Influence of Various Parameters on the Response Factors of the Evaporative Light Scattering Detector for a Number of Non-Volatile Compounds

Abstract

We have investigated the influence of the most important operation parameters of the evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) on its response factors. When the detector is operated under proper experimental conditions, the repeatability of the response factor is around 1%. The response factors and the signal to noise ratio are maximum for a certain flow rate of scavenger gas, which depends much on the exact dimensions of the nebulizer. The temperature of the drift tube has no effect, as long as the vapor pressure of the solvent is larger than ca 200 torrs. The nature of the mobile phase has some effect, related to the surface tension and viscosity of the solvent used. The most important factor, however, is the nebulizer itself. Replacing the nebulizer by another one, made with the same tubes, or changing slightly the position of the liquid nozzle in the gas nozzle may change markedly the response as well as its relationship with sample size. The peak area increases exponentially with increasing sample size. but the exponent depends very much on the exact design of the nebulizer. Similar response factors are obtained for fatty acid methyl esters, triglycerides, sugars, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and polystyrene.     

Determination of Biodiesel and Triacylglycerols in Diesel Fuel by LC

A high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for quantifying blends of biodiesel (simple alkyl esters of fatty acids) in petrodiesel. The method uses a silica column with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of hexane and methyl t-butyl ether. Separated components were quantitated using either an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) or UV detector. Precision of injection and linearity of response of the ELSD and UV detectors over a range of biodiesel-petrodiesel blends [1–30 v/v %] were established by use of standards. The method also can be used for quantitating similar levels of oils or fats (triacylglycerols) in petrodiesel.     

Polyolefin characterization in dibutoxymethane by high temperature gel permeation chromatography with a new evaporative light scattering detector

A new evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) for the analysis of polyolefins by high temperature gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was recently introduced by Agilent Technologies. For the first time, we investigated the possibility to use this detector to measure the molecular weight distributions (MWD) of different types of polyolefins (polypropylene, linear and low-density polyethylene) in dibutoxymethane (DBM, butylal). These samples were previously characterized by GPC in trichlorobenzene (TCB) with a differential refractive index (DRI) detector in an interlaboratory study conducted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) [1], and in a recent publication by GPC with the new ELSD in TCB [2]. The signal to noise of ELSD using DBM is about 10 times lower than that for TCB. However, the ELSD signal power exponent for DBM was measured as 1.35, which is much closer to unity than the value of 1.61 for TCB. After applying the required corrections to linearize the response of the ELSD signal as a function of concentration, similar average molecular weights to those measured in the interlaboratory study using DRI, were obtained for the analyzed resins.     

Improving the universal response of evaporative light scattering detection by mobile phase compensation

Mobile phase compensation, first reported for the charged aerosol detector (CAD), was used as a suitable method to overcome problems related to the mobile phase-dependent response of the evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD). Mobile phase compensation was effectively performed both in the flow injection- and in gradient modes. Without compensation, the response factors of the ELSD for six sulfonamide drugs differed by a factor of two when varying the mobile phase composition between 10 and 90% acetonitrile. This change could be effectively eliminated using the technique of mobile phase compensation, where a secondary pump with a reversed gradient was used to provide the detector with a constant composition of the mobile phase. For identical experimental conditions, the ELSD showed a nearly constant, albeit somewhat reduced, response with compensation. This indicates that under such conditions, the ELSD behaved as a concentration-sensitive detector. The analysis of sulfonamides drugs at 0.05% level using gradient UPLC-ELSD separation with mobile phase compensation is demonstrated.     

Efficient optimization of ultra‐high‐ performance supercritical fluid chromatographic separation of Rosa sericea by response surface methodology

An approach for rapid optimization of ultra‐high‐performance supercritical fluid chromatographic (UHPSFC) gradient by response surface methodology was developed for fast separation of complex crude extracts of the leaves of Rosa sericea. The optimization was performed with Box–Behnken designs and the multicriteria response variables were described using Derringer's desirability. Based on factorial design experiments, five factors were selected for Box–Behnken designs to optimize the UHPSFC conditions, which led to 46 experiments being performed within 8 h. An evaporative light‐scattering detector (ELSD) was used, and quantitative analysis of main components in R. sericea samples was employed to evaluate the statistical significance of the parameters on UHPSFC‐ELSD analytes response. The results indicated that the optimized UHPSFC‐ELSD method is very sensitive with LODs and LOQs below 1.19 and 4.55 μg/mL, respectively. The overall intra‐ and interday variations were less than 3.91 and 6.41%, respectively. The recovery of the method ranged from 95.66 to 104.22%, with RSD < 5.91%. This newly developed UHPSFC‐ELSD method was demonstrated to be fast and sensitive in analyzing complex herbal extracts of Traditional Chinese Medicines.     

