Comparative study on sample stacking by moving reaction boundary formed with weak acid and weak or strong alkali in capillary electrophoresis: I. Theory

The condensation of low abundance zwitterion substance, such as protein and peptide, has great significance to the study on proteomics. This paper develops the theory on design of online stacking conditions of zwitterion by a moving reaction boundary (MRB) in capillary electrophoresis (CE). This concerns the choice of running and sample buffers, velocity design of MRB, and salt effect on the stacking. The theoretical results unveil that: (1) the velocity of MRB formed with weak acidic buffer and strong alkali should be set between zero and the velocity of zwitterion in the alkali phase, or no stacking occurs; (2) if a strong alkali is used to prepare the sample, a much long front plug of strong base must be injected before the alkaline sample plug for complete stacking, whereas no such front plug is needed if a weak alkali with enough high concentration and pH value is used to prepare the sample buffer; (3) the existence of salt in sample matrix has a weak effect on the stacking of zwitterion if sample is prepared with weak alkaline buffer, while has a dramatic effect on the same stacking if with a strong base buffer. In addition, the concentration of weak alkali used for preparation of sample should be set at the point, at which the velocity of MRB is as much as possible close to that of negative zwitterion. The developed theory and its computation are quantitatively proved by the experiments of zwitterion stacking by the MRB as shown in the previous and the accompanying papers. The proposed theoretic results hold obvious significances on-column stacking of low abundance zwitterions, such as amino acid, or peptides or proteins, in CE.     

Study on mechanism of stacking of zwitterion in highly saline biologic sample by transient moving reaction boundary created by formic buffer and conjugate base in capillary electrophoresis

The reason why a moving reaction boundary (MRB) can stack analyte in highly saline sample in capillary electrophoresis [C.X. Cao, Y.Z. He, M. Li, Y.T. Qian, S.L. Zhou, L. Yang, Q.S. Qu, Anal. Chem. 74 (2002) 4167] is still unclear. To illuminate the mechanism of such stacking, three MRBs formed by formic acid-NaOH buffer and sodium formate as well as 40, 80 and 120 mmol/L sodium chloride in matrixes were studied. The computation with MRB theory shows that sodium chloride in matrix has weak effect on the stacking efficiency, whether the concentration of sodium chloride is set at 40, or 80, or 120 mmol/L. The conclusion has been highly manifested by numerous experiments. Furthermore, the computer simulation and theoretical analyses depict that this kind of stacking is induced by the mechanism of MRB, rather than that of electrostacking or isotachophoresis (ITP) under the given electrolytic system. Finally, the application of the sample condensation was achieved for the stacking of analyte(s) in highly saline biological sample of skeletonema costarum’ culture with up to 527 mmol/L total salt and health human urine with 150-320 mmol/L inorganic ions (Cl⁻, Na⁺, K⁺, PO₄³⁻, etc.). The results herein have a clear significance to the design on stacking of analyte in highly saline biological sample.     

Computer simulation on a continuous moving chelation boundary in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-based sample sweeping in capillary electrophoresis

This paper introduces a mathematic mode of moving chelation boundary (MCB) for computer simulation of a continuous EDTA-based sample sweeping in capillary electrophoresis (CE). Besides the equations of MCB used herein, the mode also includes electro-neutrality equation, constant current density, jump boundary condition of MCB, Kohlrausch’ regulating function expressed in MCB formulation, product of water, ionic apparent mobility, ionic strength and conductivity of electrolyte as well as simple equilibrium reaction, etc. The simulation software is developed based on the mode. With the software the relevant simulation is carried out, and the corresponding experiments on a MCB are performed. The results on the simulation and experiments demonstrate that (1) the software can simulate a dynamic process, characteristic peak shape and relevant electrophoregram of a MCB; (2) the simulator can quantitatively compute velocities of MCB and complex boundary (CB), all of ionic concentrations (especially the concentration of complex) and sweeping efficiency; (3) these simulation results mentioned above are generally in accordance with the experiments. The simulation software holds evident significances for the study on a MCB and conditional optimization in such an EDTA-based sample sweeping of metal ion in CE.     

