A comparative study of large volume injection techniques for microbore columns in HPLC

Summary This paper focuses attention on the potentially larger signal-to-noise ratios produced by microbore columns in comparison with conventional columns. The increased chromatographic signals by the application of microbore columns are due to the lower chromatographic dilution of elution profiles which are proportional to the square of the column inner radius. Generally less than 1μl sample should be injected into microbore systems to obtain the full benefit of the column performance. However, since more sample can be loaded on conventional columns compared to microbore columns the advantage of improved signal-to-noise ratio can only be realised in situations where very little sample is available. To inject more than 1μl sample, at the same time avoiding extra band-broadening effects, suitable injection techniques must be available. In this study three injection methods for microbore systems that meet this condition, are studied and compared.     

三步柱色谱法从江浙蝮蛇蛇毒中分离纯化类凝血酶

建立了一种用CM Sepharose CL-6B阳离子交换、DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow阴离子交换和Sephadex G-75凝胶排阻三步柱色谱从江浙蝮蛇蛇毒中分离纯化类凝血酶的方法。在实验室小柱分离方案的基础上,对该纯化工艺进行了放大。当上样量达实验室小柱的25倍时,所得类凝血酶的质量指标与实验室小柱基本一致。采用该法所得的蝮蛇类凝血酶经Shim-pack Diol-300高效凝胶排阻柱测得其相对分子质量约为33500,用Shim-pack VP-ODS反相色谱柱检测其纯度约为96%。从江浙粗蛇毒中提取类凝血酶时,类凝血酶的总质量收率约为0.3%,总活性收率约为64%,比活可达2000 U/mg。     

DTA furnace assembly for special atmospheres

Samples which require special atmospheres can be processed and loaded into sample holders in a glove box. The sample holder assembly is inserted directly into a furnace chamber mounted in the top of the glove box. The furnace chamber is sealed off from the glove box, so atmospheres different from that of the glove box may be used in the furnace chamber.     

Etudes theoriques et pratiques sur la realisation et le fonctionnement de colonnes preparatives de diametre moyen. Modification de la structure interne de ces colonnes

The dependence of the efficiency and productivity of preparative-scale gas-chromatographic columns on various parameters is discussed. The minimum HETP is experimentally shown to increase almost proportionally to the column diameter in the range 1–5 cm. The HETP also increases with a power of the sample amount which depends on the quality of the column packing and can be as low as 1.2. High-diffusivity carrier gases (H₂ and He) arc shown to allow a three-fold increase of columns productivity.The productivity (amount of sample separated/unit time) increases with the column diameter. Given a fixed volume of stationary phase and a known mixture, the column diameter which will accept the largest sample can be calculated. The performance of a preparative unit is limited more by the loadability of columns than by loss of efficiency witli increasing diameters. The performances of preparative columns can be improved by putting rods parallel to the column axis regularly spaced in the packing. The column can be heated internally cither for programmed temperature separations or to allow thermal equilibrium to be reached rapidly.     

Applications of Fast High Performance Liquid Chromatography in Pharmaceutical Analysis

Abstract

Fast HPLC offers a definite time advantage for analyses such as content uniformity which requires, in general, a routine analysis of as many as 30 samples and for the analysis of dosage forms of developmental drugs. The columns for Fast HPLC can be used with a minimal amount of modification to conventional HPLC hardware. The resolution obtainable with a Fast HPLC column is poorer than that of a conventional column. (All references to conventional columns in the article imply, unless otherwise indicated, those columns 15-30 cm in length and 3.9-4.6 mm i.d.) Attempts to modify a mobile phase to improve the resolution of a closely eluting peak resulted in retention times not too different from typical conventional columns. Although microbore columns offered improved resolution and a savings in both solvent and sample consumption, the utility of these columns is limited by the need for specialized hardware. Since the sample volume is not a limiting factor in a typical pharmaceutical analysis and overall cost savings from lesser solvent consumption are not significant in a majority of cases as solvent can be recycled, it is concluded that the Fast HPLC columns can play a more important role than the currently available microbore columns in laboratories engaged in pharmaceutical analysis, particularly at the product development stage.     

