Determination of ethyl glucuronide in urine using reversed-phase HPLC and pulsed electrochemical detection (Part II)

A direct, versatile method for the determination of ethyl glucuronide (EtG), a biomarker of ethanol consumption, in urine has been developed using reversed-phase liquid chromatography with pulsed electrochemical detection (PED). EtG and methyl glucuronide (MetG), which serves as an internal standard, are readily separated using a mobile phase consisting of 1% acetic acid/acetonitrile (98/2, v/v). Post-column addition of NaOH allows for the detection of all glucuronides using PED at a gold working electrode. Upon optimization, EtG was found to have a limit of detection of 0.03 μg/mL (7 pmol; 50 μL injection volume) and repeatability at the limit of quantitation of 1.7%R.S.D. (relative standard deviation). Solid-phase extraction (SPE) using an aminopropyl phase was used to remove interferents in urine samples prior to their analysis. Compound recovery following SPE was approximately 50 ± 2%. The forensic utility of this method was further validated by the analysis of 29 post-mortem urine specimens, whose results agreed strongly with certified determinations.     

Determination of psilocybin in hallucinogenic mushrooms by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

The determination of psilocybin was carried out by reversed-phase liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence (FL) detection. Psilocybin was labeled with 5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-1-[N-(2-aminoethyl)]sulfonamide (DNS-ED) at 60 °C for 4 h in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide (EDC) as the activation reagent. The resulting derivative was separated on a Mightysil RP-18 GP column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, i.d. 3 μm) with the mixture of 50 mM ammonium acetate (AcONH₄) and CH₃CN, and detected at 539 nm (excitation at 321 nm). The structure of the derivative was identified by HPLC-ESI-MS. A good linear relation of the calibration curve of psilocybin was observed under the proposed conditions for labeling, separation and detection. The quantification limit was 4.4 ng in 1 mg dried mushroom. The proposed procedure was successfully used for the determination of psilocybin in real samples. The contents of psilocybin in six magic mushrooms by the proposed HPLC-FL method were less than 20.0 ng in 1 mg dried samples.     

Simultaneous determination of cefotaxime and desacetylcefotaxime in real urine sample using voltammetric and high-performance liquid chromatographic methods

Two rapid, accurate and sensitive methods are developed and validated for the quantitative simultaneous determination of cefotaxime (CFX) and its active metabolite desacetylcefotaxime (DCFX) in urine.Based on the previous results which showed the four electron reduction of CFX at ≈ −0.5 V, and the new findings that DCFX reduction occurred at more positive potential (−0.23 V), the new adsorptive stripping differential pulse voltammetric (AdSDPV) method was developed for determination of CFX in the presence of DCFX. Linear responses were observed over a wide concentration range (0.07-0.52 μg/ml for CFX and 0.22-1.3 μg/ml for DCFX) in urine.The second assay involves subsequent separation on a reversed-phase HPLC column, with ultraviolet detection at 262 nm. Retention times were 4.057 and 1.960 min for CFX and DCFX, respectively. Linear responses were observed over a wide range, 0.55-6.60 μg/ml for CFX and 1.10-11.00 μg/ml for DCFX, in urine.The statistical evaluation for both methods was examined by means of within-day repeatability (n = 5) and day-to-day precision (n = 3) and was found to be satisfactory with high accuracy and precision.     

Simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in dew, rain, snow and lake water samples by ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple, fast, sensitive and accurate reversed-phase ion-pair HPLC method for simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in atmospheric liquids and lake waters has been developed. Separations were accomplished in less than 10 min using a reversed-phase C₁₈ column (150 mm × 2.00 mm i.d., 5 μm particle size) with a mobile phase containing 83% 3.0 mM ion-interaction reagent tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBA-OH) and 2.0 mM sodium phosphate buffer at pH 3.9 and 17% acetonitrile (flow rate, 0.4 mL/min). UV light absorption responses at 205 nm were linear over a wide concentration range from 100 μg/mL to the detection limits of 10 μg/L for nitrite and 5 μg/L nitrate. Quantitation was carried out by the peak area method. The relative standard deviation for the analysis of nitrite and nitrate was less than 3.0%. This method was applied for the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in dew, rain, snow and lake water samples collected in southeast Massachusetts. Nitrate was found being present at 4.79-5.99 μg/mL in dew, 1.20-2.63 μg/mL in rain, 0.32-0.60 μg/mL in snow and 0.12-0.23 μg/mL in lake water. Nitrite was only a minor species in dew (0.62-0.83 μg/mL), rain (<0.005-0.14 μg/mL), snow (0.021-0.032 μg/mL) and lake water (0.12-0.16 μg/mL). High levels of nitrite and nitrate observed in dew water droplets may constitute an important source of hydroxyl radicals in the sunny early morning.     

