255. Additional bufadienolides from Ch'an Su. Toad venoms. 39

From the toad venom Ch'an Su the bufadienolides 1, 4, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17, 20, 22, 25 and 18 , the latter as diacetate 19 were isolated and their structure elucidated.     

Gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography of natural steroids.

This review article underlines the importance of gas chromatography (GC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and their hyphenated techniques using mass spectrometry (MS) for the determination of natural steroids, especially in human biological fluids. Steroids are divided into eight categories based on their structures and functions, and recent references using the above methodologies for the analysis of these steroids are cited. GC and GC-MS are commonly used for the determination of volatile steroids. Although HPLC is a widely used analytical method for the determination of steroids including the conjugated type in biological fluids, LC-MS is considered to be the most promising one for this purpose because of its sensitivity, specificity and versatility.     

Simultaneous determination of four bufadienolides in human liver by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the simultaneous quantitation of four bufadienolides-cinobufotalin, bufalin, cinobufagin and resibufogenin-in human liver was investigated. The procedure involved solid phase extraction of human liver with an Oasis HLB cartridge coupled with reversed-phase HPLC and photodiode array detection. Recoveries obtained from spiked liver for the bufadienolides were better than 70%. The linearity was studied up to 1.2 mg/kg and the detection limits of the method were 0.4 ng for cinobufotalin and bufalin and 0.5 ng for cinobufagin and resibufogenin. The developed method was successfully applied to a lethal poisoning case.     

High-pressure liquid chromatography of steroids.

After a brief discussion of the merits and limitations of high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) relative to other chromatographic methods, special problems in the application to steroids are discussed. Publications on HPLC of steroids are then discussed under the headings of individual classes, arranged generally in the order of increasing polarity.     

Studies on steroids. CXXVIII. Separation and determination of bile acids by high-performance liquid chromatography

A method is described for the simultaneous determination of major bile acids by high-performance liquid chromatography without prior hydrolysis. A mixture of bile acids is divided into the free, glyco- and tauro-conjugate groups by thin-layer chromatography. Separation of each group into cholate, ursodeoxycholate, chenodeoxycholate, deoxycholate and lithocholate is attained in two stages on a muBondapak C18 column; first, 0.3% ammonium carbonate-acetonitrile (9:4) is used as a mobile phase for the separation of the last three compounds. Subsequently cholate and ursodeoxycholate are resolved by chromatography in 0.3% ammonium carbonate-acetonitrile (11:4).     

Simultaneous determination of three bufadienolides in rat plasma after intravenous administration of bufadienolides extract by ultra performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A novel, rapid and specific ultra performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) method has been developed for simultaneous determination and pharmacokinetic studies of three bufadienolides (bufalin, cinobufagin and resibufogenin) in rat plasma. The analytes, bufalin, cinobufagin, resibufogenin and the internal standard, diphenhydramine were extracted from rat plasma samples by a one-step liquid–liquid extraction and separated on an ACQUITY UPLC™ BEH C₁₈ column with gradient elution using a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and water (containing 0.1% formic acid) at a flow rate of 0.20 mL min⁻¹. Detection was carried out on a triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode via an electrospray ionization (ESI) interface. The three bufadienolides could be simultaneously determined within 3.0 min. Linear calibration curves were obtained over the concentration ranges of 1.0–200 ng mL⁻¹ for all the analytes. The intra- and inter-day precisions (relative standard deviation (R.S.D.)) were less than 11.35 and 10.87%, respectively. The developed method was applied for the first time to the pharmacokinetic studies of bufadienolides in rats following a single intravenous administration of 2.10 mg kg⁻¹ bufadienolides.     

High-temperature liquid chromatography of steroids on a bonded hybrid column

A hybrid stationary phase, XTerra MS C18, has been evaluated for the high-temperature reversed-phase liquid chromatography of selected hydrophobic steroids. The effects on the retention and efficiency at temperatures up to 130°C and eluent compositions from methanol–water mixtures to superheated water were studied. The thermodynamic data of the separations were determined. It was shown that increasing the temperature enabled the percentage of methanol to be reduced. High mobile-phase flow rates could be used, but for these non-polar analytes, the retention times with superheated water as the eluent were still high.     

Gas chromatography on monolayers of liquid crystals

Summary The retention behaviour of some isomers with monolayers of liquid crystals adsorbed on macroporous silica gel (Silochrom) has been studied. Maximum selectivity is observed in the solid state and not in the liquid-crystalline state as is the case with thick films.     