Automation for continuous analysis on microchip electrophoresis using flow-through sampling

Automation of electrophoretic microchips for sequential analysis of different samples is demonstrated. This system used an autosampler, which was on-line connected to the microchip and the whole process including sample loading and injection, analysis and data acquisition as well as washing were all automated. Rhodamin B at different concentrations was first loaded into a hydrodynamic flow stream by an autosampler, delivered to the microchip, and then sequentially injected into the electrophoretic microchannel for analysis and detection. Automation was achieved by running two independent programs, one for sample loading by an autosampler and the other one for electrophoretic injection by voltage switching, on the same computer. Using this sampling chip, each loaded volume (0.2-1 microL) can be injected for dozens of electrophoretic analyses (1-10 nL for each injection). The variances caused by the external connections, which did not affect the electrophoretic analysis but would cause band broadening of the loaded sample in the hydrodynamic flow stream, were theoretically deduced. Results indicate that the dead volume (approximately 300 nL) due to the connection fitting on the chip could lead to dilution of the loaded sample by a factor of one when 0.2 microL of sample was loaded. Such a design allows sequential analysis of a series of samples while the running buffer is continuously pumped into the connection capillary as well as microchannels for washing between two loaded samples to minimize cross contamination without human intervention. Using this sampling chip, the required sample amount and handling time can be greatly reduced compared to the manual method.     

A multichannel gel electrophoresis and continuous fraction collection apparatus for high‐throughput protein separation and characterization

To facilitate a direct interface between protein separation by PAGE and protein identification by mass spectrometry, we developed a multichannel system that continuously collects fractions as protein bands migrate off the bottom of gel electrophoresis columns. The device was constructed using several short linear gel columns, each of a different percent acrylamide, to achieve a separation power similar to that of a long gradient gel. A “Counter Free‐Flow” elution technique then allows continuous and simultaneous fraction collection from multiple channels at low cost. We demonstrate that rapid, high‐resolution separation of a complex protein mixture can be achieved on this system using SDS‐PAGE. In a 2.5 h electrophoresis run, for example, each sample was separated and eluted into 48–96 fractions over a mass range of ～10–150 kDa; sample recovery rates were 50% or higher; each channel was loaded with up to 0.3 mg of protein in 0.4 mL; and a purified band was eluted in two to three fractions (200 μL/fraction). Similar results were obtained when running native gel electrophoresis, but protein aggregation limited the loading capacity to about 50 μg per channel and reduced resolution.     

Multidimensional high-performance liquid chromatography on Pinkerton ISRP and RP18 columns: direct serum injection to quantify creatinine.

A two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of creatinine with direct serum injection without sample pretreatment has been developed. The column-switching technique allowed a switch from columns packed with internal surface reversed-phase (ISRP) material to columns of almost any other material, even if the eluents necessary in a particular case do not appear to be directly compatible. A Pinkerton ISRP column, which stands out because of its very good stability when loaded with undiluted serum samples, was used as precolumn. The creatinine-containing fraction was switched to a reversed-phase Shandon RP18 column and was focused there by alteration of the eluent from pH 6.5 to phosphoric acid-ion-pair reagent. The separation occurs via a pH gradient, with ultraviolet detection at 234 nm. This method stands out particularly for its good long-term stability, simple sample handling without pretreatment, high selectivity, a broad linearity (0.3-30 mg/dl creatinine), good reproducibility (inter-assay coefficient of variation less than 3%) and high recovery (97-100%) relative to values obtained with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.     

Particle Loaded Monolithic Sol‐Gel Columns for Capillary Electrochromatography: A New Dimension for High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Particle‐loaded (3 μm, octadecylsilica) monolithic sol‐gel columns have been prepared and selected characteristics measured. Several electrical properties may be calculated from simple current measurements in the column as a whole. Resistivity in the packed segment is approximately three times that in open segments, resulting in a 60% increase in field strength in the packed regions compared to the capillary with no packing. The surprisingly high specific permeability of these sol‐gel columns is characteristic of 8‐μm particles, which allows their operation in the microLC mode at pressures as low as 69 kPa where their efficiency is about 50,000 plates per meter and in the CEC mode where efficiency is about 106,000 plates per meter at 5 kV. There is a relatively rapid loss of efficiency with increasing linear velocity beyond 0.2 mm/s in microLC mode, which may be due to additional diffusion processes in the inter‐particulate voids. A rapid loss of efficiency above 0.5 mm/s is also observed in the CEC mode, for the same reasons. Chromatographic retention behavior in either separation mode is characteristic of conventional octadecylsilica particles, indicating that analytes have significant access to the surface within the pores of the immobilized bonded phase.     

