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.     

Monte-carlo simulation of gas chromatographic separation for the prediction of retention times and peak half widths

Summary A new method for prediction of gas chromatographic retention times and peak half widths is based on the renewal theory. The only requirements are the heats of vaporization of the compounds to be separated and one calibration measurement. With this data, retention times and peak half widths can be predicted for isothermal as well as temperature-programmed gas chromatography. For the separation of non-polar substances on non-polar stationary phases the prediction error for retention times is approx. 1–2%. First simulations of polar molecules and polar stationary phases indicate that this method is also applicable in these cases but some extension will be required.     

Changes in peak width and concentration at the inlet and outlet of a chromatographic column

The original plate model of chromatography is extended to the sorption process occurring at the column inlet and the desorption process at the column exit. At the column inlet it is shown that sufficiently wide feed bands undergo no change in concentration but a fall in band width, i.e., the volume of mobile phase occupied by the solute band is reduced. The reduction factor is (1 + k) where k is the mass distribution ratio (capacity factor). Narrower bands suffer partial reduction in both band width and concentration. On desorption at the outlet, however, the change is always in band width and not concentration. A perfect detector registers the true concentration-time profile of the band in the column if the solute mass fraction in the stationary phase is below 10^?3 at the column outlet. The risks of stripping the stationary phase at high solute concentrations in analytical and preparative or production gas chromatography are compared.     

Sample peak width in gradient ion chromatography

A mathematical model is constructed for calculating peak widths and positions in gradient ion chromatography. It is shown that in high performance chromatography, the width of the chromatographic peak is completely determined by the eluant properties at the moment of peak elution from the column. Model test calculations are presented.     

SAXS instrumental broadening and the order dependence of peak width

The width at half-height of SAXS discrete diffraction peaks has been used to compute the number of polyethylene lamellae in a stack. The dependence of this width on diffraction order reflects the nature and magnitude of lattice fluctuations. Within the literature there have been conflicting reports on this order dependence and hence on the nature of the lattice fluctuations. Previous studies have neglected the effects of instrumental broadening. These present studies show that instrumental effects can account for some 40% of the observed first-order peak width and drastically change the ratio of peak widths as a function of order. These studies, carried out on isothermally grown polyethylene single-crystal mats, also demonstrate the importance of the functions chosen to represent the various broadening factors. A mat was made up consisting of randomly stacked lamella with two distinct fold periods. The scattering from this mixed mat could not be described by either of the prevailing theories.     

The effect of deuterium labeling on the width of a ‘metastable peak’

Studies have been made of the energy release during the decomposition of metastable ions in the mass spectra of pyrazine, pyrazine-d₄, pyrimidine, pyrimidine-d₄, pyridazine and symmtriazine. In all the compounds except pyridazine very small amounts of energy have been measured in some processes. The recorded energy release of 187 μeV for a transition of the symmtriazine molecular ion is the smallest energy release yet recorded. In the case of pyrazine and pyrimidine the energy release in one transition was found to be smaller than in the corresponding transition in the -d₄ analogues.     

Simulation of peak profiles in non-linear HPLC

Summary The possibilities and domain of applicability of the ideal chromatography model for calculating peak profiles in non-linear chromatography are analyzed. For this purpose we used the main conclusion of the model of a layer of equilibrium adsorption (LEA model), which determines the difference between ideal and non-ideal chromatography in terms of the relative length of a chromatographic column. It is shown that the experimental data of non-linear high-performance liquid chromatography can be approximated in terms of the elementary analytical relations known in the theory of ideal chromatography.     

An alternative approach for predicting peak width in gas chromatography

Summary The linear relationship between natural logarithm of width factor (lnp′)and natural logarithm of retention factor (lnk) is demonstrated. This relationship is then used to establish the relationship between (lnp′), absolute temperature (T), and carbon number (z), as follows: Inp′=A+bz+c/T+dz/T where A, b, c and d are thermodynamically related constants. The above equation is used to predict the unadjusted widths (w _R ) ofn-alkanes, fatty alcohols and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) at various temperatures, predicted values are in good agreement with experimental values. The above equation can be used to predict the width of FAMEs from rice bran oil. The largest difference between the experimental and predicted values is 0.66 s or 6.32%.     

