Capillary electrophoretic separation of dicarboxylic acids in atmospheric aerosol particles

2,3-Pyrazinedicarboxylic acid (PZDA), 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (PDA) and 2,3-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (QUIN) solutions were studied as background electrolytes (BGEs) in the capillary electrophoretic analysis of dicarboxylic acids in aerosol particles with indirect UV detection. The BGEs were selected on the basis of similarity in structure with the analytes so that mobilities would be compatible. Optimised pH values for PZDA, PDA and QUIN solutions were 10.6, 11.0 and 10.2, respectively. Myristyltrimethylammonium hydroxide and myristyltrimethylammonium bromide were added to reverse the electroosmotic flow in the solutions in the direction of anode to enable fast anion detection. Separation was obtained for nine dicarboxylic acids (C₂–C₁₀) differing in the number of CH₂ groups in their skeleton. The electrophoretic mobilities were determined to lie in the range 3.0×10⁻⁴–7.0×10⁻⁴ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for the absolute migration times of the analytes were mostly less than 0.5% (n=6) in PZDA solution. In PDA solution the within-day and day-to-day RSD values for migration were less than 1% and between 2 and 4%, respectively. Peak heights and areas mostly deviated between 1 and 15% in both PZDA and PDA solutions. Detection limits ranged between 1 and 5 mg/l. Methods were applied to the analysis of dicarboxylic acids isolated from aerosol particles.     

GC-MS analysis of water-soluble organics in atmospheric aerosol: response surface methodology for optimizing silyl-derivatization for simultaneous analysis of carboxylic acids and sugars

This paper describes the development of a derivatization procedure — silylation using N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)-trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) — for the simultaneous GC–MS analysis of a wide range of water-soluble organics in atmospheric aerosols. The reaction operating conditions were optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM) including central composite design (CCD) in order to achieve the highest response for a large number of dicarboxylic acids and sugars. The factors considered were: (i) reaction temperature (50–90 °C), (ii) the reaction duration (60–120 min), (iii) reagent concentrations (10–100% of the total solution volume) and (iv) pyridine concentration (0–50% of the derivatization reagent). On the basis of RSM and experimental evidence, the optimum derivatization conditions were defined as reaction temperature of 75 °C, reaction duration of 70 min, BSTFA reagent concentration of 55% and pyridine concentration of 35%. The optimized protocol was extended to a broader range of 22 target analytes that are relevant chemical markers, i.e., 15 carboxylic acids and 7 sugars. In addition, the applicability of the optimized procedure was verified in environmental matrices from PM filters collected under different conditions, i.e., different seasons (summer vs. winter), different sampling sites (urban vs. rural), different particle size dimensions (PM_2.5 vs. PM₁).     

Novel criteria for fast searching for optimal method in gradient ion chromatography: an integrated approach

In this article, an integrated approach for prediction and optimization in ion chromatography (IC) was presented. The approach provides a fast and reliable insight in the elution behavior of an IC system. The predictions are based on a mathematical model that predicts ion retentions (for both isocratic and gradient modes) by using an empirical isocratic model. Other chromatographic values significant for the optimal elution conditions (resolution, peak asymmetry) are calculated quickly and easily from the predicted retention values of characteristic points of a chromatographic peak. Every day, IC users might find this approach a suitable tool for finding optimal IC elution conditions in a given system.     

Characterization of carboxylic acids in atmospheric aerosols using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

A sensitive hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HILIC/ESI-MS/MS) method was developed for determination of selected aliphatic (i.e. malonic, succinic, glutaric, adipic, pimelic, suberic, azelaic, maleic, fumaric, glycolic and pyruvic acid), alicyclic (i.e. cis-pinonic and pinic acid) and aromatic (i.e. trimesic, phthalic acid and its isomers) carboxylic acids. Analytes were separated on an amide column using a gradient elution with a 10mM constant ionic strength mobile phase containing acetonitrile and aqueous ammonium acetate buffer (pH 5.0). The influence of the buffer type, pH, polar modifier and temperature on analyte retention under HILIC was studied. Static sonication-assisted solvent extraction was optimized for sample preparation prior to analysis. The recoveries obtained were higher than 90% for most analytes. The method was proven to be sensitive with limits of detection ranged from 0.03 to 16.0 μg/L in selected reaction monitoring mode (SRM). The repeatability and intermediate precision of the method, expressed as RSD (%) of the peak area ratio between analytes and their internal standards were generally lower than 5%. The method was successfully applied for determination of the studied acids in samples of ambient aerosol particles. A big advantage of the new method is also its ability to detect and separate the isobaric compounds of the selected carboxylic acids. Our results demonstrate that the method is specific and sensitive for the determination of a wider range of polar carboxylic acids at low concentrations in complex samples of aerosol particles.     

