Chemometrics-Based Process Analytical Technology (PAT) Tools: Applications and Adaptation in Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Industries

Process analytical technology (PAT) is used to monitor and control critical process parameters in raw materials and in-process products to maintain the critical quality attributes and build quality into the product. Process analytical technology can be successfully implemented in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries not only to impart quality into the products but also to prevent out-of-specifications and improve the productivity. PAT implementation eliminates the drawbacks of traditional methods which involves excessive sampling and facilitates rapid testing through direct sampling without any destruction of sample. However, to successfully adapt PAT tools into pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical environment, thorough understanding of the process is needed along with mathematical and statistical tools to analyze large multidimensional spectral data generated by PAT tools. Chemometrics is a chemical discipline which incorporates both statistical and mathematical methods to obtain and analyze relevant information from PAT spectral tools. Applications of commonly used PAT tools in combination with appropriate chemometric method along with their advantages and working principle are discussed. Finally, systematic application of PAT tools in biopharmaceutical environment to control critical process parameters for achieving product quality is diagrammatically represented.     

Droplet-based micro-flow chemiluminescence system for in vivo glucose determination by microdialysis sampling.

A micro-flow chemiluminescence (CL) system in vivo for glucose determination by the on-line microdialysis sampling is described in this paper. The micro-flow CL system uses discrete sample droplets, which formed at the tip of the capillary with the sampling volume of 4.5 microl. The sol-gel method is introduced to co-immobilize horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and glucose oxidase (GOD) on the inside surface of the micro-flow cell which was fabricated in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The CL detection involved enzymatic oxidation of glucose to D-gluconic acid and H2O2, then H2O2 oxidizing luminol to produce CL in presence of HRP. The microdialysis probe was utilized for sampling in the rabbit blood; the sample throughput was 20 h(-1). The glucose level in blood of the rabbit was on-line monitored with good results.     

Fast and efficient size-based separations of polymers using ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography

Ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) has great potential for the separations of both small molecules and polymers. However, the implementation of UHPLC for the analysis of macromolecules invokes several problems. First, to provide information on the molecular-weight distribution of a polymer, size-exclusion (SEC) columns with specific pore sizes are needed. Development of packing materials with large pore diameters and pore volumes which are mechanically stable at ultra-high-pressures is a technological challenge. Additionally, narrow-bore columns are typically used in UHPLC to minimize the problem of heat dissipation. Such columns pose stringent requirements on the extra-column dispersion, especially for large (slowly diffusing) molecules. Finally, UHPLC conditions generate high shear rates, which may affect polymer chains. The possibilities and limitations of UHPLC for size-based separations of polymers are addressed in the present study. We demonstrate the feasibility of conducting efficient and very fast size-based separations of polymers using conventional and wide-bore (4.6 mm I.D.) UHPLC columns. The wider columns allow minimization of the extra-column contribution to the observed peak widths down to an insignificant level. Reliable SEC separations of polymers with molecular weights up to ca. 50 kDa are achieved within less than 1 min at pressures of about 66 MPa. Due to the small particles used in UHPLC it is possible to separate high-molecular-weight polymers (50 kDa ≤ M(r) ≤ 1-3 MDa, upper limit depends on the flow rate) in the hydrodynamic-chromatography (HDC) mode. Very fast and efficient HDC separations are presented. For very large polymer molecules (typically larger than several MDa, depending on the flow rate) two chromatographic peaks are observed. This is attributed to the onset of molecular deformation at high shear rates and the simultaneous actions of hydrodynamic and slalom chromatography.     

Fast online emission monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in wastewater and product streams (using stripping with direct steam injection)

Open-loop stripping analysis (also referred to as dynamic headspace) is a very flexible and robust technology for online monitoring of volatile organic compounds in wastewater or coolant. However, the quality and reliability of the analytical results depend strongly on the temperature during the stripping process. Hence, the careful and constant heating of the liquid phase inside the stripping column is a critical parameter. In addition, this stripping at high temperatures extends the spectrum of traceable organics to less volatile and more polar compounds with detection limits down to the ppm-level. This paper presents a novel and promising approach for fast, efficient, and constant heating by the direct injection of process steam into the strip medium. The performance of the system is demonstrated for temperatures up to 75 °C and traces of various hydrocarbons in water (e.g., tetrahydrofuran, methanol, 1-propanol, n-butanol, ethylbenzene).     

