunscreen molecular structures and compared to the experimental octanol/water partition coefficients found in the literature. The retention of the compounds was investigated on an RP‐18 stationary phase with mobile phases consisting of water and one of six organic modifiers (dioxane, tetrahydrofuran, acetone, acetonitrile, methanol, and dimethylformamide) at different concentrations. The theoretical lipophilicities were calculated by several computational algorithms and the results of these calculations were compared using cluster analysis. The results showed that two out of the six investigated organic modifiers (dioxane and acetone) may be used to estimate the octanol/water partition coefficients of highly lipophilic compounds having lipophilicities that cannot be measured directly by the shake‐flask method.     

Interpreting the gas chromatographic retention of n-alkanes

Non-linear regressions were applied to n-alkanes retention data for the determination of gas hold-up in a preceding paper. It was found that at temperatures over 100 degrees C the reduced partial molar free energy of solution, deltaG/RT, tends to be negligible for the solute methane in poly(dimethylsiloxane) stationary phases. A consequence of interest can be inferred from this fact. The C-H bonds from terminal methyl groups of n-alkane solute molecules should not contribute significantly to deltaG/RT in these conditions. The analysis of data confirms that, within the chromatographic experimental error, the contributions of n-alkane end C-H bonds are also negligible in this temperature range. Consequently, the regression parameter that contains the phase ratio of the column only includes the gas hold-up as the accompanying factor.