Purification of honokiol derivatives from one-pot synthesis by high-performance counter-current chromatography

This paper describes the application of high-performance counter-current chromatography (HPCCC) as a fast, useful and economic alternative for the separation and purification of seven honokiol derivatives (two of them are isomers), which were synthesized by a one-pot procedure. Five honokiol derivatives were successfully separated by n-hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water solvent system at three different volume ratios in a step-gradient elution. Two derivatives were obtained through a cycle elution mode. The whole separation process produced 366.3 mg, 323.6 mg, 242.8 mg, 216.2 mg, 203.5 mg, 185.8 mg and 279.3 mg of 3′-formylhonokiol (1), 2′-methoxy-3′-formylhonokiol (2), 2′-methoxyhonokiol (3), 4-methoxyhonokiol (4), 3′,5-diformylhonokiol (5), 2′,4-dimethoxy-3′-formylhonokiol (6) and 2′,4-dimethoxyhonokiol (7) from crude sample of 3 g with purities of 98.7%, 99.3%, 98.6%, 98.2%, 99.0%, 98.4% and 99.2%, respectively. The purities and structural identification were determined by HPLC, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and mass spectroscopy.     

Determination of nucleotides,nucleosides and their transformation products in Cordyceps by ion-pairing reversed-phase liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

An ion-pairing reversed-phase liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (IP-RP-LC–MS) was developed for the determination of nucleotides, nucleosides and their transformation products in Cordyceps. Perfluorinated carboxylic acid, namely pentadecafluorooctanoic acid (PDFOA, 0.25 mM), was used as volatile ion-paring agent and a reversed-phase column (Agilent ZORBAX SB-Aq column) was used for the separation of three nucleotides namely uridine-5′-monophosphate (UMP, 0.638–10.200 μg/mL), adenosine-5′-monophosphate (AMP, 0.24–7.80 μg/mL) and guanosine-5′-monophosphate (GMP, 0.42–13.50 μg/mL), seven nucleosides including adenosine (0.55–8.85 μg/mL), guanosine (0.42–6.75 μg/mL), uridine (0.33–10.50 μg/mL), inosine (0.21–6.60 μg/mL), cytidine (0.48–15.30 μg/mL), thymidine (0.20–6.30 μg/mL) and cordycepin (0.09–1.50 μg/mL), as well as six nucleobases, adenine (0.22–6.90 μg/mL), guanine (0.26–4.20 μg/mL), uracil (0.38–12.15 μg/mL), hypoxanthine (0.13–4.20 μg/mL), cytosine (0.39–12.45 μg/mL) and thymine (0.26–8.25 μg/mL) with 5-chlorocytosine arabinoside as the internal standard. The overall LODs and LOQs were between 0.01–0.16 μg/mL and 0.04–0.41 μg/mL for the 16 analytes, respectively. The contents of 16 investigated compounds in natural and cultured Cordyceps were also determined and compared after validation of the developed IP-RP-LC-MS method. The transformations of nucleotides and nucleosides in Cordyceps were evaluated based on the quantification of the investigated compounds in three extracts, including boiling water extraction (BWE), 24 h ambient temperature water immersion (ATWE) and 56 h ATWE extracts. Two transformation pathways including UMP → uridine → uracil and GMP → guanosine → guanine were proposed in both natural Cordyceps sinensis and cultured Cordyceps militaris. The pathway of AMP → adenosine → inosine → hypoxanthine was proposed in natural C. sinensis, while AMP → adenosine → adenine in cultured C. militaris. However, the transformation of nucleotides and nucleosides was not found in commercial cultured C. sinensis.     