Screening method for organic aciduria by spectrofluorometric measurement of total dicarboxylic acids in human urine based on intramolecular excimer-forming fluorescence derivatization

A simple screening method of organic aciduria by spectrofluorometric measurement of total dicarboxylic acids in human urine is described. This method is based on an intramolecular excimer-forming fluorescence derivatization with a pyrene reagent, 4-(1-pyrene)butanoic acid hydrazide (PBH). Dicarboxylic acids in urine were converted to the corresponding dipyrene-labeled derivatives by reaction with PBH in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide and pyridine, and the derivatives afforded intramolecular excimer fluorescence (420-540 nm) which can clearly be discriminated from the normal fluorescence (360-420 nm) emitted from reagent blanks. The technique is so selective that it permits spectrofluorometric measurement of total amount of dicarboxylic acids by the direct derivatization of diluted urine samples. The same reaction mixture has also served as a liquid chromatographic (LC) sample for the separative determination of individual dicarboxylic acids. The spectrofluorometric data did not contradict with the LC data. These methods were usefully applied to preliminary screening test of glutaric aciduria. In conclusion, the present derivatization method allows rapid and direct determination of total amount of dicarboxylic acids in human urine samples.     

A new method of analysis of peroxydisulfate using ion chromatography and its application to the simultaneous determination of peroxydisulfate and other common inorganic ions in a peroxydisulfate matrix

A new method for the determination of peroxydisulfate using ion chromatography has been developed. Elution of peroxydisulfate was effected by isocratic elution using 200 mM NaOH at 40°C. A modification of the method using gradient elution was able to simultaneously determine other common inorganic ions (nitrate, nitrite, sulfate and chloride) down to significantly low concentrations in a peroxydisulfate matrix. The relative standard deviations (RSD) were in the range of 0.5-5%, for peak areas and <0.2% for peak retention times. The recoveries were between 95% and 120% for a concentration range of about 0.5-42 ppm. The limit of detection for peroxydisulfate ion was 0.2 ppm and for the other ions were ≤2×10(-2) ppm. The calibration curves were linear with slope and intercepts close to 1 and 0, respectively.     

梯度淋洗-电导抑制离子色谱法同时测定果汁中26种有机酸和阴离子

通过对色谱柱类型、流速、柱温、pH值、淋洗液浓度等影响因素的研究,建立了多级梯度淋洗-电导抑制离子色谱同时测定果汁中26种有机酸和阴离子的分析方法。结果表明,当流速为1.00 mL/min、柱温为30℃、pH值为5.5~6.8时,26种组分的测定结果更准确。26种组分在0.02~10.0 mg/L范围内具有良好的线性关系（r均大于0.995）,检出限（S/N=3）为0.17~52.0 μg/L;在0.20~2.00 mg/L添加水平下的回收率为85.58%~108.86%,相对标准偏差为0.15%~7.65%（n=6）。该方法简便快速、灵敏度好、准确度高,适于果汁中26种组分的痕量分析。     

Signal enhancement by on-column fluorimetric detection in gradient elution of dansyl amino acids in liquid chromatography

Summary Fluorimetric detection in the presence of a stationary phase has been applied to gradient elution of dansyl amino acids in liquid chromatography. A 1.5 mm ID quartz tube packed with the same materials as the separation column was employed for the flow cell. Conventional-size columns were employed. The peak height of analytes increased with increasing retention owing to focusing and environmental effects of the stationary phase, leading to improvements in sensitivity, which was pronounced for analytes eluting late. The lower the gradient, the larger the improvement in sensitivity achieved. Detection limits were improved by a factor of up to 5.1 by fluorimetric detection using the packed flow cell, compared with those achieved using a common empty flow cell.     

Signal enhancement by on-column fluorimetric detection in gradient elution of dansyl amino acids in liquid chromatography

Summary Fluorimetric detection in the presence of a stationary phase has been applied to gradient elution of dansyl amino acids in liquid chromatography. A 1.5 mm ID quartz tube packed with the same materials as the separation column was employed for the flow cell. Conventional-size columns were employed. The peak height of analytes increased with increasing retention owing to focusing and environmental effects of the stationary phase, leading to improvements in sensitivity, which was pronounced for analytes eluting late. The lower the gradient, the larger the improvement in sensitivity achieved. Detection limits were improved by a factor of up to 5.1 by fluorimetric detection using the packed flow cell, compared with those achieved using a common empty flow cell.     