Process analytical technology (PAT) for biopharmaceutical products

The “Pharmaceutical Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs) for the 21st Century—A Risk Based Approach” initiative announced by the FDA in August 2002 to improve and modernize pharmaceutical manufacturing facilitated adoption of process analytical technology (PAT) by the pharmaceutical industry. The potential for improved operational control and compliance resulting from continuous real-time quality assurance was highlighted as a likely benefit that would result from PAT implementation. A considerable amount of work has been done on this topic by academic and industrial contributors in the last decade. In this paper, we will start with a brief overview of evolution of PAT concepts and a review of their application in the wider pharmaceutical industry. The rest of the paper focuses on PAT applications for biotech processes with emphasis on developments in the last five years. It is our observation that while significant advances have been accomplished with regard to our ability to analyze/monitor key process and quality attributes in the biotech industry, much more needs to be done with regard to utilizing the collected data for subsequent control of the process, to achieve optimum yield and product quality. The latter is necessary to achieve the benefits that will result from PAT implementation.     

Polymerization shrinkage of (meth)acrylate determined by reflective laser beam scanning

The real‐time study of the shrinkage during UV‐curing of (meth)acrylate monomers is limited due to the very fast curing rate, their thin sample geometry (<100 μm), and low viscosity. We report a reflective laser scanning system for direct measurement of UV‐curing shrinkage. A low‐power laser beam at a wavelength of 650 nm, different from the polymerization wavelength (395 nm), was used. This noncontact method of measurement makes it possible to analyze the thin liquid monomer with a very low shrinkage (measuring accuracy 0.02 μm), and very fast curing rate (fast sampling speed of 50 KHz). Eight different kinds of UV monomers were tested using 2–5 mg specimens, and the shrinkage process was examined. The results proved that this new method was accurate and precise, and could be applied to different kinds of (meth)acrylates. Furthermore, the shrinkage capability of acrylic double bonds was determined as 23.98 mL/mol using this novel method. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012     

Real-time Event Recognition and Analysis System for Nanopore Study

To achieve fast and accurate analysis of weak current signal of nanopore-based single molecule detection, an online data process based on adaptive threshold algorithm with data buffering technique and finite impulse response filtering was designed. A software system based on the data process was developed for online recognition and analysis of nanopore events during nanopore experiment. To testify the performance of the algorithm and software system, ideal signals with different noise level (20–100 pA) were generated at bandwidth ranging from 3 kHz to 100 kHz. The result showed that this software system was stable at different bandwidths and sampling rates and could be used in analyzing the signals at high noise. The proposed software system was further applied to aerolysin nanopore experiment for detection of poly(dA)₄ molecules. The results showed that the data process system could be applied in real nanopore recording experiment with high accuracy and speed.     

Consideration of some sampling problems in the on-line analysis of batch processes by low-field NMR spectrometry

A low-field medium-resolution NMR spectrometer, with an operating frequency of 29 MHz for 1H, has been assessed for on-line process analysis. A flow cell that incorporates a pre-magnetisation region has been developed to minimise the decrease in the signal owing to incomplete polarisation effects. The homogeneous esterification reaction of crotonic acid and 2-butanol was monitored using a simple sampling loop; it was possible to monitor the progression of the reaction through changes in CH signal areas of butanol and butyl crotonate. On-line analysis of heterogeneous water-toluene mixtures proved more challenging and a fast sampling loop system was devised for use with a 5 L reactor. The fast sampling loop operated at a flow rate of 8 L min(-1) and a secondary sampling loop was used to pass a sub-sample through the NMR analyser at a slower (mL min(-1)) rate. It was shown that even with super-isokinetic sampling conditions, unrepresentative sampling could occur owing to inadequate mixing in the reactor. However, it was still possible to relate the 1H NMR signal obtained at a flow rate of 60 mL min(-1) to the composition of the reactor contents.     