Preparative separation of isomeric 2-(2-quinolinyl)-1H-indene-1,3(2H)-dione monosulfonic acids of the color additive D&C Yellow No. 10 (quinoline yellow) by pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

The main components of the color additive D&C Yellow No. 10 (Quinoline Yellow, Color Index No. 47005), 2-(2-quinolinyl)-1H-indene-1,3(2H)-dione-6'-sulfonic acid (6SA) and 2-(2-quinolinyl)-1H-indene-1,3(2H)-dione-8'-sulfonic acid (8SA), were isolated from the dye mixture by pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography (CCC) in the ion-exchange mode. These positional isomers were separated from a portion of dye using sulfuric acid as the retainer acid and dodecylamine as the ligand (ion exchanger). The added ligand enhanced the partitioning of the hydrophilic components in the organic stationary phase of the two-phase solvent system that consisted of isoamyl alcohol-methyl tert.-butyl ether-acetonitrile-water (3:1:1:5). Thus, separation of 1.8 g of D&C Yellow No. 10 using the above method resulted in 0.6 g of 6SA and 0.18 g of 8SA of over 99% purity. The isolated compounds were characterized by mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance with correlated spectroscopy assignments. The study exemplifies a new field of applications for pH-zone-refining CCC, to the separation of positional isomers of strongly hydrophylic compounds containing sulfonic acid groups.     

Rapid and high-throughput purification of salvianolic acid B from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge by high-performance counter-current chromatography

A large-scale purification of salvianolic acid B from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge is presented. The method development began with selection of the solvent system, then optimization of the operating parameters and ended up with linear scale-up from an analytical to a preparative instrument. Three factors were used for method optimization and scale-up estimation: purity, process throughput and process efficiency. Preparation was achieved using a two-phase solvent system comprising hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–acetic acid–water (1:5:1.5:0.00596:5, v/v). This preparation yielded 475 mg of salvianolic acid B with a purity of 96.1% from 1.5 g of crude extract. The process throughput of crude was 2.23 g/h while process efficiency per gram of target compound was 0.769 g/h. Two factors—process environmental risk factor and process evaluation factor were used for evaluation of the separation process.     

Crystal structure,spectroscopy and magnetism of a dinuclear strongly antiferromagnetically coupled N-oxido-bridged Cu(II) compound with 2,2′-bipyridine-1,1′-dioxide (bpdo) as a ligand; [Cu2(bpdo)2Br4]

A new dinuclear compound, [Cu₂(bpdo)₂Br₄], (in which bpdo = 2,2′-Bipyridine-1,1′-dioxide), has been synthesized and fully characterized, including the X-ray and the magnetic susceptibility. Each copper(II) ion in the dinuclear compound has a distorted square pyramidal geometry with the basal plane formed by two oxygen atoms of two ligand molecules which are bridging between the Cu ions with Cu–O distances of 2.021(2) and 2.039(2) Å and two bromide atoms with Cu–Br distances of 2.3577(6) and 2.3665(7) Å. The fifth position is occupied by a non bridging oxygen atom of a ligand with a Cu–O distance of 2.197(2) Å. The distance between the Cu ions is 3.334 Å, while the Cu–O–Cu angle is 110.37(9)°. The magnetic susceptibility measurements (from 5 to 350 K) agree with a very strong antiferromagnetic interaction with a large singlet–triplet splitting (J) of −905 cm⁻¹. At high T (above 250 K) a triplet powder EPR is observed.     

Simultaneous measurement of trace monoadenosine and diadenosine monophosphate in biomimicking prebiotic synthesis using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry characterization

The method for simultaneous separation and determination of trace monoadenosine and diadenosine monophosphate (i.e. 2′-AMP, 3′-AMP, 5′-AMP and 3′-5′ ApA) in biomimicking prebiotic synthesis was developed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet (UV) detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) identification. The separation was performed on a Supelco C₁₈ column with a gradient elution (solvent A: 10 mM NH₄Ac aqueous solution; solvent B: MeOH). The flow rate was set at 1.0 ml/min. The quantitative determination was achieved by HPLC with UV detection at 260 nm. The linearity ranged from 0.5 to 100 μg/ml for each nucleotide. The limits of detection (LODs) for the four nucleotides were less than 0.30 μg/ml. The recovery ranged from 95.2 to 100.7%. The intra-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the retention times were between 0.7 and 1.1%. Both full-scan ESI-MS and -MS² for the four nucleotides under both positive and negative polarity were carried out and the possible cleavage pathways of them were depicted. The specific ions, [AMP + H]⁺ at m/z 348 and [ApA + H]⁺ at m/z 597, were chosen to characterize the four nucleotides in biomimicking prebiotic synthesis between N-(O,O-diisopropyl) phosphoryl amino acid (Dipp-aa) and adenosine. Using the proposed HPLC/UV/ESI-MS method, the concentration of 2′-AMP, 3′-AMP, 5′-AMP and 3′-5′ ApA in the biomimicking prebiotic synthesis samples were determined.     