Separation and determination of acrylamide in potato chips by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

A simple and rapid method using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) was developed for the separation and determination of acrylamide in potato chips at low levels for the first time. The experimental conditions for the separation and quantification of acrylamide were optimized at first. The optimized conditions were: 50 mmol/L Na₂B₄O₇ and 40 mmol/L SDS at pH 10.0, 12 kV applied voltage, 76 cm total length (67 cm effective length) and 75 μm i.d. capillary, 198 nm wavelength, 15 cm high 25 s hydrodynamics sample injection, 20 °C air-cooling. The linear response of acrylamide concentration ranges from 0.5 to 100 μg/mL with high correlation coefficient (r = 0.9986, n = 9). The LOD and LOQ were estimated to be 0.1 and 0.33 μg/mL based on S/N = 3 and 10. The precision values (expressed as R.S.D.) of intra- and inter-day were 0.86-4.35% and 2.61-9.65%, respectively. Recoveries spiked at levels 2, 20, 60 μg/mL ranged between 90.86% and 99.6% with R.S.D. less than 6.5%. Finally, the developed method has been applied to the analysis of real samples and has achieved satisfactory results. All of these indicated that it was a reliable method for the quantification of acrylamide in potato chips.     

Determination of lamivudine and zidovudine in binary mixtures using first derivative spectrophotometric, first derivative of the ratio-spectra and high-performance liquid chromatography-UV methods

Three methods are presented for the simultaneous determination of lamivudine and zidovudine. The first method depends on first derivative UV spectrophotometry, with zero-crossing and peak-to-base measurement. The first derivative amplitudes at 265.6 and 271.6 nm were selected for the assay of lamivudine and zidovudine, respectively. The second method depends on first derivative of the ratio-spectra by measurements of the amplitudes at 239.5 and 245.3 nm for lamivudine and 225.1 and 251.5 nm for zidovudine. Calibration graphs were established for 1-50 μg/ml for lamivudine and 2-100 μg/ml for zidovudine. In the third method (HPLC), a reversed-phase column with a mobile phase of methanol:water:acetonitrile (70:20:10 (v/v/v)) at 0.9 ml/min flow rate was used to separate both compounds with a detection of 265.0 nm. Linearity was obtained in the concentration range of 0.025-50 μg/ml for lamivudine and 0.15-50 μg/ml for zidovudine. All of the proposed methods have been extensively validated. These methods allow a number of cost and time saving benefits. The described methods can be readily utilized for analysis of pharmaceutical formulations. There was no significant difference between the performance of all of the proposed methods regarding the mean values and standard deviations. The described HPLC method showed to be appropriate for simultaneous determination of lamivudine and zidovudine in human serum samples.     

Liquid chromatographic determination of vanadium in petroleum oils and mineral ore samples using 2-acetylpyridne-4-phenyl-3-thiosemicarbazone as derivatizing reagent

Liquid chromatographic method has been developed, based on precolumn derivatization of vanadium(V) with 2-acetylpyridine-4-phenyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (APPT). The complex is extracted in chloroform together with palladium(II), tin(II) and iron(III) and eluted and separated completely from Kromasil 100 C-18, 10 μm (25 cm × 4.6 mm i.d.) column with methanol:water:acetonitrile (60:30:10, v/v/v) with a flow rate of 1 ml/min. UV detection was at 260 nm. Linear calibration curve was obtained with 1-12.5 μg/ml vanadium(V) with detection limit of 8 ng/injection (20 μl). A number of metal ions tested did not affect the determination of vanadium. The test mixtures were analyzed for vanadium(IV) and vanadium(V) contents and relative% error was obtained ±1-8%. The method was applied for the determination of vanadium in petroleum oils and mineral ore samples with vanadium contents of 0.32-2.3 and 121.7-717.3 μg/g with R.S.D. of 1.5-4.5 and 0.38-4.7%, respectively. The results correlated with reported values and by atomic absorption spectrophotometry.     