The slow-scale stochastic simulation algorithm

Reactions in real chemical systems often take place on vastly different time scales, with "fast" reaction channels firing very much more frequently than "slow" ones. These firings will be interdependent if, as is usually the case, the fast and slow reactions involve some of the same species. An exact stochastic simulation of such a system will necessarily spend most of its time simulating the more numerous fast reaction events. This is a frustratingly inefficient allocation of computational effort when dynamical stiffness is present, since in that case a fast reaction event will be of much less importance to the system's evolution than will a slow reaction event. For such situations, this paper develops a systematic approximate theory that allows one to stochastically advance the system in time by simulating the firings of only the slow reaction events. Developing an effective strategy to implement this theory poses some challenges, but as is illustrated here for two simple systems, when those challenges can be overcome, very substantial increases in simulation speed can be realized.     

Recent trends in microdialysis sampling integrated with conventional and microanalytical systems for monitoring biological events: A review

Microdialysis (MD) is a sampling technique that can be employed to monitor biological events both in vivo and in vitro. When it is coupled to an analytical system, microdialysis can provide near real-time information on the time-dependent concentration changes of analytes in the extracellular space or other aqueous environments. Online systems for the analysis of microdialysis samples enable fast, selective and sensitive analysis while preserving the temporal information. Analytical methods employed for online analysis include liquid chromatography (LC), capillary (CE) and microchip electrophoresis and flow-through biosensor devices. This review article provides an overview of microdialysis sampling and online analysis systems with emphasis on in vivo analysis. Factors that affect the frequency of analysis and, hence, the temporal resolution of these systems are also discussed.     

An efficient etherification of Ginkgol biloba extracts with fewer side effects in a micro-flow system

In this study, etherification of ginkgolide B and dimethylaminoethyl chloride hydrochloride was investigated as a model reaction in a micro-flow system (MFS), providing the resulting ethers in high yield with fewer side effects. Meanwhile, this novel process in MFS worked well for other ginkgolides from Ginkgol biloba and halides, giving moderate yields.     

Fast chromatographic separation for the quantitation of the main flavone dyes in Reseda luteola (weld)

In the past decades, there has been a renewed interest in the use of natural dye plants for textile dyeing, e.g. Reseda luteola (weld). Its main yellow dye constituents are the flavones luteolin-7,3'-O-diglucoside, luteolin-7-O-glucoside and luteolin. The aim of this work was to develop a simple validated industrially usable quantitative method to assess the flavone content of R. luteola samples. The flavones were overnight extracted from the dried and ground aerial parts of the plant at room temperature via maceration with methanol-water 8:2. Afterwards, they were quantified through internal standardisation against chrysin by RP-HPLC-UV at 345 nm. The efficiency of the one-step extraction was 95%. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) were ≤ 1 ng and ≤ 3 ng, respectively, providing ample sensitivity for the purpose. The precision expressed as relative standard deviation of the entire method was <6.5% for the combined content of luteolin-7,3'-O-diglucoside, luteolin-7-O-glucoside and luteolin. The average absolute recovery (accuracy) at three spiking levels was 102% (range: 98-107%) and the relative recovery ranged from 99 to 102%. The separation was initially carried out on a traditional 250 mm × 4.6 mm 5 μm HPLC column (80 min run time, 35.9 mL MeOH). It was then speeded up by the use of a 50 mm × 3.0mm 1.8 μm UHPLC column (5 min run time, 1.4 mL MeCN), while still using a conventional HPLC system. Whereas, the retention times on the UHPLC column were relatively less reproducible, cross-validation showed that the quantitation of luteolin-7,3'-O-diglucoside, luteolin-7-O-glucoside and luteolin was not statistically significantly different, with comparable precision. The method using the UHPLC column is more sensitive. The analytical method described meets the demand for a very small manpower input per sample and uses standard laboratory equipment. Usage of short UHPLC columns opens up interesting possibilities for modernising HPLC-based phytochemical analyses.     

A fast and simple approach for the quantification of 40 illicit drugs,medicines, and pesticides in blood and urine samples by UHPLC‐MS/MS

A fast and simple approach to overcome challenges in emergency toxicological analysis, using ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐MS/MS) has been developed, for the detection of analytes in blood and urine samples from the following drug classes: analgesics, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, drugs of abuse, and pesticides. These substances are relevant in the context of emergency toxicology in Brazil. The sample preparation procedure was relatively easy and fast to perform. The method was fully validated giving limits of in the range of 0.5 and 20 ng mL^?1 for blood and urine samples. The intraday and interday precision and accuracy were considered adequate for all analytes once the relative standard deviation (RSD) (%) was lower than 20% for quality control (QC) low and lower than 15% for CQ medium and high. The developed method was successfully applied to 320 real samples collected at the Poison Control Center of São Paulo, and 89.1% have shown to be positive for some of the analytes. This confirms its applicability and importance to emergency toxicological analysis, and it could be very useful in both fields of clinical and forensic toxicology.     