Separation of polar betalain pigments from cacti fruits of Hylocereus polyrhizus by ion-pair high-speed countercurrent chromatography

Polar betacyanin pigments together with betaxanthins from ripe cactus fruits of Hylocereus polyrhizus (Cactaceae) were fractionated by means of preparative ion-pair high-speed countercurrent chromatography (IP-HSCCC) also using the elution–extrusion (EE) approach for a complete pigment recovery. HSCCC separations were operated in the classical ‘head-to-tail’ mode with an aqueous mobile phase. Different CCC solvent systems were evaluated in respect of influence and effectiveness of fractionation capabilities to separate the occurring pigment profile of H. polyrhizus. For that reason, the additions of two different volatile ion-pair forming perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCA) were investigated. For a direct comparison, five samples of Hylocereus pigment extract were run on preparative scale (900 mg) in 1-butanol–acetonitrile–aqueous TFA 0.7% (5:1:6, v/v/v) and the modified systems tert.-butyl methyl ether–1-butanol–acetonitrile–aqueous PFCA (2:2:1:5, v/v/v/v) using 0.7% and 1.0% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) or heptafluorobutyric acid (HFBA) in the aqueous phase, respectively. The chemical affinity to the organic stationary CCC solvent phases and in consequence the retention of these highly polar betalain pigments was significantly increased by the use of the more lipophilic fluorinated ion-pair reagent HFBA instead of TFA. The HFBA additions separated more effectively the typical cacti pigments phyllocactin and hylocerenin from betanin as well as their iso-forms. Unfortunately, similar K_D ratios and selectivity factors α around 1.0–1.1 in all tested solvent systems proved that the corresponding diastereomers, 15S-type pigments cannot be resolved from the 15R-epimers (iso-forms). Surprisingly, additions of the stronger ion-pair reagent (HFBA) resulted in a partial separation of hylocerenin from phyllocactin which were not resolved in the other solvent systems. The pigments were detected by means of HPLC-DAD and HPLC-electrospray ionization–MS using also authentic reference materials.     

Evaluation of the effect of column orientation in type-I high-speed counter-current chromatography

The performance of type-I high-speed counter-current chromatography was evaluated by changing the column inclination against the rotating centrifugal force field. The separations were performed with two different solvent systems composed of 1-butanol–acetic acid–water (4.75:0.25:5, v/v) (BAW) and hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–0.1 M HCl (1:1:1:1, v/v) (HEMW) using dipeptides and DNP-amino acid as test samples, respectively. A set of short coiled columns connected in series is mounted around the holder hub in two different ways: in the parallel orientation, all column units are arranged in parallel to each other and mounted on the holder at various angles against the horizontal plane. In the zigzag configuration, the neighboring units of the same column are mounted symmetrically forming various angles apart. In the parallel configuration, for both the BAW and HEMW systems, Sf (the retention of stationary phase) first increased as the column angle decreased from 90° to 60° and then decreased, as the column angle further decreased from 60° to 0°, while Rs (peak resolution) continually declined over the entire column angle range from 90° to 0°. But, for both solvent systems, with the zigzag configuration, retention of stationary phase and resolution both decreased as the column angle decreased from 90° to 0°. In general, Sf and Rs for separation of dipeptides in the BAW system, from 90° to 15°, is better for the parallel orientation than for the zigzag configuration. However, at 0°, Sf and Rs are better for the zigzag orientation. In the DNP-amino acid separation with the HEMW system, retention of the stationary phase and Rs for the parallel orientation is better than that for the zigzag orientation from 90° to 30°, whereas from 30° to 0° the results are opposite. Over all results of our studies revealed that the formally used column orientation [5] at 90° inclination yields the highest peak resolution in both solvent systems.     