Comparison of two aerosol-based detectors for the analysis of gabapentin in pharmaceutical formulations by hydrophilic interaction chromatography

Comparison of hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) columns coupled with an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) or charged aerosol detector (CAD) was done for the detection of gabapentin in pharmaceutical formulations. The chromatographic separations were achieved on four HILIC columns: ZIC HILIC, ZIC pHILIC, Luna HILIC, and Atlantis HILIC. Experimental factors such as mobile phase composition, acetonitrile content, and mobile phase pH were evaluated. Validation of method was done in terms of linearity, sensitivity, accuracy, and precision. The performance of ELSD detection method is comparable to that of CAD. The intra-day and inter-day variations were below 1.7% and 3.2% for CAD and 2.8%, and 3.4% for ELSD, respectively. In addition, detection sensitivities of ELSD, CAD, and UV detectors were also compared for HILIC and reversed phase (RP) modes and the highest sensitivities were obtained in the HILIC mode when connected with CAD and ELSD. The developed HILIC aerosol based detection methods were successfully applied to the analysis of gabapentin in commercial tablets and capsules.     

The advantages of evaporative light scattering detection in pharmaceutical analysis by high performance liquid chromatography and supercritical fluid chromatography

The evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) has been used in pharmaceutical analysis by liquid and supercritical fluid chromatography. An ELSD equipped with interchangeable interfaces enables the use of various eluents (UV- or non-UV-absorbing) in isocratic or gradient mode. Analyses were performed on several non-UV-absorbing excipients and active substances. The narrow spread of the response factors of the various compounds investigated has indicated that the detector is suitable for direct raw quantitation of unknown samples in stability studies.     

Mechanism of response enhancement in evaporative light scattering detection with the addition of triethylamine and formic acid

Triethylamine with an equimolar amount of formic acid added to the mobile phase provides an enhancement of the evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) response. After characterization of the influence of various parameters on the ELSD response, a sequential strategy was defined to elucidate this response enhancement. The response enhancement was more marked at low mobile phase flow rate, and was highly dependent on solutes and solvents. The influence of drift tube temperature on response enhancement with various solutes demonstrated that triethylamine and formic acid mainly act as mass amplifiers by the inclusion of triethylamine-formic acid clusters inside the droplets.     

Evaluation of a condensation nucleation light scattering detector for the analysis of synthetic polymer by supercritical fluid chromatography

A condensation nucleation light scattering detector (CNLSD) was adapted for use as a detector for supercritical fluid chromatography. The performance of the CNLSD was evaluated and compared to evaporative light-scattering detector (ELSD) using a well-defined equimass mixture of uniform poly(ethylene glycol) oligomers and a certified reference material of poly(ethylene glycol) 1000. The CNLSD was able to detect a 10 times less concentrated solution of uniform oligomers compared to the ELSD. The quantitativeness of CNLSD was high enough to obtain the molecular mass distribution of poly(ethylene glycol) 1000 without any calibrations; on the other hand, the original data measured by ELSD was about 4% smaller than the certified value of poly(ethylene glycol) 1000. The CNLSD was suitable for supercritical fluid chromatography as a mass concentration detector.     

Quantification in the analysis of polyethylene glycols and their monomethyl ethers by liquid adsorption chromatography with different detectors

It is shown that the molar mass distribution of polyethylene glycols (PEGs) and their monomethyl ethers can be determined by liquid adsorption chromatography (LAC) on reversed phases using isocratic or gradient elution. In gradient LAC, the evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) has to be used, which is, however, problematic with respect to quantification. The response factors of the individual oligomers depend strongly on the operating conditions, molar mass, and sample size. These problems do not arise with density and refractive index detection, which can, however, only be applied with isocratic elution. A comparison of the results obtained with these three detectors showed that calibration of the ELSD has to be performed very carefully.