Column selectivity in reversed-phase liquid chromatography I. A general quantitative relationship

Retention factors k have been measured for 67 neutral, acidic and basic solutes of highly diverse molecular structure (size, shape, polarity, hydrogen bonding, pKa, etc.) on 10 different C18 columns (other conditions constant). These data have been combined with k values from a previous study (86 solutes, five different C8 and C18 columns) to develop a six-term equation for the correlation of retention as a function of solute and column. Values of k can be correlated with an accuracy of +/- 1-2% (1 standard deviation). This suggests that all significant contributions to column selectivity have been identified (and can be measured) for individual alkyl-silica columns which do not have an embedded polar group. That is, columns of the latter kind can be quantitatively characterized in terms of selectivity for use in the separation of any sample.     

Multidimensional GC with macrobore WCOT and PLOT Columns

Multidimensional GC (MDGC) with macrobore WCOT and PLOT columns has shown several benefits: (1) Higher flow rates, which are used, makes possible the use of common valves as the switching device; (2) very simple system configurations are possible; (3) because the columns have relatively large capacity, the TCD can be used to measure both organic and inorganic components; (4) micropacked or open tubular columns are precolumns which provide a wide range of selectivity; (5) both precolumn and analytical columns can be operated at the same flow rate without splitting of the sample. Four rapid sample analyses: (1) Oxygenates in gasohol; (2) natural gas; (3) refinery gas; (4) hydrocarbon types in naphtha, have been developed and performed on a less complex and economical gas chromatograph.     

On-line coupling of sol-gel-generated immunoaffinity columns with high-performance liquid chromatography.

The paper demonstrates the possibility to use sol-gel-generated immunoaffinity columns as selective sample preparation step in on-line combination with HPLC. In the past sol-gel-generated immunoaffinity columns have only been included in off-line sample preparation schemes. Compared with conventional RP-materials on-line coupling of sol-gel-generated silica matrices with a pore structure designed to retain antibodies poses additional problems caused by their lower pressure tolerance and by the necessity to match the mobile phases not only to take into account the chromatographic properties but also the conformational stability of the antibodies. These problems have been overcome by an on-line system which can be regarded as a prototype for similar systems which exploit the selectivity of sol-gel immunoaffinity columns. The system consists of a sol-gel-generated immunoaffinity column coupled to an RP enrichment column and an analytical column. The practicality of such systems is demonstrated using the example of anti-pyrene immunoaffinity columns applied for the determination of pyrene in aqueous solutions.     

Simultaneous three-dimensional gas-liquid chromatography on wall-coated glass-capillary columns

Summary A new system for multiple simultaneous gas-liquid chromatographic analysis is described. A commercially available gas chromatograph was modified to accommodate three wall-coated glass-capillary columns. A novel design of both the injection port and sample splitter allows the admission of equal portions of the sample into each of the three columns from a single injection. This provides the analyst either with data for the sample in question on three different liquid phases, or with a single result in triplicate if the same liquid phase is used on all columns. This presentation briefly describes the geometry of the inlet system; details will be published shortly. The performance of this system is illustrated with a simple example. In an artificial mixture, the quantitative GLC-data of 6 compounds obtained on three different columns were unequivocally correlated. A correlation number (CN) is derived which gives the maximum possible number of compounds that can be theoretically correlated in a mixture by the system described.     