应用移动反应界面富集技术进行毛细管电泳尿液指纹分析

快速灵敏的尿液指纹图谱分析对于临床诊断中发现新的生物标记至关重要。该文建立了一种简便、快速、灵敏的移动反应界面(MRB)介导的富集技术进行毛细管电泳尿液指纹图谱分析。MRB由25 mmol/L甘氨酸（Gly）-HCl（pH 2.5）作为样品缓冲液和50 mmol/L Gly-NaOH（pH 12.3）作为电泳缓冲液形成。与常规的毛细管区带电泳只能观察到尿液中不到10个峰相比,采用MRB可以观察到超过80个峰并将检测灵敏度提高了至少十几倍,显示该方法对于代谢组学分析具有重要的意义。     

Determination of fumaric and maleic acids with stacking analytes by transient moving chemical reaction boundary method in capillary electrophoresis

The paper presents an on-line transient moving chemical reaction boundary (MCRB) method for simply but efficiently stacking analytes in capillary electrophoresis (CE). The CE technique was developed for a rapid determination of fumaric and maleic acid. Based on the theory of MCRB, Effects of several important factors such as the pH and concentration of running buffer and the conditions of stacking analytes were investigated to acquire the optimum conditions. The optimized separations were carried out in a 20 mmol/L sulphate neutralized with ethylenediamine to pH 6.0 electrolytes using a capillary coated with poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and direct UV detection at 214 nm. The optimized preconcentrations were carried out in 50 mmol/L borax (pH 9.0). The calibration curves were linear in the concentration range of 1.0 × 10⁻⁷–1.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol/L and 5.0 × 10⁻⁷–1.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol/L for fumaric and maleic acid with correlation coefficients higher than 0.9991. The detection limits were 5.34 × 10⁻⁸ mol/L for fumaric acid and 1.92 × 10⁻⁷ mol/L for maleic acid. This method was applied for determination of fumaric acid in apple juice and of fumaric and maleic acid in dl-malic, the recovery tests established for real samples were within the range 95–105%. This work provided a valid and simple approach to detect fumaric and maleic acid.     

Sensitive quantitative determination of oxymatrine and matrine in rat plasma by capillary electrophoresis with stacking induced by moving reaction boundary

A quantitative method of capillary electrophoresis with sample stacking induced by moving reaction boundary (MRB) was developed for sensitive determination of oxymatrine (OMT) and matrine (MT) in rat plasma. The experimental conditions were optimized firstly. Below are the optimized experimental conditions: 20 mM sodium formate solution (HCOONa, adjusted to pH 10.70 by ammonia) as sample solution, 3 min 14 mbar sample injection, 40 mM formic buffer (HCOOH-HCOONa, pH 2.60) as stacking buffer, 7 min 14 mbar injection of stacking buffer, 100 mM HCOOH-HCOONa (pH 4.80) as separation buffer, 73 cm capillary (effective length 64 cm), 21 kV voltage, 210 nm wavelength. Under the optimized conditions, higher than 60-fold sensitivity improvement of the stacking was simply achieved as compared with capillary zone electrophoresis, and the detectable limits obtained for OMT and MT were 0.26 and 0.19 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. Then, numerous demonstrations were carefully performed for the methodological validations of OMT and MT in rate plasma, including high specificity of method, good linearity (r = 0.9993 for OMT, r = 0.9991 for MT), fair wide linear concentration range (1.30-65.00 μg mL⁻¹ for OMT, 0.84-42.00 μg mL⁻¹ for MT), low limit of detection (1.03 μg mL⁻¹ for OMT, 0.38 μg mL⁻¹ for MT), less than 5% intra- and inter-day variance value, and higher than 96% recovery of OMT and MT in plasma. The developed method could be used for the trace analyses of OMT and MT in plasma and was finally used for the investigation on pharmacokinetic study of OMT in rat plasma.     