Analysis of triacylglycerols on porous graphitic carbon by high temperature liquid chromatography

The retention behaviour of several triacylglycerols (TAGs) and fats on Hypercarb, a porous graphitic carbon column (PGC), was investigated in liquid chromatography (LC) under isocratic elution mode with an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD). Mixtures of chloroform/isopropanol were selected as mobile phase for a suitable retention time to study the influence of temperature. The retention was different between PGC and non-aqueous reversed phase liquid chromatography (NARP-LC) on octadecyl phase. The retention of TAGs was investigated in the interval 30-70 degrees C. Retention was greatly affected by temperature: it decreases as the column temperature increases. Selectivity of TAGs was also slightly influenced by the temperature. Moreover, this chromatographic method is compatible with a mass spectrometer (MS) detector by using atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI): same fingerprints of cocoa butter and shea butter were obtained with LC-ELSD and LC-APCI-MS. These preliminary results showed that the PGC column could be suitable to separate quickly triacylglycerols in high temperature conditions coupled with ELSD or MS detector.     

Evaluation of HPSEC‐ELSD method for precise measurement of β‐agarase activity

β‐Agarase activity was monitored by traditional reducing sugar content methods: Somogyi–Nelson's arsenomolybdate, Miller's dinitrosalicylic acid and Kidby and Davidson's ferricyanide methods, as well as by high‐performance size exclusion chromatography coupled with a refractive index detector and an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD). Calibration curves were established separately for each method to measure the amounts of the neoagaro‐oligosaccharides (NAOS) in the reaction mixtures, which are the products from 1–10 units (U) of β‐agarase cleavage activity on agarose. Product quantities from each monitoring method were compared with the isolated NAOS products. The graphs plotted by agarase activity unit and product concentration clearly displayed that the ELSD method closely followed the results of the isolated products. The percentage deviation of results measured by the five methods away from those of the isolated NAOS product mixture amounted to −13.1–35.1, −21.1–25.5, −27.1–23.81, 6.1–24.3 and 16.2–22.8%, respectively. When the loss during product isolation, about 15–17%, was taken into account, the high precision of the ELSD method was confirmed. HPSEC‐ELSD methods also accurately measured the enzyme kinetics as well as enabling partial identification of oligosaccharides assembled in the NAOS product mixture. This study established the HPSEC‐ELSD system as an alternative method for monitoring agarase activity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC) of Complex Polymers-Methods of Correction for Imperfect Resolution

Abstract

Herein is reported a review and extension of recently published methods of correction for imperfect resolution (inadequate peak separation and or excessive peak broadening) for the SEC of linear homo and uniform copolymers and complex polymers such as polymers with long chain branching and nonuniform copolymers. Emphasis Is placed on analytical correction methods and absolute detector systems such as the low angle laser light scattering photometer and viscometer in series with a mass detector. Analytical correction methods and absolute detector systems play a vital role in the SEC characterization of complex polymers.     

正相液相色谱-蒸发光散射法测定食品中的石蜡

采用液相色谱(HPLC)结合蒸发光散射检测器(ELSD)对食品中的石蜡残留物进行了分析和检测.利用正相色谱柱对石蜡和非石蜡组分进行了分离,而无需对石蜡组分进行逐一分离.利用t检验,对构成石蜡的烷烃组分在ELSD检测器上的线性响应进行了显著性误差分析,结果显示,石蜡中烷烃组分具有相似的线性响应.以此为定量依据,实现了食品中石蜡含量的快速定量分析.并对HPLC-ELSD的检测和确证结果与GC-MS法进行了对比.方法的线性范围为10～500 mg/L,相关系数为0.9988;检出限为1 mg/L.以10, 50和100 mg/kg浓度水平添加石蜡时,其回收率在84.6%～105.4%之间,相对标准偏差为5.4%～7.2%.     

Diode-laser atomic-absorption spectrometry by the double-beam—double-modulation technique

The limitations of absorption measurements in atomic-absorption spectrometry with tunable diode lasers are investigated. It is shown that the double modulation technique (diode-laser wavelength modulation and sample modulation) with detection at the sum or difference frequency suppresses spurious etalon effects, background absorption, residual diode-laser-amplitude modulation and the noise which accompanies these effects, and enables measurement of detection limits determined by the laser excess noise. Detection limits in absorption, defined as absorption equal to the root-mean square value of noise, as low as 1 × 10⁻⁶ AU (absorption units) were achieved for metastable Cl atoms in a modulated low-pressure microwave-induced plasma with a time constant of 1 s. In order to eliminate laser excess noise and signal variations due to changes of optical transmittance, a double-beam arrangement with logarithmic subtraction of sample and reference detector currents was developed. It enables suppression of variations of the laser radiation power outside the detection pass-band and the achievement of a detection limit of about 2 × 10⁻⁷ AU determined by shot noise only.     