Development and validation of an ion pair HPLC method for gemcitabine and 2′,2′-difluoro-2′-deoxyuridine determination

A reverse phase HPLC method based on ion-pair formation was set up for the simultaneous determination of gemcitabine and its metabolite 2′,2′-difluoro-2′-deoxyuridine (dFdU) in plasma samples obtained from cancer patients. The separation was performed on a μBondapack C₁₈ (300 mm × 3.9 mm i.d., 10 μm particle size) column at room temperature. The mobile phase, 5 mM pentane-1-sulfonic acid pH 3.1/methanol (96:4), was pumped at a flow rate of 1.5 mL min⁻¹. Gemcitabine and dFdU eluted in less than 16 min. Linearity, sensitivity, and reproducibility studies, which actual values met the demands for bioanalytical assays, validated the method. This assay provided pharmacokinetic data from patients treated with intravenous gemcitabine.     

Chiral metal–organic framework used as stationary phases for capillary electrochromatography

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have received great attention as novel media in separation sciences because of their fascinating structures and unusual properties. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no attempt to utilize chiral MOFs as stationary phases in capillary electrochromatography (CEC). In this study, a homochiral helical MOF [Zn₂(D-Cam)₂(4,4′-bpy)]_n (D-Cam = D-(+)-camphoric acid, 4,4′-bpy = 4,4′-bipyridine) was explored as the chiral stationary phase in open tubular capillary electrochromatography (OT-CEC) for separation of chiral compounds and isomers. The MOFs coated column has been developed using a simple procedure via MOFs post-coated on the sodium silicate layer. The baseline separations of flavanone and praziquantel were achieved on the MOFs coated column with high resolution of more than 2.10. The influences of pH, organic modifier content and buffer concentration on separation were investigated. Besides, the separations of isomers (nitrophenols and ionones) were evaluated. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for the retention time of run-to-run, day-to-day and column-to-column were 1.04%, 2.16% and 3.07%, respectively. The results demonstrated that chiral MOFs are promising for enantioseparation in CEC.     

Absolute configuration and antibiotic activity of neosartorin from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus fumigatiaffinis

Neosartorin (1) was isolated from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus fumigatiaffinis. The absolute configuration of 1, including both axial and central chirality elements, was established as (aR,5S,10R,5′S,6′S,10′R) for the first time on the basis of its electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra aided with TDDFT–ECD calculations. Neosartorin (1) exhibited substantial antibacterial activity against a broad spectrum of Gram-positive bacterial species including staphylococci, streptococci, enterococci, and Bacillus subtilis with minimal inhibitory concentrations in the range of 4–32 μg/mL. When the toxicity of 1 against eukaryotic cells was measured using a panel of different cancer cell lines such as HELA and BALB/3T3, the average IC₅₀ values exceeded 32 μg/mL.     

Uranyl(VI) complexes of [O,N,O,N′]-type diaminobis(phenolate) ligands: Syntheses,structures and extraction studies