Relationship between carbon number and peak width in gas chromatography

When the unadjusted width (wR) is divided into hold-up width (wM) and adjusted width (w'R), a linear relationship between the natural logarithm of the width factor (p') and the carbon number (n) is demonstrated and can be described by: In p' = a + bn where a and b are constants. The coefficients of variance (r2) for n-alkanes, fatty acid methyl esters and fatty alcohols are 0.9997, 0.9996 and 0.9998, respectively.     

P NMR peak width in humate–phosphate complexes

The mobility of inorganic phosphate (P) attached to solid humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA) via a metal “anchor” was investigated by ³¹P NMR spectroscopy. The peak width of the ³¹P resonance was monitored as an indicator of the degree of attachment of the element to the humic matrix. The concept was demonstrated by contrasting peak widths of thoroughly dry M–HA–P complexes with those that had been allowed to absorb different amounts of moisture. It was shown that the presence of moisture, which enhances the mobility of P, results in a significant reduction of chemical shift peak width. The work was extended to comparisons between dry systems with and without metal anchors; systems with anchors consisting of different metals; systems comprising different humates and fulvates; and systems with different size fractions of a humate. It was shown that both the type of humate/fulvate, and the metal anchor used lead to different degrees of mobility within the humic matrix. It was also found that the effect of metal addition on ³¹P peak width is greater with fulvates and smaller HA fractions than with the larger HA components.     

Influence of the peak height distribution on separation performances: Discrimination factor and effective peak capacity

Summary A new index of performance of the chromatographic separation between two adjacent peaks, the discrimination factor, d₀, is defined. It is normalized between 0 and 1 and is directly and easily determined from the chromatogram. It does not depend on any assumption regarding peak shape, except that the peak profiles of individual sample components have a single mode. Its value depends on the relative heights of the two peaks as well as on their separation. The separation power of a chromatographic system is classically measured by its peak capacity, defined on the basis of constant resolution between adjacent peaks. A previously developed statistical theory of the composition of mixtures makes it possible to extend the concept of peak capacity by taking into account the peak height distribution in typical average chromatograms. A new parameter, the effective peak capacity, is defined for this purpose on the basis of a constant discrimination factor between adjacent peaks. It allows to take into account the distribution of peak heights in statistical theories of the evaluation of complex chromatograms and in the measurement of the limit of determination in quantitative analysis. The characteristics of the two new parameters, the discrimination factor and effective peak capacity, are discussed and compared with those of their classical homologs, resolution and peak capacity, in the case of gaussian component peaks of equal widths.     

梯度液相色谱中梯度曲线变形对色谱峰宽的影响

在梯度液相色谱中,溶剂混合以及轴向扩散等因素会使梯度曲线发生变形,而这在阶梯梯度以及高斜率的线性梯度中表现得尤为明显。本文探讨了这种梯度曲线变形对色谱峰宽的影响。首先以C18色谱柱为固定相,甲醇-水为流动相,联苯和苯乙酮为样品,测得不同线性梯度和阶梯梯度条件下的色谱峰。然后以205 nm为检测波长,记录相应条件下未接色谱柱时甲醇的响应值,得到柱入口处的梯度曲线。接着根据所设定的梯度条件以及柱入口处测得的梯度曲线,分别计算相应情形中色谱峰宽的理论值,将其与实验值进行了比较。研究结果表明,梯度曲线的变形会对色谱峰宽产生影响。当将这种影响考虑在内后,理论值与实验值更为吻合。     

Temperature effect on peak width and column efficiency in subcritical water chromatography

