Pesticides analysis by liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis

Nowadays, a wide range of pesticides are used in agricultural production, and their monitoring in samples of environmental and alimentary interest is of extreme importance to ensure, among others, the safety of consumption of foods. The aim of this work is to provide updated information about the major developments in CE and HPLC in pesticide analysis, covering relevant publications between 2004 and early 2006. The use of different sample pretreatment steps to provide a suitable extraction of these compounds from the different matrices as well as to increase the sensitivity of the determination is also discussed.     

High-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis for the analysis of maize proteins

Methods for the analysis of maize proteins using HPLC and CE are reviewed. Most of the references cited in this review concern HPLC methods. Size-exclusion HPLC and especially RP-HPLC methods have been developed for characterization of normal and genetically modified maize, cultivar differentiation, and prediction of quality. Few CE methods for the analysis of maize proteins were found in the existing literature. Most of these methods focus on optimization of the separation of maize proteins using CZE and SDS-capillary gel electrophoresis.     

Study of protein-drug binding using capillary zone electrophoresis.

CApillary zone electrophoresis was tested for its suitability for studying protein-drug binding. Three methods were investigated, viz., the Hummel-Dreyer method, the vacancy peak method and frontal analysis. Frontal analysis appeared to be the preferred method.     

Pressure‐assisted capillary electrophoresis frontal analysis for faster binding constant determination

Adding external pressure during the process of capillary electrophoresis usually add to the band broadening, especially if the pressure induced flow is significant. The resolution is normally negatively affected in pressure‐assisted capillary electrophoresis (PACE). Frontal analysis (FA), however, can potentially benefit from using an external pressure while avoiding the drawbacks in other modes of CE. In this work, possible impact from the external pressure was simulated by COMSOL Multiphysics®. Under a typical CE‐FA set‐up, it was found that the detected concentrations of analyte will not be significantly affected by an external pressure less than 5 psi. Besides, the measured ligand concentration in PACE‐FA was also not affected by common variables (molecular diffusion coefficient (10⁻⁸ to 10⁻¹¹ m²/s), capillary length etc). To provide an experimental proof, PACE‐FA is used to study the binding interactions between hydroxypropyl β‐cyclodextrin (HP‐β‐CD) and small ligand molecules. Taking the HP‐β‐CD /benzoate pair as an example, the binding constants determined by CE‐FA (18.3 ± 0.8 M⁻¹) and PACE‐FA (16.5 ± 0.5 M⁻¹) are found to be similar. Based on the experimental results, it is concluded that PACE‐FA can reduce the time of binding analysis while maintaining the accuracy of the measurements.     

Evaluation of quail egg white riboflavin binding protein as a chiral selector in high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis

A new chiral stationary phase for high-performance liquid chromatography of quail egg white riboflavin binding protein is presented. Several chiral acidic, basic and uncharged drugs were analysed and the influence of the mobile phase's parameters on the retention times and enantioselectivity was evaluated. On the basis of the results obtained, the same protein was studied as a background electrolyte additive in free solution capillary electrophoresis, in order to evaluate if capillary electrophoresis (CE) could be used as a rapid scouting technique for screening the enantioselectivity of novel proteins without immobilisation on a solid support. To investigate if it is possible to directly compare the results obtained by each technique, the CE experiments were planned on the basis of both the findings and ideas originated in liquid chromatography.     

Assessment of the binding performance of histamine‐imprinted microspheres by frontal analysis capillary electrophoresis

Frontal analysis capillary electrophoresis was used to evaluate the binding performance of molecularly imprinted microspheres (MIM) toward its template histamine and analogs at pH 7, and compared to the high performance liquid chromatographic method. In both methods, batch binding was employed and the binding parameters were calculated from the measured concentration of unbound amine analytes and afforded comparable histamine equilibrium dissociation constants (K _d ∼ 0.4 mM). FACE was easily carried out at shorter binding equilibration time (i.e. 30 min) and without the need to separate the microspheres, circumventing laborious and, in the case of the system under study, inefficient sample filtration. It also allowed for competitive binding studies by virtue of its ability to distinctly separate intact microspheres and all tested amines which could not be resolved in HPLC. K _d’s for nonimprinted (control) microspheres (NIM) from FACE and HPLC were also comparable (∼ 0.6 mM) but at higher histamine concentrations, HPLC gave lower histamine binding. This discrepancy was attributed to inefficient filtration of the batch binding samples prior to HPLC analysis resulting in an over‐estimation of the concentration of free histamine brought about by the presence of unfiltered histamine‐bound microspheres.     