The syntheses and crystal structures of four new uranyl complexes with [O,N,O,N′]-type ligands are described. The reaction between uranyl nitrate hexahydrate and the phenolic ligand [(N,N-bis(2-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylbenzyl)-N′,N′-dimethylethylenediamine)], H₂L1 in a 1:2 molar ratio (M to L), yields a uranyl complex with the formula [UO₂(HL1)(NO₃)] · CH₃CN (1). In the presence of a base (triethylamine, one mole per ligand mole) with the same molar ratio, the uranyl complex [UO₂(HL1)₂] (2) is formed. The reaction between uranyl nitrate hexahydrate and the ligand [(N,N-bis(2-hydroxy-3,5-di-t-butylbenzyl)-N′,N′-dimethylethylenediamine)], H₂L2, yields a uranyl complex with the formula [UO₂(HL2)(NO₃)] · 2CH₃CN (3) and the ligand [N-(2-pyridylmethyl)-N,N-bis(2-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylbenzyl)amine], H₂L3, in the presence of a base yields a uranyl complex with the formula [UO₂(HL3)₂] · 2CH₃CN (4). The molecular structures of 1–4 were verified by X-ray crystallography. The complexes 1–4 are zwitter ions with a neutral net charge. Compounds 1 and 3 are rare neutral mononuclear [UO₂(HLn)(NO₃)] complexes with the nitrate bonded in η²-fashion to the uranyl ion. Furthermore, the ability of the ligands H₂L1–H₂L4 to extract the uranyl ion from water to dichloromethane, and the selectivity of extraction with ligands H₂L1, H₃L5 (N,N-bis(2-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylbenzyl)-3-amino-1-propanol), H₂L6 · HCl (N,N-bis(2-hydroxy-5-tert-butyl-3-methylbenzyl)-1-aminobutane · HCl) and H₃L7 · HCl (N,N-bis(2-hydroxy-5-tert-butyl-3-methylbenzyl)-6-amino-1-hexanol · HCl) under varied chemical conditions were studied. As a result, the most efficient and selective ligand for uranyl ion extraction proved to be H₃L7 · HCl.     

DNA photocleavage and anticancer activity of terpyridine copper(II) complexes having phenanthroline bases

Copper(II) complexes [Cu(ph-tpy)(B)](ClO₄) (1–3), where ph-tpy is (4′-phenyl)-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine and B is N,N-donor phenanthroline base, viz. 1,10-phenanthroline (phen, 1), dipyridoquinoxaline (dpq, 2), and dipyridophenazine (dppz, 3), were prepared and characterized from analytical and spectral data. Complex 1, characterized by X-ray crystallography, shows a distorted square-pyramidal (4 + 1) CuN₅ coordination geometry having the tridentate ph-tpy ligand at the basal plane and bidentate phen bound to the axial-equatorial sites. The complexes display a d–d band near 650 nm in aqueous DMF. The complexes are avid binders to calf thymus DNA giving the binding order: 3 (dppz) > 2 (dpq) > 1 (phen). The dpq and dppz complexes show photo-induced DNA cleavage activity in red light via photo-redox pathway forming hydroxyl radicals. The cytotoxicity of the dppz complex 3 was studied by MTT assay in HeLa cancer cells. The IC₅₀ values are 3.7 and 12.4 μM in visible light of 400–700 nm and dark, respectively.     

Fluorine cleavage of the light blue heteroleptic triplet emitter FIrpic

The lifetime stability of devices containing FIrpic as emitter has been a major concern for organic blue light emitting devices (OLEDs). To gain a deeper knowledge about the purity of FIrpic (bis[2-(4,6-difluorophenyl)pyridyl-N,C2′]iridium (III)) emitters and how the purity is influenced by sublimation steps, non-sublimated and sublimated FIrpic material was analyzed via liquid chromatography coupled with electron spray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI/MS). Cleavage of an electron-withdrawing group from one of the ligands of the heteroleptic phosphorescent emitter could be identified in sublimated FIrpic material via LC/ESI/MS. A detailed chemical analysis using LC/ESI/MS was carried out for complete blue emitting devices of the following structure: indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/50 nm (α-4,4′-bis[(1-naphthyl)phenylamino]-1,1′-biphenyl) (α-NPD)/10 nm 4,4′,4″-tris(carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine (TCTA)/100 nm TCTA:8% FIrpic/50 nm 1,1′-biphenyl-4′-oxy)-bis(8-hydroxy-2-methylquinolinato)-aluminum (BAlq)/1 nm LiF/100 nm Al. Two isomers of (FIrpic-1F) could be detected in an aged OLED. Changes in the ligand systems of FIrpic, especially the loss of fluorine during the deposition process can alter the emissive properties of the blue phosphorescent emitter. Beside isomer formation and chemical degradation of FIrpic, substantial degradation was observed for the hole transport material α-NPD in driven OLEDs.     