Quantitative study on selective stacking of zwitterions in large-volume sample matrix by moving reaction boundary in capillary electrophoresis

The paper advanced the theoretical procedures for quantitative design on selective stacking of zwitterions in full capillary sample matrix by a cathodic-direction moving reaction boundary (MRB) in capillary electrophoresis (CE) under control of electroosmotic flow (EOF). With the procedures, we conducted the theoretical computations on the selective stacking of two test analytes of L-histidine (His) and L-tryptophan (Trp) by the MRB created with 30 mM pH 3.0 formic acid-NaOH buffer and 2-80 mM sodium formate. The results revealed the following three predictions. At first, the MRB cannot stack His and Trp plugs if less than 12.5 mM sodium formate is used to form the MRB and prepare the sample matrix. Second, the MRB can stack His and/or Trp sample plugs completely if higher than 50 mM sodium formate is chosen to form the MRB. Third, the MRB can only focus His plug completely, but stack Trp plug partially if 20-50 mM sodium formate is used; this implied the complete MRB-induced selective stacking to His rather than Trp. All the three predictions were quantitatively proved by the experiments. With great dilution of sample matrix and control of EOF, controllable, simultaneous and MRB-induced selective stacking and separation of zwitterions were achieved. The theoretical results hold evident significances to the quantitative design of selective stacking conditions and the increase of detection sensitivity of zwitterions in CE. In addition, the control of EOF by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) can evidently improve the stacking efficiency to both His and Trp.     

Separation of alkylbenzyl quaternary ammonium compounds by capillary zone electrophoresis with sample stacking injection

Summary A systematic investigation of operational buffer systems, sample preparation and instrument parameters for achieving the best possible performance for determinating an homologous series of N-benzyl-N-alkyl-N,N-dimethylammonium chloride compounds by capillary zone electrophoresis with direct UV detection. The most effective separation was achieved within 3.5 min with the addition of acetonitrile (40%) in a phosphate buffer (20 mM pH 5.2) using a 40 cm fused-silica capillary operating at 25 KV and 20°C. Degassing of all electrolyte solutions and samples was very important. The linearity and repeatability for each compounds were satisfactory. To improve detection limits, on-column sample preconcentration, sample stacking, was investigated achieving a tenfold enrichment factor and quantitation limits about 10⁻⁷M.     

Large volume sample stacking capillary electrophoresis for metallothioneins analysis in eel liver

A large volume sample stacking procedure (LVSS) is developed here for metallothionein (MT) determinations in rabbit liver by using capillary electrophoresis with UV detection. A 10-time improvement in concentration-based LODs, when compared to the normal stacking mode (CE-UV analysis of samples solved in water), is achieved.The methodology is successfully applied to analysis of MTs in eel liver cytosolic extracts, preceded by an easy cleaning-up pre-treatment in order to eliminate the high salt content. Analysis of cytosol obtained from a group of eels previously exposed to Cd (induced group) resulted in several isoforms of MTs with differences in absorbance signal compared to a control group.     

Stacking and quantitative analysis of lovastatin in urine samples by the transient moving chemical reaction boundary method in capillary electrophoresis

A simple, sensitive, and useful concentration method for lovastatin (Lvt) in urine has been developed based on the transient moving chemical reaction boundary method (tMCRBM) in capillary electrophoresis. The MCRB is formed with acidic sample buffer (Gly-HCl) and alkaline running buffer (Gly-NaOH). The following optimal conditions were determined for stacking and separation: electrophoretic buffer of 100 mM Gly- NaOH (pH 11.52), sample buffer of 20 mM Gly-HCl (pH 4.93), fused-silica capillary of 76 cm × 75-μm i.d (67 cm from detector), sample injection at 14 mbar for 3 min. A 21- to 26-fold increase in peak height was achieved for detection of Lvt in urine under the optimal conditions compared with normal capillary zone electrophoresis. By combining the sample pretreatment procedure with the stacking method, the sensitivity of Lvt in urine was increased by 105- to 130-fold. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) for Lvt in urine were decreased to 8.8 ng/mL and 29.2 ng/mL, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision values (expressed as RSD) were 2.23–3.61% and 4.03–5.05%, respectively. The recoveries of the analyte at three concentration levels changed from 82.65 to 100.49%.     

Capillary electrophoresis of methylmercury with injection by sample stacking

A procedure for separation and quantitation of methylmercury by capillary electrophoresis using sample stacking as the injection technique is presented. The CE conditions have been optimized in order to separate the methylmercury from the excess cysteine peak and to concentrate large volumes of sample obtaining a low detection limit. Under the proposed operational conditions, the detection limit (S/N = 3) was 12 ng g⁻ and the limit of quantitation (S/N = 10) was 20 ng g⁻¹ with a linear range of 20–100 ng g⁻¹ (as methylmercury in samples). The method was tested using different reference materials with a certified methylmercury content.     