Determination of polar organic compounds in atmospheric aerosols by gas chromatography with ion trap tandem mass spectrometry

A gas chromatography with ion trap mass spectrometry method has been developed and validated for the analysis of 27 polar organic compounds in atmospheric aerosols. The target analytes were low‐molecular‐weight carboxylic acids and methoxyphenols, as relevant markers of source emissions and photochemical processes of organic aerosols. The operative parameters were optimized in order to achieve the best sensitivity and selectivity for the analysis. In comparison with the previous gas chromatography with mass spectrometry procedure based on single ion monitoring detection, the tandem mass spectrometry technique increased the analytical sensitivity by reducing detection limits for standard solutions from 1–2.6 to 0.1–0.4 ng/μL ranges (concentrations in the injected solution). In addition, it enhanced selectivity by reducing matrix interferences and chemical noise in the chromatogram. The applicability of the developed method in air quality monitoring campaigns was effectively checked by analyzing environmental samples collected in the Po Valley (Northern Italy) in different seasons. The obtained results indicate that the ion trap mass spectrometer may be an ideal alternative to high‐resolution mass spectrometers for the user‐friendly and cost‐effective determination of a wide range of molecular tracers in airborne particulate matter.     

Retention prediction of a set of amino acids under gradient elution conditions in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography

The analysis of amino acids presents significant challenges to contemporary analytical separations. The present paper investigates the possibility of retention prediction in hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) gradient elution based on the analytical solution of the fundamental equation of the multilinear gradient elution derived for reversed‐phase systems. A simple linear dependence of the logarithm of the solute retention (ln k) upon the volume fraction of organic modifier (φ) in a binary aqueous‐organic mobile is adopted. Utility of the developed methodology was tested on the separation of a mixture of 21 amino acids carried out with 14 different gradient elution programs (from simple linear to multilinear and curved shaped) using ternary eluents in which a mixture of methanol and water (1:1, v/v) was the strong eluting member and acetonitrile was the weak solvent. Starting from at least two gradient runs, the prediction of solute retention obtained under all the rest gradients was excellent, even when curved gradient profiles were used. Development of such methodologies can be of great interest for a wide range of applications.     

Capillary-HPLC-ESI-MS/MS method for the determination of acidic products from the oxidation of monoterpenes in atmospheric aerosol samples

A method is presented for the determination of acidic products from terpene oxidation in filter samples of the atmospheric particle phase. Oxidation products of monoterpenes are believed to add a large fraction to the secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in the troposphere. Those products with structures containing one or more carboxylic acid groups have especially low vapour pressures and therefore they are believed to contribute substantially to the particle phase. Although many experiments were performed in simulation chambers to study the SOA generation by oxidation of terpenes, concentration measurements of products in the atmospheric particle phase are still rare. This is especially true for oxidation products of terpenes other than α- and β-pinene. Therefore, we developed a method for the quantification of acidic products from terpene oxidation in atmospheric aerosol samples. After passing a PM 2.5 (PM = particulate matter) pre-separator to remove coarse particles, fine atmospheric particles were collected onto quartz fibre filters. A backup filter was placed behind the first filter to estimate possible sampling artifacts. The filters were extracted in an ultrasonic bath using methanol. After enrichment and re-dissolving in water the samples were analysed using a capillary-HPLC-ESI(−)-MSⁿ set-up. The ion trap mass spectrometer could be used to gain structural information about the analytes and to enhance the selectivity of the measurements by using its MS/MS capability. A variety of products from different terpenes could be identified and quantified in samples of the ambient atmosphere using reference data from chamber experiments. Due to strong matrix effects quantification of samples from the real atmosphere had to be done by the standard addition method.     

毛细管离子色谱-串联质谱法测定热纤梭杆菌发酵液中的低相对分子质量有机酸

建立了一种测定热纤梭杆菌发酵液中的低相对分子质量有机酸的毛细管离子色谱-串联质谱方法。探索优化了色谱和质谱的检测条件,在最佳分析条件下同时检测8种有机酸。离子色谱以KOH水溶液作为流动相进行梯度洗脱;用IonSwift MAX-100毛细管柱进行分离;在喷雾电压为3.0 kV、喷雾气压强为2 000 kPa、成源温度为275℃的条件下,选择离子监测(SIM)模式下运行质谱。结果表明,柠檬酸和异柠檬酸两种同分异构体能够得到很好的分离,8种有机酸在一定浓度范围内具有良好的线性关系,相对标准偏差为1.45%~5.99%,相关系数为0.9696~0.9986,平均加标回收率为89.0%~110.0%,8种有机酸的检出限为0.01~0.50 mg/L。该方法进样量少,灵敏度高,重现性好,能够满足实际样品的检测要求,可用于嗜热厌氧菌发酵液中低分子量有机酸的测定。     

Application of artificial neural networks for gradient elution retention modelling in ion chromatography