Anomalies in evaporative light scattering detection

A two-dimensional (2-D) “heart-cutting” HPLC system was used to fractionate oligostyrenes into the respective diastereoisomers. For samples of known composition, the response of an ultraviolet (UV) absorbance detector followed the anticipated pattern. The response of an evaporative light-scattering (ELSD) detector on the other hand indicated quite different concentrations for the two diastereoisomers, relative to what was anticipated and what was indicated by the UV detector. Whereas approximately the same concentration was indicated by UV, ELSD in some cases indicated no detection of the later eluting isomer. The magnitude of the errors depended on both the molecular weight and the tacticity of the diastereomers. These anomalies appear to be an artifact of power transform functions imbedded within the firmware processor of the ELSD, invisible to the user.     

Monitoring of Polymerized Triglycerides in Deep-Frying Oil by On-Line GPC-FTIR Spectrometry Using the Science Based Calibration Multivariate Approach

On-line gel permeation chromatography Fourier transform infrared (GPC-FTIR) is proposed as detection technique for the determination of the total polymer triacylglyceride (PTG) content in olive oil as an alternative to other conventional detectors such as the evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) or the refraction index detector (RID). FTIR detection allowed confirmation additionally to quantification of the analytes via their characteristic infrared spectra. For the extraction of chromatograms, a multivariate method called science based calibration (SBC) was used. The SBC method employed a reference spectrum of triacylglycerides (TG) extracted from the injection of a fresh olive oil sample and data obtained from a blank injection as ‘noise’ matrix, to estimate a regression vector subsequently used to predict the relative concentration of the analyte during the GPC run. Results found evidenced that the use of SBC improved the selectivity, sensitivity and repeatability of the GPC-FTIR measurements as compared to the ‘classical’ approach based on the measurement of the spectral area in a defined spectral range. The developed method provided a limit of detection for PTGs of 0.19 mg mL^?1, which corresponds to a 0.65% w/w for an oil sample mass of 300 mg.     

Epoxy-based Polymer Containing Imidazole-type Azo Chromophores for Integrated Waveguide Applications

In this work, an epoxy-based polymer containing 2-phenylazo-4, 5-dicyanoimidazole chromophores (BP-IZ-DC) was synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods. The polymer showed unusual photo-bleachable property and the refractive index of the polymer could be readily modified by irradiation with a laser beam at visible wavelength. The irradiation with a laser beam at 488 nm caused a much more significant change of the refractive index than irradiation with 532 nm laser light. Upon the irradiation with the laser beam (488 nm, 100 mW/cm²) for 1 h, the refractive index decreased from 1.6512 to 1.5802. By using the photo-bleachable azo polymer, channel waveguide was fabricated by light irradiation through a mask and the light-transmission ability of the waveguide was evaluated.     

Application of a xenon arc lamp as a light source for evaporative light scattering detection

The standard tungsten-halogen light source used in a commercial evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) was replaced with a 180 W xenon arc lamp. The xenon arc lamp possesses a broader spectrum in the UV region than the halogen source. The influence of the UV transmittance of five selected solvents was studied with a size-exclusion chromatography column. This solvent parameter was not observed to influence the ELSD response between the two light source settings. With the solvents studied, better sensitivity was obtained with the xenon arc lamp than the halogen lamp. This high-energy source was applied to ceramide III analysis with an octadecyl-grafted silica column and methanol:tetrahydrofuran 97:3 as the mobile phase, and the sensitivity of the quantification of ceramide III increased 16-fold for injected amounts of 14∼140 ng. The molecular species in a sample of naturally occurring ceramides was analyzed using two C18 columns at 40 °C and gradient elution from 100% acetonitrile to 100% isopropanol in 30 min. The increased ELSD sensitivity achieved when using the xenon arc lamp allowed both the minor and major ceramide species to be observed, in contrast to the results achieved when the halogen lamp was used, where the increased photomultiplier voltage needed to observed the signals from the minor species caused the signals from the major ceramide species to occur above the detector response window.     

Fragmentation dynamics and energy disposal in photodissociation of (N2O)2+ in the 458–660 nm wavelength range

The nitrous oxide dimer cation (N₂O)₂⁺ has been studied in the visible wavelength range by photodissociation of a mass-selected high-energy ion beam followed by energy analysis of the charged photofragments. Information on the angular anisotropy of the fragmentation process has been obtained by rotating the polarization direction of the laser light. The results allow conclusions to be drawn about the lifetime of the optically accessed excited electronic state and on the energy disposal in the photofragmentation event.