Selective oxidation of alkanes with molecular oxygen and acetaldehyde in compressed (supercritical) carbon dioxide as reaction medium

The oxidation of cycloalkanes or alkylarenes with molecular oxygen and acetaldehyde as sacrificial co-reductant occurs efficiently in compressed (supercritical) carbon dioxide (scCO2) under mild multiphase conditions. No catalyst is required and high-pressure ATR-FTIR online measurements show that a radical reaction pathway is heterogeneously initiated by the stainless steel of the reactor walls. For secondary carbon atoms, high ketone to alcohol ratios are observed (3.5-7.9), most probably due to fast consecutive oxidation of alcoholic intermediates. Since C--C scission reactions are detected only to a very small extent, tertiary carbon atoms are transformed into the corresponding alcohols with high selectivity. Detailed analysis of the product distributions and other mechanistic evidence suggest that acetaldehyde acts not only as the sacrificial oxygen acceptor, but also as an efficient H-atom donor for peroxo and oxo radicals and as a crucial reductant for hydroperoxo intermediates. In comparison to other inert gases such as compressed N2 or Ar, the use of carbon dioxide was shown to increase the yields of alkane oxygenates under identical reaction conditions.     

A tetranuclear Cr(III)Ni(II)3 cyano-bridged complex based on M(tacn) derivative building blocks

The reaction of Cr(Bztacn)(CN)3 (Bztacn is 1,4,7-trisbenzyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane) with Ni(iPrtacn)Cl2 (iPrtacn is 1,4,7-trisisopropyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane) affords a CrNi3 tetranuclear complex. Variable temperature and magnetization versus field measurements show a S = 9/2 ground state and an appreciable magnetic anisotropy with a negative D(9/2) value equal to -0.54 cm(-1). Magnetization studies on one single crystal using a micro-SQUID show a fast tunneling process at zero field at very low temperature.     

Online coupling of reverse-phase and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography for protein and glycoprotein characterization

We have developed a novel system for coupling reverse-phase (RP) and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) online in a micro-flow scheme. In this approach, the inherent solvent incompatibility between RP and HILIC is overcome through the use of constant-pressure online solvent mixing, which allows our system to perform efficient separations of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds for mass spectrometry-based proteomics applications. When analyzing the tryptic digests of bovine serum albumin, ribonuclease B, and horseradish peroxidase, we observed near-identical coverage of peptides and glycopeptides when using online RP-HILIC—with only a single sample injection event—as we did from two separate RP and HILIC analyses. The coupled system was also capable of concurrently characterizing the peptide and glycan portions of deglycosylated glycoproteins from one injection event, as confirmed, for example, through our detection of 23 novel glycans from turkey ovalbumin. Finally, we validated the applicability of using RP-HILIC for the analysis of highly complex biological samples (mouse chondrocyte lysate, deglycosylated human serum). The enhanced coverage and efficiency of online RP-HILIC makes it a viable technique for the comprehensive separation of components displaying dramatically different hydrophobicities, such as peptides, glycopeptides, and glycans.     

Fast log P determination by ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with UV and mass spectrometry detections

Ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) systems able to work with columns packed with sub-2 μm particles offer very fast methods to determine the lipophilicity of new chemical entities. The careful development of the most suitable experimental conditions presented here will help medicinal chemists for high-throughput screening (HTS) log P _oct measurements. The approach was optimized using a well-balanced set of 38 model compounds and a series of 28 basic compounds such as β-blockers, local anesthetics, piperazines, clonidine, and derivatives. Different organic modifiers and hybrid stationary phases packed with 1.7-μm particles were evaluated in isocratic as well as gradient modes, and the advantages and limitations of tested conditions pointed out. The UHPLC approach offered a significant enhancement over the classical HPLC methods, by a factor 50 in the lipophilicity determination throughput. The hyphenation of UHPLC with MS detection allowed a further increase in the throughput. Data and results reported herein prove that the UHPLC-MS method can represent a progress in the HTS-measurement of lipophilicity due to its speed (at least a factor of 500 with respect to HPLC approaches) and to an extended field of application. Figure The UHPLC approach described here greatly enhanced the time required for log P determination (5' min by compound using UV detection) and, at least, 8 compounds measured in a 5' run when Mass Spectrometry detection in used. These developments offer to medicinal chemists a high-throughput method to estimate the lipophilicity of NCEs Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Experimental section for capillary electrophoresis (CE) measurements, list of the 38 compounds of the calibration set and solvatochromic analyses of the extrapolated retention factors and partition coefficients.     