Determination of kynurenine levels in rat plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with pre-column fluorescence derivatization

Kynurenine (KYN), a tryptophan metabolite, is a crucial compound for modulating neurotransmission because it can be metabolized in vivo into both quinolinic acid and kynurenic acid, which are the agonist and antagonist, respectively, of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor. For the highly sensitive detection of KYN by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), a fluorescence derivatization of KYN with a benzofurazan-type fluorogenic reagent, 4-N,N-dimethylaminosulfonyl-7-fluoro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (DBD-F) was investigated in the present study. KYN was derivatized with DBD-F (DBD-KYN) at 60 °C for 30 min, and separated on an octadecylsilica column with a gradient elution of the mobile phase, which consists of 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile/methanol/water. DBD-KYN was detected fluorimetrically at 553 nm with an excitation wavelength of 431 nm. The limits of detection and quantification were approximately 0.30 pmol [signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) 3] and 1.0 pmol (S/N, 10) on column, respectively. Plasma KYN levels were successfully determined using 10 μL of rat plasma with satisfactory precision and accuracy. Intra- and inter-day precisions and accuracies were 1.7-6.8%, and −10 to 9.6%, respectively. KYN levels in plasma of male Sprague-Dawley rats (7 weeks old) were approximately 2.4 ± 0.32 μmol L⁻¹ (n = 4). The proposed HPLC method was applied to determine KYN levels in the plasma of ketamine-treated rats—the animal model of schizophrenia.     

Ultra-performance liquid chromatographic-electrospray mass spectrometric determination (UPLC-ESI-MS) of O-demethylated metabolite of paeonol in vitro: Assay development, human liver microsome activities and species differences

A simple and sensitive method for determination of the O-demethylation activity of rat, dog, minipig, and human liver micrsomes toward paeonol using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with mass detection (UPLC-MS) has been developed. The method uses chemically synthesized O-demethylated metabolite of paeonol (2,4-dihydroxyacetophenone, DHA) as a standard for method validation. Validation was done with respect to specificity, linearity, detection limit, recovery, stability, precision and accuracy. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a UPLC BEH C₁₈ column (50 mm × 2.1 mm i.d., 1.7 μm), with phase of acetonitrile-water (ratio 30:70). Selective ion reaction (SIR) monitor was specific for paeonol, DHA and I.S. The method was specific since there were no interference peaks from the reaction matrix. The calibration curve for DHA was linear from 0.5-100 μM with r² = 0.9999. The newly developed method has good precision and accuracy. The method was successfully used to determine the kinetics of DHA activities toward paeonol in liver microsomes from different species. Dog liver microsomes (DLMs) were the most active in paeonol O-demethylation (709.7 pmol/min/mg protein) followed by rat liver microsomes (RLMs) (579.6 pmol/min/mg protein), HLMs (569.3 pmol/min/mg protein), and then minipig liver microsomes (PLMs) (417.3 pmol/min/mg protein). The developed method was appropriated for rapid screening paeonol O-demethylation activity in liver microsomes from different species.     

Online photocatalytic device for highly selective pre-column fluorescence derivatization of 5-hydroxyindoles with benzylamine

A fluorimetric liquid chromatographic method for the determination of 5-hydroxyindoles based on the benzylamine derivatization process mediated through an online photocatalytic oxidation has been developed. In this study, we used a photocatalytic column comprising tefzel tubing packed with TiO₂-coated glass beads, as a pre-column derivatization reactor. The fluorescence derivatization of 5-hydroxyindoles using benzylamine proceeded during their passage through the reaction column under near-UV irradiation. The 5-hydroxyindole derivatives were separated continuously on a reversed-phase liquid chromatography within 50 min, using 100 mM acetate buffer (pH 4.6)-acetonitrile (72:28, v/v; isocratic elution) containing 3 mM sodium octanesulfonate; the samples were detected fluorimetrically at 465 nm upon excitation at 350 nm. The detection limits (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) of the 5-hydroxyindoles were in the range from 160 to 360 fmol per 5 μL injection. We have applied this method, which requires minimal sample pre-treatment, to the determination of 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid in human urine.     