Subcritical water has been recently employed as the mobile phase to eliminate the use of organic solvents in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Although the influence of temperature on retention in subcritical water chromatography has been reported, the temperature effect on peak width and column efficiency has not yet been quantitatively studied. In this work, several polar and chlorinated compounds are separated using pure subcritical water on Zorbax RX-C8, PRP-1 (polystyrene-divinylbenzene), Hypersil ODS, and ZirChrom-polybutadiene columns. Isothermal separations are performed at temperatures ranging from 60 degrees C to 160 degrees C. The retention time and peak width of analytes are reduced with increasing temperature. However, the column efficiency is either improved or almost unchanged with the increasing temperature in the low-temperature range (lower than the 100 degrees C to 120 degrees C range), but it is decreased when temperature is further raised in the high-temperature range (higher than the 100 degrees C to 120 degrees C range). Therefore, a maximum in column efficiency is obtained at temperatures within the 100 degrees C to 120 degrees C range in most cases.     

Automated peak width measurements for targeted analysis of ion mobility unresolved species

Peak broadening in ion mobility (IM) is a relatively predictable process and abnormally broad peaks can be indicative of the presence of unresolved species. Here, we introduce a new ion mobility peak fitting (IM_FIT) software package for automated and systematic determination of traveling wave ion mobility (TWIM) unresolved species. To identify IM unresolved species, the IM_FIT software generates a trend line by plotting ions' mobility peak widths as a function of their arrival times. Utilizing user-defined thresholds, IM_FIT allows for automated and rapid detection of ions that deviate from the peak width trend line. To demonstrate the advantages of IM_FIT for automated detection of IM unresolved species, IM-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) data from a sample mixture containing polypropylene glycol and multiple peptides were analyzed. A total of 14 out of the 34 observed singly-charged IM peaks above 5% relative abundance (i.e., signal-to-noise ratios above ∼200) were tagged as potentially co-eluting ions by IM_FIT. Subsequently, the 14 IM peaks tagged as potentially unresolved (presumably, peaks corresponding to co-eluting compounds), were further analyzed by automated IM deconvolution (AIMD), liquid chromatography-IM-MS (LC-IM-MS), and/or ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry. Using the aforementioned techniques, more than 85% of the tagged IM peaks (12 out of 14) were confirmed to contain co-eluting ions. As an additional new finding, IM_FIT facilitated the discovery of an unexpected sequence-scrambled y-type fragment ion.     

Electrochemically inactive organic substance influence on peak height in anodic stripping voltammetry

A simplified method was proposed for calculation of changes of peak height (i) vs. deposition time (t_e) in the presence of a surfactant acting only at the deposition stage. The simplification was based on the assumption that the deposition current has a constant value until time t₁ when it decreases abruptly to a lower level. Hence the dependency of the peak height on the deposition time can be written:i=β₀t₁+β₁(t_e?t₁) Limiting cases were discussed: t₁→0 and β₁→1 leading to three types of i vs. t_e relation. The experimental evaluation was carried out for Pb(II), Cu(II) and Cd(II) in the presence of various polyethyleneglycols. All three types of curves were obtained in the experiments, as well as some which did not fit the simplified theory.     

Strategy for the elucidation of elemental compositions of trace analytes based on a mass resolution of 100 000 full width at half maximum

Elemental compositions (ECs) can be elucidated by evaluating the high‐resolution mass spectra of unknown or suspected unfragmented analyte ions. Classical approaches utilize the exact mass of the monoisotopic peak (M + 0) and the relative abundance of isotope peaks (M + 1 and M + 2). The availability of high‐resolution instruments like the Orbitrap currently permits mass resolutions up to 100 000 full width at half maximum. This not only allows the determination of relative isotopic abundances (RIAs), but also the extraction of other diagnostic information from the spectra, such as fully resolved signals originating from ³⁴S isotopes and fully or partially resolved signals related to ¹⁵N isotopes (isotopic fine structure). Fully and partially resolved peaks can be evaluated by visual inspection of the measured peak profiles. This approach is shown to be capable of correctly discarding many of the EC candidates which were proposed by commercial EC calculating algorithms. Using this intuitive strategy significantly extends the upper mass range for the successful elucidation of ECs. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.