Development of acid stable, hyper-crosslinked, silica-based reversed-phase liquid chromatography supports for the separation of organic bases

A new generation of extremely acid stable "hyper-crosslinked" (HC) phases have been developed with good plate counts for basic drug separations. In our previous work, we successfully developed an approach for synthesizing HC stationary phases on silica substrates using aluminum trichloride catalyzed Friedel-Crafts (F-C) chemistry to improve the stability of silica-based RPLC stationary phases at low pH. However, the performance of basic analytes on these HC phases under acidic conditions was unusually poor compared to that of conventional silica-based C18 phases. The effects of the specific F-C catalysts used and the specific silica substrate on the chromatographic properties of HC phases have been studied. Modified synthetic strategies that give both good observed plate counts for basic analytes under acidic conditions and very good low pH stability without compromising other chromatographic properties of the hyper-crosslinked phases have been developed. Replacement of aluminum trichloride with tin tetrachloride as the catalyst for the F-C chemistry and use of a very high purity silica result in significantly improved plate counts for basic analytes. In formic acid buffered mobile phases, which are highly compatible with electrospray ionization LC-MS, basic analytes showed much better performance on the tin tetrachloride catalyzed HC phases than on any conventional commercial phase tested. The tin tetrachloride catalyzed HC phase is as stable as the original aluminum trichloride catalyzed HC phases, and much more stable than the bench mark acid stable commercial phase.     

Optimization of the synthesis of a hyper-crosslinked stationary phases: a new generation of highly efficient, acid-stable hyper-crosslinked materials for HPLC

A new family of hyper-crosslinked (HC) phases was recently developed for use under very aggressive conditions including those encountered in ultra-fast, high-temperature two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2-DLC). This type of stationary phase has improved acid stability compared with the most acid-stable, commercial RPLC phases. Kinetic studies are here reported that allow optimization of reaction time and crosslinking reagent concentrations used to prepare such HC phases. We have determined that the Friedel-Crafts chemistry used to prepare HC phases is nearly complete within about 15 min. Thus, reaction time for each step of the synthesis was greatly reduced from the multihour reactions used previously without sacrificing the stationary phases' acid stability and separation performance. Results from elemental analysis of the finished particles were combined with LC data to provide insights regarding the properties of these HC phases. This new generation of acid stable HC phases, with their attractive chromatographic properties, should be very useful in the separations of bases or biological analytes in acidic media, especially at elevated temperatures.     

Protein separation using a novel silica-based RPLC/IEC stationary phase modified with N-methylimidazolium ionic liquid

Ionic liquids (ILs) immobilized on silica as novel high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) stationary phases have attracted considerable attention. However, it has not been applied to protein separation. In this paper, N-methylimidazolium IL-modified silica-based stationary phase (SilprMim) was prepared and investigated as a novel multi-interaction stationary phase charged positively for protein separation. The results indicate that all of the basic proteins tested cannot be absorbed on this novel stationary phase, whereas all of the acidic proteins tested can be retained, and the baseline separation of eight kinds of acidic protein standards can be achieved when performed in reversed phase/ ion-exchange chromatography (RPLC/IEC) mode. Compared with commonly used commercial octadecylated silica (ODS) column, the novel stationary phase can show selectivity and good resolution to acidic proteins, which has a promising application in the separation and analyses of acidic proteins from the complex samples in proteomics. In addition, the chromatographic behavior of proteins, the effect of the ligand structure and the retention mechanism on this stationary phase were also investigated.     

Synthesis and characterization of silica-based hyper-crosslinked sulfonate-modified reversed stationary phases

A novel type of silica-based sulfonate-modified reversed phase ((-)SO3-HC-C8) has been synthesized; it is based on a newly developed acid stable "hyper-crosslinked" C8 derivatized reversed phase, denoted HC-C8. The (-)SO3-HC-C8 phases containing controlled amounts of sulfonyl groups were made by sulfonating the aromatic hyper-crosslinked network of the HC-C(8) phase at different temperatures. The (-)SO3-HC-C8 phases are only slightly less hydrophobic than the parent HC-C8 phase. The added sulfonyl groups provide a unique strong cation-exchange selectivity to the hydrophobic hyper-crosslinked substrate as indicated by the very large C coefficient as shown through Snyder's hydrophobic subtraction reversed-phase characterization method. This cation-exchange activity clearly distinguishes the sulfonated phase from all other reversed phases as confirmed by the very high values of Snyder's column comparison function F(s). In addition, as was found in previous studies of silica-based and zirconia-based reversed phases, a strong correlation between the cation-exchange interaction and hydrophobic interaction was observed for these sulfonated phases in studies of the retention of cationic solutes. The overall chromatographic selectivity of these (-)SO3-HC-C8 phases is greatly enhanced by its high hydrophobicity through a "hydrophobically assisted" ion-exchange retention process.     