Development of a rapid and sensitive method for determination of cysteine/cystine ratio in chemically defined media

Two rapid, sensitive and quantitative methods for the determination of the cysteine and cystine ratio in complex defined media feedstock using monolithic reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) and RPLC–MS are presented. Cysteine is pre-derivatised with purified 2-chloro-1-methylquinolinium tetrafluoroborate (CMQT) and separated from other derivatisation products on a narrow-bore 50 mm × 2 mm I.D. monolithic C₁₈ column with UV detection at 355 nm. For reversed-phase LC (RPLC) the separation is carried out isocratically using a mobile phase of 50 mM trichloroacetic acid (TCA) adjusted to pH 2.5 with lithium hydroxide (LiOH) and acetonitrile (83:14) pumped at 1.5 mL/min with an elevated column temperature. For RPLC–MS an ammonium acetate and acetonitrile gradient method was developed with a reduced flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The treatment of the samples consisted of dividing them into two aliquots, the first aliquot is analysed for cysteine and the second aliquot is analysed for cystine after its quantitative reduction to cysteine using tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP). Both methods are linear, with R² > 0.999 for 0.25–500 μM for cysteine and 0.25–250 μM for cystine using the LC–UV method, sensitive, with detection limit of 36 nM for cysteine, and precise, with ≤1.1% RSD for both retention time and peak area (n = 6). Samples (n = 31) of an industry standard and supplied chemically defined media feedstock were analysed, finding cysteine ranging from 1.56 to 2.26 μg/mL and cystine from 1062.02 to 1348.13 μg/mL.     

Relative quantification of enantiomers of chiral amines by high-throughput LC–ESI-MS/MS using isotopic variants of light and heavy l-pyroglutamic acids as the derivatization reagents

l-Pyroglutamic acid (l-PGA) was evaluated as a chiral labeling reagent for the enantioseparation of chiral amines in terms of separation efficiency by reversed-phase chromatography and detection sensitivity by ESI-MS/MS. Several amines and amino acid methyl esters were used as typical representatives of the chiral amines. Both enantiomers of the chiral amines were easily labeled with l-PGAs at room temperature for 60 min in the presence of 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide and 1-hydroxy-1H-benzotriazole as the activation reagents. The resulting diastereomers were completely separated by reversed-phase chromatography using the small particle (1.7 μm) ODS column (Rs = 1.6–6.8). A highly sensitive detection at a low-fmol level (1–4 fmol) was also obtained from the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) chromatograms. Therefore, a high-throughput determination was achieved by the present UPLC–ESI-MS/MS method.     

Fast simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of naphazoline nitrate and methylparaben by sequential injection chromatography

Fast simultaneous determination of naphazoline nitrate and methylparaben in pharmaceuticals using separation method based on a novel reversed-phase sequential injection chromatography (SIC) is described in this contribution as an alternative to classical HPLC. A Chromolith™ Flash RP-18e (25 mm × 4.6 mm) column (Merck^®, Germany) and a FIAlab^® 3000 system (USA) with a six-port selection valve and 5.0 ml syringe pump were used for sequential injection chromatographic separations in our study. The mobile phase used was methanol/water (40:65, v/v), pH 5.2 adjusted with triethylamine 0.8 μl ml⁻¹ and acetic acid, at flow rate 0.9 ml min⁻¹. UV detection provided by DAD detector and two wavelengths were simultaneously monitored for increasing sensitivity of determination. Detector was set up at 220 nm for naphazoline nitrate and 256 nm for methylparaben and ethylparaben (IS). There is no necessity to use pre-adjustment of sample of nasal drops (only dilution with mobile phase) so the time of the whole analysis is very short. The validation parameters have shown good results: linearity of determination for both components (naphazoline nitrate and methylparaben), correlation coefficient >0.999; repeatability of determination (R.S.D.) in the range 0.5-1.6% at three different concentration levels, detection limits 0.02 μg ml⁻¹ (naphazoline nitrate) and 0.20 μg ml⁻¹ (methylparaben and ethylparaben), and recovery from the pharmaceutical preparations in the range 100.06-102.55%. The chromatographic resolution between peaks of compounds was more than 4.0 and analysis time was less than 4 min under the optimal conditions. The advantages and drawbacks of SIC against classical HPLC are discussed showing that SIC can be an advantageous alternative in many cases.     