High performance separations of nucleic acids using capillary electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography

High resolution separations of nucleic acids have been performed using high performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Electropherograms showing HPCE separations of single and double stranded DNA are presented and compared with HPLC separations. Single base resolution of poly(dA) oligonucleotides in the size range of 12 to 60-mers was achieved in 35 min using HPCE. Plate numbers for HPCE are in the hundreds of thousands and reproducibility is about 1–2 % (RSD). In comparison with HPLC separations, the resolution of nucleic acids obtained using HPCE is much better than that using HPLC, while reproducibility of HPCE is comparable with that of HPLC.     

Advances in capillary electrophoresis: the challenges to liquid chromatography and conventional electrophoresis

In the 1980s, capillary electrophoresis (CE) developed rapidly into a first-class analytical separation technique. Its advances in instrumentation and method development will not only enhance or complement existing mature separation techniques such as liquid chromatography and conventional slab gel electrophoresis, but will also severely challenge these separation methods. A brief overview of the most striking achievements of CE in the 1980s is given. which illustrates the challenges to liquid chromatography and conventional slab gel electrophoresis, and some detailed discussions are presented to highlight the advantages of CE. New developments in CE that can be expected for the 1990s include especially column technology, separation chemistry and instrumentation, which will serve further to diversify and improve the applicability of this technique in areas which are poorly addressed by other separation methods. This paper considers and speculates on the technological advancements that can be expected to emerge for CE in the 1990s.     

Single run measurements of drug-protein binding by high-performance frontal analysis capillary electrophoresis and mass spectrometry

A novel drug-protein binding measurement method based on high-performance frontal analysis and capillary electrophoresis (HPFA/CE) is presented. A single run measurement approach is proposed to circumvent utilization of a calibration curve that is often performed with HPFA. A sensitive mass spectrometer is applied as a detector enabling the measurement of in vitro protein binding at lower drug concentrations. Unbound free fraction and binding constants can be determined by a single run measurement by consecutive injections of an internal drug standard, a buffer plug and a drug-protein mixture. Effects of injection volumes on peak height and plateau profile were investigated in two different separation systems, non-volatile buffer and volatile buffer, with UV and mass spectrometry detection, respectively. A simplified one-to-one binding model is employed to evaluate the proposed method by using both single and multiple drug concentrations to measure the unbound free fraction and calculate the binding constants of some selected compounds. The method is suitable for rapid and direct screening of the binding of a drug to a specific protein or drug-plasma protein binding.     

The use of naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde for the analysis of primary amines using high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis

This paper reviews analytical methods, instrumental developments and applications for derivatization of primary amines with naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde using fluorescence and chemiluminescence detection with capillary electrophoresis (CE) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The use of lasers as well as lamps as the excitation source for fluorescence detection is discussed. The detection limit observed with naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde derivatization is often lower and better than those obtained with other analytical separations and other fluorescent dyes. In addition, this paper describes the crucial points that influence the stability of NDA primary amine derivatives, and summarize the separation, derivatization and migration conditions of the different techniques, with their advantages and drawbacks.     

On-line multidimensional chromatography using packed capillary liquid chromatography and capillary gas chromatography

The introduction of selected fractions from a liquid chromatograph into a gas chromatograph has been described; however, analyses were performed by off-line experiments requiring collection and reinjection of the separate fractions or by on-line procedures where disadvantageously, only a fraction of the separated peak or a well resolved component in a mixture could be introduced into a gas chromatograph. This disadvantage is overcome by the apparatus and method described in this paper, which utilizes a multidimensional chromatography system employing a high efficiency, packed capillary LC column coupled on-line to a capillary gas chromatograph. The liquid chromatograph (so designed) can act as a highly efficient clean-up or chemical class fractionation step prior to introduction into the gas chromatograph, significantly reducing sample preparation times in many applications. Thus minor components in a complex matrix can be determined without prior sample clean-up, an example of which is the determination of polychlorinated biphenyls in a complex hydrocarbon matrix.     

Chemical modification of analytes in speciation analysis by capillary electrophoresis, liquid chromatography and gas chromatography

Chemical modification of target analytes is widely used in modern analytical methods. This review focuses on the application of chemical modification techniques is the simultaneous analysis of metallic species by capillary electrophoresis, liquid chromatography and gas chromatography. Emphasis is placed on the procedures relating to analyses carried out by capillary electrophoresis. The development of this topic in the past five years is evaluated for liquid chromatography and gas chromatography. The advantages, performance and application in real samples are compared for the three techniques.     