纳升液相色谱仪器的研究进展

小型化是液相色谱分离技术发展的重要趋势之一,包括仪器外形尺寸的小型化、分离材料粒径的小型化以及色谱柱内径的小型化。色谱柱内径的减小能够降低样品和流动相的消耗,具有更高的质量灵敏度,特别适合用于复杂样品体系的分离分析。纳升液相色谱一般是指使用内径小于100 μm的毛细管色谱柱,流速范围在每分钟几十至几百纳升的色谱技术。由于流速很低,色谱柱体积很小,柱外效应显著,因此对色谱仪器系统各个模块的性能以及系统柱外效应的优化提出了较高的要求。纳升液相色谱的输液装置需要能够准确稳定地输送纳升级流速,具有梯度输液模式,且拥有一定的耐压能力,以适应不同规格的色谱柱类型;进样装置需要能够进行准确重复的进样过程,进样体积及进样方式适合毛细管色谱柱,同时不产生明显的柱外效应;检测装置需要具有较高的灵敏度,且具有较小的柱外扩散;管路与连接系统需要稳定、可靠、易操作,并能够最大限度地减小柱外体积,适配纳升级流速。鉴于目前大多数纳升液相色谱系统与质谱检测器联用,因而本文主要从输液装置、进样装置、管路与连接3个方面对相关技术领域的研究论文、技术专利以及仪器厂商的宣传文件等进行了检索与归纳,综述了这些模块的技术路线与研究进展,同时简要介绍光学吸收型检测装置的优化思路与研究进展,并对部分商品化的纳升液相色谱系统进行了对比。     

Capillary electrophoresis for capture and concentrating of target nucleic acids by affinity gels modified to contain single-stranded nucleic acid probes

Selective capture and pre-concentration of target nucleic acids from relatively complicated samples may provide a method to facilitate introduction to a microfluidic-based detection system to improve detection limits. An acrylamide polymer gel modified with Acrydite^™ that contained 20mer oligonucleotide probe was prepared and loaded into a capillary column. The results indicated that the amount of probe DNA that was captured into the acrylamide was about 40% of the starting monomer, and different quantities of probe could therefore be coupled into the gel. The gel was passivated by pre-treatment with non-complementary DNA oligonucleotide to block non-selective adsorption sites, and the gel was determined to be stable for multiple cycles of use. The probe could hybridize with target sequences that were introduced by electrokinetic injection from a sample solution. The target could be freed from the polymer gel by use of a combination of heating, chaotropic salt and voltage conditions. Target capture efficiency was up to 90% when using samples that did not saturate probe sites in the columns, and recovery of target from the gel could be as high as 95%.     

Automated signature peptide approach for proteomics

This paper addresses the issue of automating the multidimensional chromatographic, signature peptide approach to proteomics. Peptides were automatically reduced and alkylated in the autosampler of the instrument. Trypsin digestion of all proteins in the sample was then executed on an immobilized enzyme column and the digest directly transferred to an affinity chromatography column. Although a wide variety of affinity columns may be used, the specific column used in this case was a Ga(III) loaded immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) column. Ga(III)-IMAC is known to select phosphorylated peptides. Phosphorylated peptides selected by the affinity column from tryptic digests of milk were automatically transferred to a reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) column. Further fractionation of tryptic peptides on the RPLC column was achieved with linear solvent gradient elution. Effluent from the RPLC column was electrosprayed into a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The entire process was controlled by software in the liquid chromatograph. With slight modification, it is possible to add multiple columns in parallel at any of the single column positions to further increase throughput. Total analysis time in the tandem column mode of operation was under 2 h.     

Some practical comparisons of the efficiency and overloading behaviour of sub-2 μm porous and sub-3 μm shell particles in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

At their optimum flow, sub-3 μm superficially porous or "shell" particles demonstrate similar efficiency to sub-2 μm totally porous particles. The performance of 0.21 cm i.d shell columns is however inferior to those of 0.46 cm i.d., presumably due to packing difficulties. At high flow, shell columns can give flatter Knox curves due to lower operating pressure (half or less of that of the totally porous particles) producing less frictional heating, which combined with the increased thermal conductivity of their non-porous core, gives more efficient heat dissipation. However, the effects of frictional heating for sub-2 μm columns are considerably exaggerated when using pure ACN as mobile phase, as it has a thermal conductivity 3 times less than that of pure water, leading to poorer heat dissipation. Overloading is already problematic for ionised solutes, a group which contains many pharmaceuticals and compounds of clinical relevance, on conventional columns (5 μm porous particles). However, it becomes a more serious issue for both new column types, partially as a result of their very high efficiency, which concentrates the sample as a very narrow band. The sample capacity of one type of shell particle was estimated to be 60% of that of the small totally porous particles, in line with the fraction of the particle volume that is porous. Due to overloading, it is barely possible to achieve perfect peak symmetry for ionised acids or bases with either of these new column types, even by injecting the lowest amounts of sample detectable by UV. While ammonium formate and potassium phosphate buffers gave similar results in overloading studies, use of formic acid as sole mobile phase additive is not recommended for these solutes, as its ionic strength is too low, leading to a catastrophic deterioration in efficiency when sample concentrations of even a few mg/L are injected.     