Fluorimetric assay for measuring Dns-His-Lys-Arg-His-Lys cleaving enzyme using high-performance liquid chromatography

A rapid and sensitive assay for the determination of Dns-His-Lys-Arg-His-Lys cleaving enzyme activity is reported. This assay is based on fluorimetric detection of a dansylated dipeptide, 5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl-His-Lys, enzymatically formed from the substrate 5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl-His-Lys-Arg-His-d-Lys, after separation by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a C-18 reversed-phase column by isocratic elution. This assay is sensitive enough to measure 5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl-His-Lys at concentrations as low as 7 pmol, and yields highly reproducible results and requires less than 9.0 min per sample for separation and quantitation. The optimum pH for Dns-His-Lys-Arg-His-Lys cleaving enzyme activity was 7.5-8.0. The Michaelis constant (K_m) and the maximum velocity (V_max) values were 33.3 μM and 47.07 pmol/(μg h), respectively with the use of enzyme extract obtained from bovine pituitary. By using this assay, axonal transport of this enzyme activity was observed 48 h after double ligations of rat sciatic nerves. The high sensitivity and selectivity of this assay would be useful for clarification of the physiological role of this enzyme.     

Simultaneous determination of angiotensins II and 1-7 by capillary zone electrophoresis in plasma and urine from hypertensive rats

We describe the procedure developed for the simultaneous detection and quantification of angiotensin II and angiotensin-(1-7), by capillary zone electrophoresis with UV detection by photodiode-array, at a wavelength of 200 nm, in the plasma and urine from hypertensive rats. Optimal separation was achieved with a 100 mM boric acid + 3 mM tartaric acid + 10 fM gold (III) chloride electrolyte solution at pH 9.80. The applied voltage was 30 kV and the capillary temperature was kept constant at 20 °C. The method was over the concentration range of 0.01-500 pmol/mL. All determination coefficients were higher or equal to 0.9985. Limits of detection and quantification for angiotensin II were 0.0110 pmol/mL (S/N = 3) and 0.0195 pmol/mL (S/N = 5), respectively. While for angiotensin-(1-7), the limits were 0.0112 pmol/mL (S/N = 3) and 0.0193 pmol/mL (S/N = 5), respectively. The present method offers a time-saving way to simultaneous determination of angiotensin II and angiotensin-(1-7), since it can be completed in 10 min, compared to other methodologies reported in the literature for capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography, which require more than 1 h for analysis of complex matrices, such as plasma and urine. The procedure is illustrated by experiments that quantify simultaneously angiotensin II and angiotensin-(1-7) in plasma and urine from hypertensive and normotensive rats, with and without antihypertensive treatment. The levels of angiotensin II and angiotensin-(1-7) detected in the experimental model, resulted in a recovery of 99.00-106.01% and a reproducibility of less than 10%. The proposed analytical method is a use full tool for the simultaneous detection of angiotensin II and angiotensin-(1-7) implicated in vascular remodeling in pathologies such as hypertension.     

Determination of biothiols by a novel on-line HPLC-DTNB assay with post-column detection

A novel on-line HPLC-DTNB method was developed for the selective determination of biologically important thiols (biothiols) such as l-cysteine (Cys), glutathione (GSH), homocysteine (HCys), N-acetylcysteine (NAC), and 1,4-dithioerythritol (DTE) in pharmaceuticals and tissue homogenates. The biothiols were separated on C18 column using gradient elution, reacted with the postcolumn reagent, DTNB in 0.5% M-β-CD (w/v) solution at pH 8, to form yellow-colored 5-thio-2-nitrobenzoic acid (TNB), and monitored with a PDA detector (λ = 410 nm). With the optimized conditions for chromatography and the post-column derivatization, 40 nM of NAC, 40 nM of Cys, and 50 nM of GSH can be determined. The relative standard deviations of the recommended method were in the range of 3.2–5.4% for 50 μM biothiols. The negative peaks of biothiol constituents were monitored by measuring the increase in absorbance due to TNB chromophore. The detection limits of biothiols at 410 nm (in the range of 0.04–0.58 μM) after post-column derivatization with DTNB + M-β-CD were much lower than those at 205 nm UV-detection without derivatization, and were distinctly lower than those with post-column DTNB alone. The method is rapid, inexpensive, versatile, nonlaborious, uses stable reagents, and enables the on-line qualitative and quantitative estimation of biothiol constituents of biological fluids and pharmaceuticals.     