Two-dimensional separation system of coupling capillary liquid chromatography to capillary electrophoresis for analysis of Escherichia coli metabolites

A two-dimensional (2-D) separation system of coupling chromatography to electrophoresis was developed for profiling Escherichia coli metabolites. Capillary liquid chromatography (LC) with a monolithic silica-octadecyl silica column (500 x 0.2 mm ID) was used as the first dimension, from which the effluent fractions were further analyzed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) acting as the second dimension. Field-enhanced stacking was selectively employed as a concentration strategy to interface the two dimensions, which proved to be beneficial for the detection of metabolites. An artificial sample containing 118 standards, some of which lack chromophores or have weak UV absorbance, was used to optimize the 2-D separation system. Under the optimum conditions, 63 components in the artificial sample having absorbance at 254 nm could be well resolved and detected. The utility of the system was demonstrated by comprehensive analysis of E. coli metabolites. Comparing with the previous 2-D separation system we published in Anal. Chem. 2004, 76, 1419-1428, using a longer monolithic column in the first dimension improved the separation efficiency and offered the possibility of increasing the injection volume without compromising the separation efficiency. In the second dimension, field-enhanced stacking was used to improve the concentration sensitivity of the metabolites, and more metabolites in E. coli cell extract were detected and identified using the developed 2-D separation system. In addition, preliminary investigation for future CE-mass spectrometry coupling was also made in the study by using volatile buffers in the capillary LC and CE techniques.     

Comparison of mobility shift affinity capillary electrophoresis and capillary electrophoresis frontal analysis for binding constant determination between human serum albumin and small drugs

In this study, two capillary electrophoresis–based ligand binding assays, namely, mobility shift affinity capillary electrophoresis (ms-ACE) and capillary electrophoresis-frontal analysis (CE-FA), were applied to determine binding parameters of human serum albumin toward small drugs under similar experimental conditions. The substances S-amlodipine (S-AML), lidocaine (LDC), l -tryptophan (l -TRP), carbamazepine (CBZ), ibuprofen (IBU), and R-verapamil (R-VPM) were used as the main binding partners. The scope of this comparative study was to estimate and compare both the assays in terms of their primary measure's precision and the reproducibility of the derived binding parameters. The effective mobility could be measured with pooled CV values between 0.55% and 7.6%. The precision of the r values was found in the range between 1.5% and 10%. Both assays were not universally applicable. The CE-FA assay could successfully be applied to measure the drugs IBU, CBZ, and LDC, and the interaction toward CBZ, S-AML, l -TRP, and R-VPM could be determined using ms-ACE. The average variabilities of the estimated binding constants were 64% and 67% for CE-FA and ms-ACE, respectively.     

Development of a simple in-vial liquid-phase microextraction device for drug analysis compatible with capillary gas chromatography, capillary electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple, inexpensive and disposable device for liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) is presented for use in combination with capillary gas chromatography (GC), capillary electrophoresis (CE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). 1-4 ml samples of human urine or plasma were filled into conventional 4-ml vials, whereafter 15-25 microl of the extraction medium (acceptor solution) was filled into a short piece of a porous hollow fiber and placed into the sample vial. The drugs of interest were extracted from the sample solutions and into the small volumes of acceptor solution based on high partition coefficients and were preconcentrated by a factor of 30-125. For LPME in combination with GC, the porous hollow fiber was filled with 15 microl n-octanol as the acceptor solution. Following 30 min of extraction, the organic acceptor solution was injected directly into the GC system. For LPME in combination with CE and HPLC, n-octanol was immobilized within the pores of the hollow fiber, while the internal volume of the fiber was filled with either 25 microl of 0.1 M HCl (for extraction of basic compounds) or 25 microl 0.02 M NaOH (for acidic compounds). Following 45 min extraction, the aqueous acceptor solution was injected directly into the CE or HPLC system. Owing to the low cost, the extraction devices were disposed after a single extraction which eliminated the possibility of carry over effects. In addition, because no expensive instrumentation was required for LPME, 10-30 samples were extracted in parallel to provide a high number of samples per unit time capacity.     