Application of silica-based hyper-crosslinked sulfonate-modified reversed stationary phases for separating highly hydrophilic basic compounds

The separation and determination of hydrophilic basic compounds are of great importance in many fields including clinical and biological research, pharmaceutical development and forensic analysis. However, the most widely used analytical separation technique in these disciplines, reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC), usually does not provide sufficient retention for several important classes of highly hydrophilic basic compounds including catecholamines, many drug metabolites and many drugs of abuse. Commonly eluents having little or no organic modifier and/or strong ion pairing agents must be used to achieve sufficient retention and separation. Use of highly aqueous eluents can lead to column failure by dewetting, resulting in poor retention, low selectivity and irreproducibility and slow recovery of performance. The use of a strong ion pairing agent to increase retention renders the separation incompatible with mass spectrometric detection and complicates preparative separations. This paper describes the successful applications of a novel type of silica-based, hyper-crosslinked, sulfonate-modified reversed stationary phase, denoted as (-)SO(3)-HC-C(8)-L, for the separation of highly hydrophilic cations and related compounds by a hydrophobically assisted cation-exchange mechanism. Compared to conventional reversed-phases, the (-)SO(3)-HC-C(8)-L phase showed significantly improved retention and separation selectivity for hydrophilic amines. Concurrently, due to the presence of both cation-exchange and reversed-phase retention mechanisms and the high acid stability of hyper-crosslinked phases, the separation can be optimized by changing the type or concentration of ionic additive or organic modifier, and by varying the column temperature. In addition, gradients generated by programming the concentration of either the ionic additive or the organic modifier can be applied to reduce the analysis time without compromising resolution. Furthermore, remarkably different chromatographic selectivities, especially toward cationic solutes, were observed upon comparing the (-)SO(3)-HC-C(8)-L phase with conventional reversed-phases. We believe that the combination of these two types of stationary phases will be very useful in two-dimensional liquid chromatography.     

Characterization of several stationary phases prepared by thermal immobilization of poly(methyltetradecylsiloxane) onto silica surfaces

Variations of a thermal immobilization procedure using poly(methyltetradecilsiloxane) and silica produced fourteen stationary phases with carbon contents of 4-18%. The stationary phases were chromatographically evaluated with the Engelhardt, SRM 870 and Tanaka tests. Classifications using USP and Euerby procedures indicate that the new immobilized phases are different from most commercial phases although there was some similarity with phases that have high ion-exchange interactions. The retention mechanism involved in the separation of basic solutes on several of the new stationary phases was studied by varying pH, type of Lewis base and the ionic strength of the eluent. The separations are strongly influenced by the chemistry of the accessible free silanols. The stationary phases present good selectivity at intermediate pH where the basic analytes were protonated, suggesting use of intermediate pH for these separations. Stability tests show that the stationary phases have poor stability at very high pH, even at 23°C, but good stability in acidic mobile phases, even at 75°C, as expected for an immobilized polymer stationary phase.     

Capillary electrochromatographic separation of enantiomers under aqueous mobile phases on a covalently bonded cellulose derivative chiral stationary phase

A chemically bonded cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phase (CSP) was prepared by a radical polymerization reaction. The prepared CSP was packed into fused-silica capillaries with inner diameter of 75 microm to perform enantiomer separations in CEC. The electrochromatographic behavior of the CSP was investigated. On the prepared CSP, high EOF could be generated under acidic mobile phases, which represented an advantage for the separation of acidic enantiomers. Several neutral, acidic, and basic enantiomers were resolved on the prepared CSP under aqueous mobile phases. The column efficiencies were between 20,000 and 100,000 plates/m, which were much higher than those of HPLC. In addition, it was observed that the separation of some enantiomers benefited from the adoption of THF as mobile phase modifier.     

Polarizable biphenyl polysiloxane stationary phase for capillary column gas chromatography

A crosslinkable biphenylmethylpolysiloxane stationary phase was synthesized for capillary column gas chromatography and compared with methyl, phenyl, and cyanopropyl polysiloxane stationary phases for the separation of isomeric polycyclic aromatic compounds. While the new phase gave similar separations of nonpolar isomers when compared to the nonpolar phases, separations of polar isomers were greatly improved because of the induced polarity of the biphenyl group of the stationary phase by the solute molecules. This polarizable stationary phase offers a unique selectivity which is not available in other stationary phases.     