Confirmation of vanadium complex formation using electrospray mass spectrometry and determination of vanadium speciation by sample stacking capillary electrophoresis

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with UV detection was used to determine vanadium species. Nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetic acid (HEDTA), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), ethylene glycol-bis(2-aminoethylether)-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) and 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (PDCA) were investigated to determine whether these ligands formed stable anionic complexes with vanadium. Of all the ligands studied HEDTA was the most suitable ligand because it gave the largest UV response with reasonable migration time. Electrospray mass spectrometry (ES-MS) was used to confirm the formation of [VO₂(HEDTA)]²⁻ and [VO(HEDTA)]¹⁻ in solution. An electrolyte containing 25 mM phosphate, 0.25 mM tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) at pH 5.5 was optimum for the separation of these anionic vanadium complexes. Sample stacking techniques, including large-volume sample stacking (LVSS) and field-amplified sample injection (FASI), were tested to improve the sensitivity. Best sensitivity was obtained using FASI, with detection limits of 0.001 μM, equivalent to 0.4 μg L⁻¹, for [VO₂(HEDTA)]²⁻ and 0.01 μM, equivalent to 3.4 μg L⁻¹ for [VO(HEDTA)]¹⁻. The utility of the method for the speciation of V(IV) and V(V) was demonstrated using ground water samples.     

可视移动中和反应界面离线富集-毛细管电泳法检测电镀废水中痕量重金属离子

建立了一种可视化的、利用移动中和界面离线富集-毛细管电泳检测电镀水中痕量重金属离子的新方法。在该富集系统中,阳极电解液为2.1 mmol/L HCl-98 mmol/L KCl-痕量重金属离子,阴极电解液为4.0 mmol/L NaOH-96 mmol/L KCl,界面向阴极移动,分离电压为180 V,阴极电解液和阳极电解液的流速均为1 mL/min。富集后凝胶中的金属离子浓度用毛细管电泳检测,标准曲线在实验浓度范围内均有良好的线性关系(r≥0.9985),预富集倍数达80～150倍,Cu(II)、Zn(II)、Ni(II)、Mg(II)、Ca(II)、Cr(III)和Fe(III)的检出限分别为0.163、0.256、0.077、0.153、0.203、0.062和0.142 mg/L,均明显低于国家规定标准;日内和日间精密度均小于7.42%。所建方法已成功用于实际电镀废水样品中痕量重金属离子的富集和检测。     

Determination of mercaptopurine and its four metabolites by large-volume sample stacking with polarity switching in capillary electrophoresis

This study describes approaches for stacking a large volume of sample solutions containing a mixture of mercaptopurine monohydrate, 6-methylmercaptopurine, thioguanine, thioguanosine, and thioxanthine in capillary electrophoresis (CE). After filling the run buffer (60 mM borate buffer, pH 8.5), a large sample volume was loaded by hydrodynamic injection (2.5 psi, 99.9 s), followed by the removal of the large plug of sample matrix from the capillary using polarity switching (-15 kV). Monitoring the current and reversing the polarity when 95% of current recovered, the separation of anionic analytes was performed in a run buffer < 20 kV. Around 44- to 90-fold improvement of sensitivity for five analytes was achieved by large-volume stacking with polarity switching when compared with CE without stacking. This method was feasible for determination of the analytes spiked in plasma. Removing most of electrolytes from plasma is a key step for performing large-volume sample stacking. Solid-phase extraction was used for pretreatment of biological samples. To our knowledge, this study is one of few applications showing the possibilities of this stacking procedure to analyze biological samples by large-volume sample stacking with polarity switching (LVSSPS) in CE.     

Field-amplified on-line sample stacking for determination of carnosine-related peptides by capillary electrophoresis

An on-line sample stacking method, namely field-amplified sample injection, has been developed for the separation and determination of carnosine, anserine, and homocarnosine by capillary electrophoresis. Using electrokinetic injection, about 130- to 160-fold improvement of sensitivity was achieved without loss of separation efficiency when compared to conventional sample injection. For conventional injection, the samples were dissolved in running buffer and then hydrodynamically injected for 10 s (3.45 kPa). Various parameters affecting separation and sample stacking were optimized. Under optimum conditions, linear responses were obtained over two orders of magnitude and the detection limits (defined as S/N = 3) of carnosine, anserine, and homocarnosine were 1.5 x 10(-8) to 1.6 x 10(-8) mol/L.     