Isolation of antioxidants from Psoralea corylifolia fruits using high-speed counter-current chromatography guided by thin layer chromatography-antioxidant autographic assay

A combinative method using high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) and thin layer chromatography (TLC) as an antioxidant autographic assay was developed to separate antioxidant components from the fruits of Psoralea corylifolia. Under the guidance of TLC bioautography, eight compounds including five flavonoids and three coumarins were successfully separated from the fruits of P. corylifolia by HSCCC with an optimized two-phase solvent system, n-hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (1:1.1:1.3:1, v/v/v/v). The separation produced 5.91 mg psoralen, 6.26 mg isopsoralen, 3.19 mg psoralidin, 0.92 mg corylifol A, and 2.43 mg bavachinin with corresponding purities of 99.5, 99.8, 99.4, 96.4, and 99.0%, as well as three sub-fractions, in a single run from 250 mg ethyl acetate fraction of P. corylifolia extract. Following an additional clean-up step by preparative TLC, 0.4 mg 8-prenyldaidzein (purity 91.7%), 4.18 mg neobavaisoflavone (purity 97.4%) and 4.36 mg isobavachalcone (purity 96.8%) were separated from the three individual sub-fractions. The structures of the isolated compounds were identified by ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. The results of antioxidant activity estimation by electron spin resonance (ESR) method showed that psoralidin was the most active antioxidant with an IC₅₀ value of 44.7 μM. This is the first report on simultaneous separation of eight compounds from P. corylifolia by HSCCC.     

Structure and emission spectra of dinuclear lanthanide(III) β-diketonate complexes with a bridging 2,2′-bipyrimidine ligand

The 2,2′-bipyrimidine (bpm) adducts of the β-diketonate complexes of Eu(III), Sm(III), or Yb(III) with 2,2′,6,6′-tetramethyl-2,4-heptanedione (tmhd) resulted in the formation of dinuclear species. The synthesis and X-ray structure of these three new dinuclear lanthanide complexes are found to be similar. Each lanthanide ion is eight coordinate, bound to six O-atoms from the β-diketonates and 2N atoms from the bridging bpm ligand. They exhibit Ln–Ln distances (Sm(III): 6.935 Å, Eu(III): 6.901 Å, Yb(III): 6.679 Å) and Ln–ligand distances that are consistent with the decrease in radii across the lanthanide series. Absorption spectra of the complexes are dominated by ligand absorptions. Both the solution and solid state emission spectra of the complexes resemble ordinary monomeric lanthanide species, indicating independent ions in the dinuclear species. Cyclic voltammetry of all the complexes appear almost identical with discernable ligand centered redox reactions. The complex with Eu(III) ions, having the lowest possible lanthanide redox potential, was not found to display a signal corresponding to metal reduction.     

Towards multimodal HPLC separations on humic acid-bonded aminopropyl silica: RPLC and LEC behavior

In the present study, metal binding property of humic acid (HA) was successfully adapted to the ligand-exchange concept, and metal-loaded immobilized humic acid was used as a ligand exchanger stationary phase for separation of some nucleosides. Humic-acid bonded aminopropyl silica (EC-HA-APS) was turned into ligand exchanger forms by loading aqueous solutions of Cu²⁺, and Co²⁺ to the column (4.6 × 150; as mm) packed with EC-HA-APS. Metal ion solutions were loaded to the column in a stepwise manner where the concentration of metal ion solution being loaded to the column was increased gradually between 5 and 100 mM. The progress of metal loading process was monitored via the breakthrough curves propagated stepwise. Ligand-exchange chromatography (LEC) studies were performed on an HPLC system, and chromatographic behaviors of the studied nucleosides (i.e. uridine, Urd; thymidine, Tyd; cytidine, Cyd; adenosine, Ado; and guanosine, Guo) were investigated on Cu²⁺ and Co²⁺ loaded forms of the EC-HA-APS (Cu-EC-HA-APS and Co-EC-HA-APS). Effect of mobile phase composition, temperature, and the type of metal ion loaded to the column on the retentive behaviors of the compounds was studied, in detail. The studied solutes exhibited mixed-mode RPLC/LEC behavior on the stationary phase. Metal-loaded column (M-EC-HA-APS) was easily regenerated into its original form, EC-HA-APS, with 98 ± 2% metal recoveries, by using aqueous mixture of EDTA + NH₃ at pH = 7.5. Thus, the stationary phase exhibited a high flexibility between RPLC and LEC modes. This property, also, made it possible to convert the stationary phase into various ligand exchanger forms by loading different metal ions. Hence, capacity and selectivity of the stationary phase towards the studied species was manipulated easily by loading different metal ions to the stationary phase. Baseline separation for the studied species was achieved on Cu-EC-HA-APS and Co-EC-HA-APS and some differentiations were observed in capacity and selectivity, depending on the type of metal loaded. Thus, being as the first endeavor on usability of immobilized HA as a ligand exchanger stationary phase, the present study is believed to be useful to understand multifunctional character of HA-based solid/stationary phases.     