Determination of steroids by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

On-line atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) were evaluated for the analysis of a variety of steroids. Steroids were classified into three major groups based on the spectra and the sensitivities observed: (I) those containing a 3-one, 4-ene functional group, (II) those containing at least one ketone group without conjugation, and (III) those containing hydroxy group(s) only. In the APCI mode, the best sensitivity and the lowest detection limit for all three groups were obtained by using a mobile phase consisting of methanol and 1%–2% acetic acid in water. The APCI spectra were characterized by MH⁺, MH⁺-H₂O, MH⁺-2H₂O, etc., with the degree of H₂O loss being compound dependent: group I steroids produced stable MH⁺ and group III steroids showed extensive water loss. In the electrospray mode the best sensitivity and the lowest detection limit for the first two groups were obtained when pure methanol and water were used as the mobile phase. This condition produced abundant stable MNa⁺ due to ubiquitous sodium. Detection limits in the 5–15 pg range can be easily achieved using ESI LC/MS. Addition of ammonium acetate or use of acetonitrile in the mobile phase, common in the LC/MS analysis of steroids, decreased the sensitivity for the group I and II steroids and thus should be avoided. For group III steroids, the detection limit can be improved by the addition of acetic acid to the mobile phase.     

Studies on steroids. CCXVI. Separation of bile acid 3-glucuronides by high-performance liquid chromatography

The separation of 3-glucuronides of cholate, chenodeoxycholate, deoxycholate, ursodeoxycholate and lithocholate, and their glyco- and tauro-conjugates, has been carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography on a reversed-phase column. The chromatographic behaviour of bile acid 3-glucuronides was dependent on the type of conjugation. An effect of the pH of the mobile phase on the capacity ratio was observed at higher pH for chenodeoxycholate 3-glucuronide, probably owing to steric interaction of the 7 alpha-hydroxy group with the carboxy group in the glucuronyl moiety. Conversion of the alpha-hydroxy function on the steroid nucleus into an oxo group resulted in a 50% decrease in the capacity ratio. Bile acid 3-glucuronides were efficiently separated on Shodex ODS Pak F-411 using three kinds of ammonium phosphate buffer-acetonitrile systems.     

Direct determination of kallikrein by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A direct and specific identification of porcine pancreatic kallikrein by high-performance hydrophobic chromatography is proposed; the minimum amount which can be injected is 2.5 U. An application to the quantitative determination of the enzyme by high-performance size-exclusion chromatography is reported; the method is precise with a mean coefficient of variation of 2.8% and the minimum amount which can be injected is 0.02 U of kallikrein. The results obtained with determinations in real biological samples (porcine pancreatic powder and human urine) are reported. The method is based on direct and specific chromatographic signals and does not destroy the biological activity of this enzyme.     

Solvent optimization in normal-phase liquid chromatography of selected steroids

Summary Resolution (R_s) is a function of three factors: efficiency, retentivity and selectivity. A procedure for optimization of mobile phase selectivity was demonstrated using a reversed-phase (RP) separation of compounds with various functionalities. In this paper, the same procedure is used with normal bonded-phase (NP) chromatography to develop a separation of structurally similar steroids. The optimization of mobile-phase selectivity provided increased problem-solving capability and decreased the analysis time.A brief summary of this work has been published in September 1981, in the form of a du Pont Application Study.     

Common methods for the chiral determination of amphetamine and related compounds I. Gas, liquid and thin-layer chromatography

This article reviews the most common, useful methods for the chiral determination of amphetamine (AM) and AM-derived designer drugs in different of matrix, including blood, hair, urine, medicaments or standard solutions, taking into consideration articles published in the past 15 years. We consider chromatographic methods (e.g., gas, liquid, high-performance liquid, and thin layer). We describe several types of chiral derivatization reagent, mobile-phase additive and chiral stationary phase commonly used in the chromatographic methods. Tables summarize basic information about conditions (e.g., type of column and mobile phase), detection mode and reference data for each procedure.     

Gas chromatography with mass spectrometry for the determination of phthalates preconcentrated by microextraction based on an ionic liquid

A new procedure is proposed for the analysis of migration test solutions obtained from plastic bottles used in the packaging of edible oils. Ultrasound‐assisted emulsification microextraction with ionic liquids was applied for the preconcentration of six phthalate esters: dimethylphthalate, diethylphthalate, di‐n‐butylphthalate, n‐butylbenzylphthalate, di‐2‐ethylhexylphthalate, and di‐n‐octylphthalate. The enriched ionic liquid was directly analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry using direct insert microvial thermal desorption. The different factors affecting the microextraction efficiency, such as volume of the extracting phase (30 μL of the ionic liquid) and ultrasound application time (25 s), and the thermal desorption step, such as desorption temperature and time, and gas flow rate, were studied. Under the selected conditions, detection limits for the analytes were in the 0.012–0.18 μg/L range, while recovery assays provided values ranging from 80 to 112%. The use of butyl benzoate as internal standard increased the reproducibility of the analytical procedure. When the release of the six phthalate esters from the tested plastic bottles to liquid simulants was monitored using the optimized procedure, analyte concentrations of between 1.0 and 273 μg/L were detected.