Liquid chromatography of polymers under limiting conditions of adsorption. IV. Sample recovery

The high performance liquid chromatography of polymers under limiting conditions of adsorption (LC LCA) separates macromolecules, either according to their chemical structure or physical architecture, while molar mass effect is suppressed. A polymer sample is injected into an adsorption-active column flushed with an adsorption promoting eluent. The sample solvent is a strong solvent which prevents sample adsorption. As a result, macromolecules of sample elute within the zone of their original solvent to be discriminated from other, non-adsorbing polymer species, which elute in the exclusion mode. LC LCA sample recovery has been studied in detail for poly (methyl methacrylate)s using a bare silica gel column and an eluent comprised toluene (adsorli) and tetrahydrofuran (desorli). Sample solvent was tetrahydrofuran. It was found that a large part of injected sample may be fully retained within the LC LCA columns. The amount of retained polymer increases with decreasing packing pore size and with higher sample molar masses and, likely, also with the column diameter. The extent of full retention of sample does not depend of sample volume. An additional portion of the injected desorli sample solvent (a tandem injection) does not fully eliminate full retention of the sample fraction and the reduced recovery associated with it. The injected sample is retained along the entire LC LCA column. The reduced sample recovery restricts applicability of many LC LCA systems to oligomers and to discrimination of the non-adsorbing minor macromolecular components of complex polymer mixtures from the adsorbing major component(s). The full retention of sample molecules within columns may also complicate the application of other liquid chromatographic methods, which combine entropic and enthalpic retention mechanisms for separation of macromolecules.     

Cryofocusing in the combination of gas chromatography with equilibrium headspace sampling

Summary When headspace gas chromatography utilizing capillary columns is used for trace analysis, sample enrichment is often needed. This involves splitless sample injection of fairly large gas volumes and relatively long sampling times. As a result of this, the band of the sample vapor may be too large causing peak distortion and poor resolution. This problem can be easily overcome by the use of cryogenic trapping. While this can be accomplished by cooling the whole column to subambient temperature during sample introduction, a more convenient way is to utilize part of the first coil of the capillary column as a cryogenic trap.The paper discusses the theoretical background and instrumentation of cryogenic trapping and demonstrates the possibilities through a number of examples.Enlarged text of a paper presented at the 37th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Atlantic City, NJ, March 10–14, 1986.     

Evaluation of the sensitivity of miniaturized liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry for pharmaceutical analysis

LC-ESI-MS is applied frequently in pharmaceutical analysis. The sample amount is generally not restricted, however with LC-ESI-MS, a lack of sensitivity may still be observed with standard-bore LC columns in isocratic mode. Therefore, it was investigated whether increased sensitivity could be achieved by using miniaturized LC-ESI-MS. Seven columns ranging from 0.1 to 4.6 mm ID were tested using several instrument setups. For proper comparison, a sensitivity gain factor (SGF) was introduced. The SGF expresses the extra sensitivity that may be obtained on top of the normal increase of peak concentration, which can be expected when the column ID is reduced. Desogestrel, mirtazapine, and sugammadex sodium were used as test compounds. For desogestrel and sugammadex sodium, the SGF increased up to a factor of 5-13 when the column ID was reduced, indicating enhanced ionization efficiencies at lower flow rates. Optimum sensitivity was found for the 0.3 mm column coupled in combination with a microinjection valve and a dedicated low flow rate interface. For mirtazapine, no increase of SGF was observed when the column ID was decreased. Apparently, the ionization efficiency of this compound is not affected by the flow rate and the spray quality.