NMR spectroscopy goes mobile: Using NMR as process analytical technology at the fume hood

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is potentially a very powerful process analytical technology (PAT) tool as it gives an atomic resolution picture of the reaction mixture without the need for chromatography. NMR is well suited for interrogating transient intermediates, providing kinetic information via NMR active nuclei, and most importantly provides universally quantitative information for all species in solution. This contrasts with commonly used PAT instruments, such as Raman or Flow-infrared (IR), which requires a separate calibration curve for every component of the reaction mixture. To date, the large footprint of high-field (≥400 MHz) NMR spectrometers and the immobility of superconducting magnets, coupled with strict requirements for the architecture for the room it is to be installed, have been a major obstacle to using this technology right next to fume hoods where chemists perform synthetic work. Here, we describe the use of a small, lightweight 60 MHz Benchtop NMR system (Nanalysis Pro-60) located on a mobile platform, that was used to monitor both small and intermediate scale Grignard formation and coupling reactions. We also show how low field NMR can provide a deceptively simple yes/no answer (for a system that would otherwise require laborious off-line testing) in the enrichment of one component versus another in a kilogram scale distillation. Benchtop NMR was also used to derive molecule specific information from Flow-IR, a technology found in most manufacturing sites, and compare the ease at which the concentrations of the reaction mixtures can be derived by NMR versus IR.     

Development of a robust technique for sampling volatile metal(loid)s in wetlands

The formation of volatile organic and inorganic metals and metalloids in aquatic environments is a known, but not very intensively investigated, process. Several techniques have been developed over the past 10 years to determine these trace components. These techniques are of limited use in wetland environments, where samples have to be taken from the soil-water interface, and require an immediate sample analysis due to thermodynamic instabilities of the volatile metal(loid)s. This paper presents an innovative sampling technique for total concentrations of volatile metal(loid)s in wetlands, based on an in situ gas-water separation via a porous PTFE membrane and stabilising the volatile metal(loid)s in a liquid sorbent (NaOCl solution). Samples may thus be collected even at remote sites, where longer storage times have to be accounted for. The sampling system was tested by means of a laboratory facility simulating the generation of arsine and dimethyl arsine under abiotic conditions as well as under field conditions. Results for sampling efficiency, reproducibility, and long-term storage are presented. Application of the sampling system in the field is shown.     

Study of the antioxidant mechanisms of Trolox and eugenol with 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinepropane)dihydrochloride using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

The study of antioxidant mechanisms is a difficult task that involves the monitoring and identification of unknown intermediate and final products. Most of the time, the lifetime of intermediates is too short to allow their isolation and subsequent identification by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The developments of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with the advances in the acquisition rates of mass spectrometry could facilitate the research on antioxidant mechanisms. This work is based on the reaction involved in the Oxygen Radical Antioxidant Capacity (ORAC) and Total Radical trapping Antioxidant Parameter (TRAP) assays. Hence, the reaction between 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinepropane)dihydrochloride (AAPH) radicals and an antioxidant was carried out in the thermostatized autosampler of a chromatographic device. Then, the reaction media were injected every six minutes, and the compounds were separated by UHPLC and detected by mass spectrometry in scan mode. Nine consecutive injections were registered in a unique file, then the evolution of the reaction for one hour in a single run was monitored. In this way, the reaction mechanisms of Trolox and eugenol with AAPH were studied, leading to the detection of nine and thirteen different compounds, respectively. An exhaustive analysis of the spectra obtained in product ion scan mode led to the identification of the compounds. Most of them were species previously found in the literature, but others have never been reported, so tentative structures were suggested. All this allowed the proposal of several steps within the antioxidant mechanisms of Trolox and eugenol, showing the great performance of UHPLC-MS/MS to complement the use of NMR in antioxidant mechanistic studies.