Gradient elution in ion chromatography (IC) offers several advantages: total analysis time can be significantly reduced, overall resolution of a mixture can be increased, peak shape can be improved (less tailing) and effective sensitivity can be increased (because there is little variation in peak shape). More importantly, it provides the maximum resolution per time unit. The aim of this work was the development of a suitable artificial neural network (ANN) gradient elution retention model that can be used in a variety of applications for method development and retention modelling of inorganic anions in IC. Multilayer perceptron ANNs were used to model the retention behaviour of fluoride, chloride, nitrite, sulphate, bromide, nitrate and phosphate in relation to the starting time of gradient elution and the slope of the linear gradient elution curve. The advantage of the developed model is the application of an optimized two-phase training algorithm that enables the researcher to make use of the advantages of first- and second-order training algorithms in one training procedure. This results in better predictive ability, with less time required for the calculations. The number of hidden layer neurons and experimental data points used for the training set were optimized in terms of obtaining a precise and accurate retention model with respect to minimization of unnecessary experimentation and time needed for the calculation procedures. This study shows that developed, ANNs are the method of first choice for retention modelling of inorganic anions in IC.     

Spherical coordinate representations of solvent composition for liquid chromatography method development using experimental design

One of the major techniques used for the method development of ternary and quaternary high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems has been to use mixture designs, often referred to as "Glajch's Triangle". This technique does not allow for the systematic and simultaneous optimization of other factors such as gradient time, pH and temperature that affect the quality of separations. An alternative approach is to use experimental designs. The condition, however, that the composition of all components of the mobile phase must total 100% presents a problem when trying to mathematically represent ranges of each mobile phase constituent of a ternary or quaternary system. A method is described here, based on spherical coordinate representations, that adheres to the constraints of the mobile phase composition and allows experimental designs, such as central composite and factorial designs, to be applied to the simultaneous optimization of the mobile phase composition. Other factors, in particular temperature and gradient time, can then be included in the design. As a result of applying these designs to the HPLC separation of phenols and corticosteroids, it was found necessary to include three-way interactions between experimental factors in the model. The significance of these interactions shows that they need to be considered in HPLC method development.     

A microwave digestion-based determination of low molecular weight organic acids in Bayer process liquor

A new technique for the determination of low molecular weight organic acids in Bayer process liquors is reported. The acids are partitioned from acidified liquor into butanol, followed by butylation using microwave heating. This method is both rapid (sample preparation time < 15 min) and capable of detecting acids larger than previously reported in the low molecular weight fraction (up to RMM 176). A standard solution containing 15 acids was used to calibrate the technique and 13 of these acids were detected and quantified in a Bayer liquor sample.     

Retention prediction and computer-assisted optimization for the separation of PTH-amino acids in isocratic reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Summary Retention prediction of phenythiohydantoin amino acid derivatives in isocratic reversed-phase liquid chromatography was investigated. The predicted retention data of all derivatives were evaluated by comparing them with actually measured retention data. Excellent agreements between these data were found. The optimized conditions to separate overlapping components can also be predicted using the developed computer-assisted optimization system with the concept of retention prediction.     

A new electrochromatoscan method for the quantitative paper chromatography of amino acids

Summary A new electrochromatoscanning method has been developed for the quantitative analysis of micro-volume samples by paper chromatography. This method permitted the analysis of amino acid samples as small as 1 nmole. Amino acids such as -alanine, glycine, L-glutamic acid and L-aspartic acid in seaweeds were analyzed using this method.Studies on Porous Layer Electrochemistry Using Filter Paper. Part III.     

Simultaneous determination of carbohydrates and organic acids in beer and wine by ion chromatography

The simultaneous determination of mono-organic acids and carbohydrates by ion chromatography with both conductometric and pulsed amperometric detection is described. The carbohydrates, such as mannitol, arabinose, glucose, fructose, lactose, sucrose, raffinose, and maltose, as well as monoorganic acids including acetate, glycolate, formate, pyruvate, and fluoride are separated as anions by ion-exchange chromatography with 0.080 mol/L sodium hydroxide eluent at 1 mL/min within 12 min. Carbohydrates are determined by pulsed amperometric detection and mono-organic acids are determined by suppressed conductivity detection. The species in beverages are determined.     

Simultaneous determination of inorganic and organic acids in air by use of annular denuders and ion chromatography

Summary The performance of KOH-coated annular denuders for simultaneous collection of gas-phase atmospheric organic and inorganic acids has been evaluated by ion chromatography (IC) with an NaOH−H₂O gradient. Sampling efficiency was tested for formic and acetic acids under dry and humid air conditions. With this method several mono- and dicarboxylic acids, nitric acid, and hydrogen chloride can be detected. Laboratory and field measurements confirmed the reliability of the denuder method and its superior versatility compared with other techniques (scrubbing by means of a nebulizer, cryogenic trapping) which cannot be used to determine termine gaseous inorganic acids.