Speciation of organomercury compounds by capillary electrophoresis with pre-column derivatization and on-line stacking

A simple capillary electrophoresis method was developed to separate and quantify methylmercury, ethylmercury, and phenylmercury with the enhancement of pre-column derivatization and on-line stacking.     

Combining field‐amplified sample stacking with moving reaction boundary electrophoresis on a paper chip for the preconcentration and separation of metal ions

A common drawback of paper‐based separation devices is their poor detection limit. In this study, we combined field‐amplified sample stacking with moving reaction boundary electrophoresis on a paper chip with six array channels for the parallel separation and concentration of multiple samples. With a new hyphenated technique, the brown I₂ from the Fe³⁺/I⁻ oxidation–reduction reaction emerged near the boundary between the dilute ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid and potassium iodide and highly concentrated KCl solutions. For the separation and concentration of three components, Cr³⁺, Cu²⁺, and Fe³⁺, the Fe³⁺ detection limit was improved at least 266‐fold by comparing the hyphenated technique with moving reaction boundary electrophoresis. The detection limit of Fe³⁺ was found to be as low as 0.34 ng (20 μM) on the paper chip. We also demonstrated the analysis of a real sample of four metal ions, with detection limits as follows: 0.16 μg Cr³⁺, 1.5 μg Ni²⁺, 0.64 μg Cu²⁺, and 1.5 μg Co²⁺. The synergy of field‐amplified sample stacking and moving reaction boundary electrophoresis in the micron paper‐based array channels dramatically improved the detection limit and throughput of paper‐based electrophoresis.     

On-line concentration of trace genistein by acid barrage stacking in capillary electrophoresis with UV detection

A capillary electrophoresis method with UV detection was developed for high sensitively determining genistein. In this method, the online acid barrage stacking was applied. Four key factors influencing the stacking efficiency were systematically optimized. Genistein can be detected within 5 min at the concentration of 10 nmol/L, which was 300 times lower than that from conventional hydrodynamic injection. The repeatability, linear range, and limit of detection of the method were investigated with satisfactory result.     

场放大样品堆积毛细管区带电泳检测尿液中苯丙胺类毒品

建立了毛细管区带电泳(CZE)中场放大样品堆积(FASS)技术分析尿液中苯丙胺类毒品的方法。采用体积分数30%甲醇的100 mmol/L磷酸盐(pH 3)为分离缓冲液,利用缓冲体系与样品溶液体系电导率的差异,在毛细管中浓缩样品组分,对苯丙胺、甲基苯丙胺、3,4-(亚甲二氧基)苯丙胺(MDA)、3,4-(亚甲二氧基)甲基苯丙胺(MDMA)4种毒品进行了分离和定量测定,与常规毛细管区带电泳比较,检测灵敏度提高约2000倍。采用利多卡因为内标,对添加上述4种毒品的尿液进行提取和测定,分析的相对标准偏差在15%范围之内,可检测到的上述毒品质量浓度为0.002μg/mL,相对回收率在70%~120%内。该方法可用于生物检材中苯丙胺类毒品的检测。     

On-line sample concentration of organic anions in capillary zone electrophoresis by micelle to solvent stacking

Micelle to solvent stacking (MSS) is a new on-line sample concentration technique for charged analytes in capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). Sample concentration in MSS mainly relies on the reversal in the effective electrophoretic mobility of the analyte at the boundary zone between the sample solution (S) and CZE background solution (BGS) inside the capillary. The basic condition for MSS is that the S is prepared in a matrix that contains an additive (i.e., micelles) which interacts with and has an opposite charge compared to the analytes. In addition, the BGS must contain a sufficient percentage of organic solvent. MSS was first reported for organic cations using anionic dodecyl sulfate micelles as additive in the S and methanol or acetonitrile as organic solvent in the BGS. Here, theoretical and experimental studies on MSS are described for organic anions using cationic cetyltrimethyl ammonium micelles as additive in the S and methanol as organic solvent in the BGS. Up to an order of magnitude improvement in concentration sensitivity was obtained for the test hypolipidaemic drugs using MSS in CZE with UV detection. The optimized method was also evaluated to the analysis of a spiked wastewater sample that was subjected to a simple extraction step.