Determination of alternative and conventional chelating agents as copper(II) complexes by capillary zone electrophoresis--the first use of didecyldimethylammonium bromide as a flow reversal reagent

A capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method for analyzing 11 chelating agents [β-alaninediacetic acid (β-ADA), trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (CDTA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediamine-N,N′,N′-triacetic acid (HEDTA), N-(2-hydroxyethyl)iminodiacetic acid (HEIDA), iminodiacetic acid (IDA), methylglycinediacetic acid (MGDA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), 1,3-diaminopropane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (PDTA) and triethylenetetraaminehexaacetic acid (TTHA)] as negatively charged copper(II) complexes has been established. Both conventional and alternative chelating agents were included in this study, because they are used side by side in industrial applications. In this study, didecyldimethylammonium bromide (DMDDAB) was successfully used as a flow reversal reagent for the first time in an aqueous CZE method based on phosphate BGE with UV spectrophotometric detection. In addition this new flow modifier was compared to common TTAB. Method development was done using a fused silica capillary (61 cm × 50 μm i.d.). The optimized BGE was a 105 mmol L⁻¹ phosphate buffer with TTAB or DMDDAB in the concentration 0.5 mmol L⁻¹ at pH 7.1. The measurements were done with −20 kV voltage using direct UV detection at 254 nm. In both CZE methods all 11 analyte zones were properly separated (resolutions ≥2.4), and the calibrations gave excellent correlation coefficients (≥0.998; linear range tested 0.5-2.0 mmol L⁻¹). The limits of detection were ≤34 and ≤49 μmol L⁻¹ with the method of DMDDAB and TTAB, respectively. A clear benefit of both methods was the short analysis time; all 11 complexes were detected in less than 6 and 5.5 min with the methods of TTAB and DMDDAB, respectively. The two methods were tested with dishwashing detergents and paper mill wastewater samples and proved to be suitable for practical use.     

Synthesis,spectroscopic and electrochemical characterization of copper(I) complexes with functionalized pyrazino[2,3-f]-1,10-phenanthroline

The present work reports the synthesis and spectroscopic and electrochemical characterization of homoleptic copper(I) complexes with substituted pirazino [2,3-f]-1,10-phenanthroline, RpplR′, (R = H, Me, COOH or COOMe, and R′ = H, Me) as ligand. The ligand ppl works as an acceptor of electronic density, which is delocalized mainly in the quinoxaline part of its structure. The UV–Vis spectra show that all the complexes display bands in the range 400–650 nm, which are MLCT in character. The λ_max and extinction coefficients of the MLCT band at 450 nm and the LC band do not change significatively when varying the R substituent. Nevertheless, the intensity of the shoulder around 500 nm does change; this absorption has been related to either a static or dynamic flattening distortion of the complex D_2d → D₂ symmetry. The cyclic voltammetry of the complexes shows irreversible redox processes with E_p values that do not follow the tendency expected from the donor/acceptor character of the substituents on the ligand. All the complexes studied showed no emission both in acetonitrile and dichloromethane as solvent at room temperature and under argon atmosphere.