Stationary and mobile phases in hydrophilic interaction chromatography: a review

Hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) is valuable alternative to reversed-phase liquid chromatography separations of polar, weakly acidic or basic samples. In principle, this separation mode can be characterized as normal-phase chromatography on polar columns in aqueous-organic mobile phases rich in organic solvents (usually acetonitrile). Highly organic HILIC mobile phases usually enhance ionization in the electrospray ion source of a mass spectrometer, in comparison to mobile phases with higher concentrations of water generally used in reversed-phase (RP) LC separations of polar or ionic compounds, which is another reason for increasing popularity of this technique. Various columns can be used in the HILIC mode for separations of peptides, proteins, oligosaccharides, drugs, metabolites and various natural compounds: bare silica gel, silica-based amino-, amido-, cyano-, carbamate-, diol-, polyol-, zwitterionic sulfobetaine, or poly(2-sulphoethyl aspartamide) and other polar stationary phases chemically bonded on silica gel support, but also ion exchangers or zwitterionic materials showing combined HILIC-ion interaction retention mechanism. Some stationary phases are designed to enhance the mixed-mode retention character. Many polar columns show some contributions of reversed phase (hydrophobic) separation mechanism, depending on the composition of the mobile phase, which can be tuned to suit specific separation problems. Because the separation selectivity in the HILIC mode is complementary to that in reversed-phase and other modes, combinations of the HILIC, RP and other systems are attractive for two-dimensional applications. This review deals with recent advances in the development of HILIC phase separation systems with special attention to the properties of stationary phases. The effects of the mobile phase, of sample structure and of temperature on separation are addressed, too.     

Two-dimensional liquid chromatography with mixed mode stationary phases

Mixed mode stationary phases with ion-pairing reagent (acidic or basic) as integral part of hydrophobic chain offers unique selectivity, and hence, are ideal for multidimensional separations. The retention of hydrophobic components is a function of organic content, whereas that of charged species is a function of organic content, ionogenic modifier and its level in the mobile phase. Hence, by controlling the parameters influencing component retention (stationary phase and mobile phase), the selectivity of chemical components in the two-dimensional plane can be manipulated to improve the separation. A two-dimensional liquid chromatograph has been developed by coupling similar and dissimilar mixed mode stationary phases in the two dimensions. This technique has immense potential in resolving co-eluting components as the retention mechanism in the two-dimensions are complementary. However, with only part of the primary column eluent sampled into the secondary column, the technique is limited to qualitative analysis.     

Retention mechanism divergence of a mixed mode stationary phase for high performance liquid chromatography

Mixed mode stationary phases utilize secondary retention mechanisms to add a dimensionality to the surface of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) adsorbents. This approach was used by several authors to improve the separation performance of single dimension separations. We explored the magnitude of these secondary interactions by performing an off-line two-dimensional (2D)-HPLC separation with a Scherzo SM-C18 column of a β-lactoglobulin tryptic digest with a mobile phase pH of 7 in the first dimension and 2 in the second. Mechanism divergence was determined using the peak capacity and a geometric approach to factor analysis, to measure the correlation. This separation was repeated with a C18 stationary phase as a control. It was found that the C18 column had a correlation coefficient of 0.784, smaller than the mixed mode column, 0.884. This indicated that the retention mechanisms of the C18 column were more divergent under these two pH environments than the mixed mode column. However, the SM-C18 still provided alternative selectivity of the peptides to that of the C18 and could be considered as a good alternative for further 2D-HPLC separations.     

Discontinuous reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography increases load capacity of analytical columns. Separation of ribosomal proteins from the archaebacteriumSulfolobus acidocaldarius

Summary Since ribosomes are a fundamental feature component of all organisms, they present a good model for studying evolutionary diversity. We investigated the ribosomal proteins of the archaebacteriumSulfolobus acidocaldarius, which contains slightly more ribosomal proteins thanEscherichia coli. While the ribosomal proteins of most organisms contain a high proportion of lysine and arginine residues, these basic amino acids are particularly prevelent in the thermaacidophile organismSulfolobus, a possible reason for poor separations of total ribosomal proteins ofS. acidocaldarius by single column HPLC. To solve this complex separation problem, we developed the discontinuous reversed-phase HPLC (Disc RPC) method. Discontinuus chromatography combines at least two different stationary phases in a sequence of increasing retention times for the elution of proteins. Unlike other multi-column techniques, all of the injected sample passes through this discontinous stationary phase, which is used in place of single columns, thus permitting separations to be carried out without the need any changes in the HPLC system. Here we present Disc RPC separations of 30S ribosomal proteins fromS. acidocaldarius with a variety of stationary phases of different legnths and diameters. Each of five Disc RPC categories presented in this paper has some special application possibilities when used in protein HPLC.     