Determination of flavonoids by high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis

The compounds of flavonoid, an important group in nature, can prevent coronary heart disease and anticancer by virtue of the characteristics of antioxidation. Nine flavonoids most often seen in grape wine, namely apigenin, baicalein, naringenin, luteolin, hesperetin, galangin, kaempferol, quercetin, and myricetine, were determined by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) in this work. A successful resolution was obtained from an unusual additive of tetrahydrofuran in mobile phase by HPLC. One notable thing is that the mixture of luteolin and quercetin could be separated for the first time by HPLC. In addition, the better detection limit was still attainable even with the use of tetrahydrofuran. The detection limits of CZE performed in borate buffer were hundreds-fold better than in previous reports. Furthermore, the retention and migration behavior of the analytes studied were discussed. As the result of this study, the elution order of flavone and flavonone was reversed to the contention proposed by Wulf et al. It was predictable from the interaction with tetrahydrofuran. Consequently, the extracts from grape wine with solid-phase extraction were analyzed by developing methods of HPLC and CZE. The obtained recoveries ranged from 90 to 107% and the relative standard deviations were under 6.3%.     

Determination of the binding parameters for antithrombin-heparin fragment systems by affinity and frontal analysis continuous capillary electrophoresis

The suitability of affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) and frontal analysis continuous capillary electrophoresis (FACCE) for binding constant determination was investigated for complexes between heparin fragments and antithrombin III, one of the main target proteins in the coagulation cascade. In a 100 mM ionic strength phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), ACE was suitable to determine weak to medium interactions developed by short oligomeric heparin fragments, but it failed for decasaccharide, which presents a more complex irreversible interaction. However FACCE allowed evaluating the binding constant for these longer oligomeric fragments. Both experimental approaches were complementary for a wide variety of heparinic fragments.     

Separation of stilbenes by capillary electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography

Stilbenes, fluorescence whitening agents (FWAs), are usually added to cleaning agents in household and in industry. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) was often applied to separate various compounds simultaneously for its multinomial advantages. In this paper, we established analytical methods of six diaminostilbenes with CE and ion-pair chromatography (IPC). The optimum mobile phase for IPC was 11.78 mM tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate (TBA) aqueous and acetonitrile. An IPC method has been developed for simple and direct separation for diaminostilbenes, anionic substances, with TBA as ion-pair reagent. Satisfactory linear ranges (7.0 x 10(-3) approximately 3.0 x 10 microg/mL), correlation coefficients (0.9992-0.9999), and detection limits (6-13 ng/mL) were obtained. Separations were also performed by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) using a buffer consisting of Tris (pH 10.1), n-tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) and acetonitrile. A linear range of 5.0 x 10(-1) - 4.0 x 10 microg/mL, correlation coefficients between 0.9975 and 0.9998, and detection limits between 337 and 446 ng/mL were obtained. In particular, the separation of a pair of similar compounds (mass difference of 2) was achieved by addition of TTAB. The optimum analytical methods of CE and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were applied to commercial household with direct analysis and standard addition. No significant bias were shown between them by t-test at 95% confidence level.     

Chiral separation of quinolones by liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis

The quinolones are derivatives of oxoquinolines and mostly known for their antibacterial and antiviral activities. Many quinolones are chiral compounds having asymmetric centers and important due to their enantioselective biological activities. In order to study the biological activities of quinolone enantiomers, to control the manufacturing of homochiral drugs and to prepare necessary quantities of pure enantiomers for preclinical or clinical trials, respective chiral separation methods are urgently needed. In this context, the present review discusses chromatographic and electrophoretic methods for the enantioseparation of chiral quinolones and provides some useful information on their physical and pharmaceutical properties. The drawbacks of currently used techniques are revealed and ways to overcome them are outlined. Moreover, recommendations for an optimal choice of a separation protocol are given.     

Affinity liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis of seminal plasma proteins

Interactions of boar, bull, and human seminal plasma proteins with heparin and phosphorylcholine were studied by affinity LC using heparin immobilized to a Toyopearl support. A step gradient elution from 0.15 to 1.50 M NaCl was employed to elute the seminal plasma proteins. Relative amounts of the heparin-binding fraction of seminal plasma proteins (H+) in seminal plasma of three species were determined. Further on, the fraction of seminal plasma proteins interacting with phosphorylcholine-binding proteins (P+) was evaluated. P+ proteins were not found in human seminal plasma and their highest amount was present in bull seminal plasma. A CE method was developed for separation of seminal plasma proteins. Various capillaries and separation conditions were tested; the best resolution was obtained in a bare-silica capillary, with a micellar system consisting of a 0.02 M borate buffer and 0.05 M SDS pH 10.0. The optimized conditions were applied to the identification of the components in boar plasma.