Trace determination of nine haloacetic acids in drinking water by liquid chromatography–electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

A simple, fast and sensitive liquid chromatography–electrospray tandem mass spectrometry method was established for trace levels of nine haloacetic acids (HAAs) in drinking water. Water samples were removed of residual chlorine by adding l-ascorbic acid, and directly injected after filtered by 0.22 μm membrane. Nine HAAs were separated by liquid chromatography in 7.5 min, and the limits of detection were generally between 0.16 and 0.99 μg/L except for chlorodibromoacetic acid (1.44 μg/L) and tribromoacetic acid (8.87 μg/L). The mean recoveries of nine target compounds in spiked drinking water samples were 80.1–108%, and no apparent signal suppression was observed. Finally, this method was applied to determine HAAs in the tap water samples collected from five waterworks in Shandong, China. Nine HAAs except for monochloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid, dibromochloroacetic acid and tribromoacetic acid were detected, and the total concentrations were 7.79–36.5 μg/L. The determination results well met the first stage of the Disinfectants/Disinfection By-Products (D/DBP) Rules established by U.S.EPA and Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality of WHO.     

Sensitive determination of pipecolic acid in serum by high-performance liquid chromatography using 4-(5,6-dimethoxy-2-phthalimidinyl)-2-methoxyphenylsulfonyl chloride as a fluorescent labelling reagent

A simple and highly sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the determination of pipecolic acid (PA) in serum was developed. Pipecolic acid and nipecotic acid (internal standard (IS)) were derivatised with 4-(5,6-dimethoxy-2-phthalimidinyl)-2-methoxyphenylsulfonyl chloride (DMS-Cl) to produce fluorescent sulfonamides. The labelling reaction was carried out at 70 °C for 15 min at pH 9.0. The fluorescent derivatives were separated on a reversed-phase column (45 °C) with a stepwise elution using methanol/acetonitrile/10 mmol l⁻¹ acetic acid (42:5:53) and methanol at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min and detected at excitation and emission wavelengths of 316 and 403 nm, respectively. The labelling yield was 100.8%. The detection limit of pipecolic acid was 4 fmol at signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The within-day and day-to-day relative standard deviations were 3.3-8.1 and 1.4-6.4%, respectively. The concentration of pipecolic acid in normal human serum was 1.09±0.37 μmol l⁻¹.     

Sequential injection chromatographic determination of ambroxol hydrochloride and doxycycline in pharmaceutical preparations

A new separation method based on a novel reversed-phase sequential injection chromatography (SIC) technique was used for simultaneous determination of ambroxol hydrochloride and doxycycline in pharmaceutical preparations in this contribution.The coupling of short monolith with SIA system results in an implementation of separation step to until no-separation low-pressure method.A Chromolith^® Flash RP-18e, 25-4.6 mm column (Merck, Germany) and a FIAlab^® 3000 system (USA) with a six-port selection valve and 5 ml syringe were used for sequential injection chromatographic separations in our study. The mobile phase used was acetonitrile-water (20:90, v/v), pH 2.5 adjusted with 98% phosphoric acid, flow rate 0.48 ml min⁻¹, UV detection was at 213 nm.The validation parameters have shown good results: linearity of determination for both compounds including internal standard (ethylparaben) >0.999; repeatability of determination (R.S.D.) in the range 0.5-5.4% at three different concentration levels, detection limits in the range 0.5-2.0 μg ml⁻¹, and recovery from the pharmaceutical preparation in the range 99.3-99.9%. The chromatographic resolution between peak compounds was >5.0 and analysis time was <9 min under the optimal conditions. The method was found to be applicable for routine analysis of the active compounds ambroxol hydrochloride and doxycycline in various pharmaceutical preparations.     

Ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of alkylphenols in soil

A novel method has been developed for the determination of alkylphenols in soil by ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography employing small particle sizes, combined with tandem mass spectrometry. Soil samples were extracted with pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and then cleaned with solid-phase extraction (SPE). The extracts were separated on C18 column (1.7 μm, 50 mm × 2.1 mm) with a gradient elution and a mobile phase consisting of water and acetonitrile, and then detected by an electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in negative ion mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Compared with traditional liquid chromatography, it took ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography much less time to analyze alkylphenols. Additionally, the ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method produces satisfactory reliability, sensitivity, and accuracy. The average recoveries of the three target analytes were 74.0–103.4%, with the RSD < 15%. The calibration curves for alkylphenols were linear within the range of 0.01–0.4 μg/ml, with the correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. When 10 g soil sample was used for analysis, the limits of quantification (LOQs) of the three alkylphenols were all 1.0 μg/kg.