Polyacrylamide-based monolithic capillary column with coating of cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl-carbamate) for enantiomer separation in capillary electrochromatography

A hydrophilic chiral capillary monolithic column for enantiomer separation in CEC was prepared by coating cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl-carbamate) (CDMPC) on porous hydrophilic poly(acrylamide-co-N,N'-methylene-bisacrylamide) (poly(AA-co-MBA)) monolithic matrix with confine of a fused-silica capillary. The coating conditions were optimized to obtain a stable and reproducible chiral stationary phase for CEC. The effect of organic modifier of ACN in aqueous mobile phase for the enantiomer separation by CEC was investigated, and the significant influence of ACN on the enantioresolution and electrochromatographic retention was observed. Twelve pairs of enantiomers including acidic, neutral, and basic analytes were tested and nine pairs of them were baseline-enantioresolved with acidic and basic aqueous mobile phases. A good within-column repeatability in retention time (RSD = 2.4%) and resolution (RSD = 3.2%) was obtained by consecutive injections of a neutral compound, benzoin, on a prepared chiral monolithic column, while the between-column repeatability in retention time (RSD = 6.4%) and resolution (RSD = 9.6%) was observed by column-to-column examination. The prepared monolithic stationary phase showed good stability in either acidic or basic mobile phase.     

Protein separation by nonsynchronous coil planet centrifuge with aqueous-aqueous polymer phase systems

Counter-current chromatographic separation of proteins was performed using a rotary-seal-free nonsynchronous coil planet centrifuge (CPC) fabricated in our laboratory. This apparatus has a unique feature that allows a freely adjustable rotational rate of the coiled separation column at a given revolution speed. The separation was performed using a set of stable proteins including cytochrome c, myoglobin and lysozyme with two different types of aqueous-aqueous polymer phase systems, i.e., PEG (polyethylene glycol) 1000-dibasic potassium phosphate, and PEG 8000-dextran T500 in 5 mM potassium phosphate buffer. Using a set of multilayer coiled columns prepared from 0.8 mm I.D. PTFE tubing with different volumes (11, 24, 39 ml), the effect of the column capacity on the partition efficiency was investigated under a given set of experimental conditions. Among these experiments, the best separation of proteins was attained using the 39 ml capacity column with a 12.5% (w/w) PEG 1000-12.5% (w/w) dibasic potassium phosphate system at 10 rpm of coil rotation under 800 rpm. With lower phase mobile at 0.2 ml/min in the head-to-tail elution, the resolution between cytochrome c and myoglobin was 1.6 and that between myoglobin and lysozyme, 1.9. With upper phase mobile in the head-to-tail elution, the resolution between lysozyme and myoglobin peaks was 1.5. In these two separations, the stationary phase retention was 35.0 and 33.3%, respectively. Further studies were carried out using a pair of eccentric coil assemblies with 0.8 mm I.D. PTFE tubing at a total capacity of 20 ml. A comparable resolution was obtained using both lower and upper phases as a mobile phase in a head-to-tail elution. The results of our studies demonstrate that the nonsynchronous CPC is useful for protein separation with aqueous-aqueous polymer phase systems.     

硅藻土载负葫芦[7]脲气相色谱固定相的制备及其性能评价

在酸性条件下,将自制的葫芦[7]脲均匀地涂覆到102白色硅藻土担体上,制得葫芦[7]脲气相色谱固定相。 采用红外光谱、质谱、元素分析和热重分析表征了葫芦[7]脲在载体表面的结构。 利用相关探针测定了新固定相的麦氏常数,表征了其基本色谱性能。 考察了葫芦[7]脲气相色谱固定相填充柱对芳香烃、卤代烃、醇、酮、酯及硅氧烷的分离能力。 结果表明,葫芦[7]脲固定相热稳定性高,柱色谱性能稳定,对较广泛的化合物尤其对高沸点的酯类及硅氧烷类化合物显示出良好的色谱分离能力(7 min内分离),作为气相色谱固定相有较好的应用前景。 初步讨论了葫芦[7]脲固定相对上述化合物的分离机理。     

高效液相色谱-串联质谱法结合多糖衍生物手性固定相拆分氰戊菊酯

建立了以多糖衍生物为手性固定相的高效液相色谱-串联质谱(HPLC-MS/MS)直接拆分氰戊菊酯对映体的方法。在反相液相色谱条件下,考察了手性固定相的种类、流动相组成、柱温、流速对氰戊菊酯4个立体异构体分离的影响。同时,利用热力学方法对氰戊菊酯的立体异构体与固定相之间的色谱保留和分离的热力学机理进行了探讨。结果表明:采用Lux Cellulose-3(纤维素-三(4-甲基苯甲酸酯))手性色谱柱,在以流动相为乙腈-水(5 mmol/L甲酸铵)=(55:45,V:V)流速0.4 mL/min,柱温30℃的条件下,可在14 mins内实现氰戊菊酯4个立体异构体的基线分离。拓展了HPLC-MS/MS在菊酯类手性农药对映体分离及检测上的应用。     

Siloxane/silarylene copolymers as stationary phases for capillary gas chromatography. Part II: Phenylsubstituted polymers

A commercially available silanol terminated silicone stationary phase, OV-61-OH (33% phenyl), and two phenyl-substituted siloxane/silarylene copolymers, Sila 3 (27% phenyl) and 4 (35% phenyl), have been evaluated for use as stationary phases in fused silica capillary columns for gas chromatography. Ulterations in column adsorptive activity, separation efficiency, stationary phase film thickness and selectivity after column conditioning for 50 h at 370°C have been studied. A high thermal stability was experienced with the stationary phases tested here. For OV-61-OH, the best thermal stability was obtained when coated on untreated fused silica, which illustrates the importance of grafting reactions here. The heat treatment resulted in some deactivation of adsorptive sites in the column. A higher degree of column deactivation was achieved when surface silylation was performed prior to coating. High thermal stability was achieved with Sila 3 when coated on such surfaces. Sila 3 would thus be preferred in cases when high thermal stability in combination with high dsorptive inertness is desired. Sila 4 showed low column bleeding at 370 °C, but prolonged heating at this temperature resulted in the broadening of n-alkane peaks when eluted at 90 °C. This indicates that excessive crosslinking has taken place during the heat treatment and the minimum allowable column operation temperature is thereby increased to ca. 120 °C. The separation of aza-arenes and of triglycerides are shown as applications.     

Recent progress in adsorbed stationary phases for capillary electrochromatography

This review surveys the recent progress in the adsorbed stationary phases for capillary electrochromatography (CEC). Adsorption-based methods for preparation of stationary phase are novel approaches in CEC, which allow rapid and facile preparing stationary phases with desirable selectivity onto an open-tubular fused-silica capillary, a bare-silica or ion-exchange packed column or a monolithic silica or polymer column. A variety of adsorbing agents have been developed as adsorbed stationary phases, including ionic long-chain surfactant, protein, peptide, amino acid, charged cyclodextrin (CD), basic compound, aliphatic ionene, and ion-exchange latex particle. The adsorbed stationary phases have been applied to separation of neutral, basic and acidic organic compounds, inorganic anions and enantiomers. They have also been applied to on-line sample concentration, fast separation and study of the competitive binding of enantiomers with protein.     

Separation of acidic and basic compounds in capillary electrochromatography with polymethacrylate-based monolithic columns

Methacrylate-based monolithic columns with electroosmotic flow (EOF) or very weak EOF are prepared by in situ copolymerization in the presence of a porogen in fused-silica capillaries pretreated with a bifunctional reagent. Satisfactory separations of acidic and basic compounds on the column with EOF at either low or high pH are achieved, respectively. With sulfonic groups as dissociation functionalities, sufficient EOF mobility still remains as high as 1.74 x 10(-4) cm2 s(-1) V(-1) at low pH. Under this condition, seven acidic compounds are readily separated within 5.7 min. Moreover, at high pH, the peak shape of basic compounds is satisfactory without addition of any masking amines into running mobile phase since the secondary interaction between the basic compounds and the monolithic stationary phase are minimized at high pH. Reversed-phase mechanism for both acidic and basic compounds is observed under investigated separation conditions. In addition, possibilities of acidic and basic compound separations on a monolithic column with extremely low EOF are discussed.