Factors affecting the reversed-phase liquid chromatographic separation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon isomers

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC) on C₁₈ stationary phases provides excellent selectivity for the separation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Recent studies have shown that several factors affect selectivity for the LC separation of PAH including phase type (monomeric or polymeric), pore diameter and surface area of the silica substrate, and surface density of the C₁₈ ligands. In this paper the separation of eleven PAH isomers of molecular weight 278 is used to further illustrate the effect of stationary phase characteristics and shape of the solute (length-to-breadth ratio, L/B) on retention and selectivity. Only polymeric C₁₈ phases with a high C₁₈ surface coverage provided separation of all eleven isomers and the elution order of these isomers generally followed increasing L/B values. The effect of solute nonplanarity on reversed-phase LC retention was investigated on both monomeric and polymeric phases using a series of planar and nonplanar PAH pairs. For each solute pair, the nonplanar solute eluted earlier than the planar solute, the largest selectivity factors being observed on the C₁₈ phase with the highest percent carbon load. Based on these studies, a model is proposed to describe the retention of PAH on polymeric C₁₈ phases.     

Highly efficient N-glycoproteomic sample preparation by combining C18 and graphitized carbon adsorbents

Conventional N-glycoproteome analysis usually applies C₁₈ reversed-phase (RP) adsorbent for sample purification, which will lead to unavoidable sample loss due to the high hydrophilicity of N-glycopeptides. In this study, a porous graphitized carbon (PGC) absorbent was combined with a C₁₈ adsorbent for N-glycopeptide purification in comprehensive N-glycoproteome analysis based on the hydrophobic and polar interactions between carbon and N-glycans. It was observed that the small hydrophilic N-glycopeptides that cannot retain onto C₁₈ adsorbent can be captured by the graphitized carbon, while the large hydrophobic N-glycopeptides that cannot retain onto the graphitized carbon can be feasibly captured by the C₁₈ adsorbent. Comparing with sample purification by using C₁₈ adsorbent only, 28.5 % more N-glycopeptides were identified by combining both C₁₈ and PGC adsorbents. The C₁₈-PGC strategy was further applied for both sample purification and pre-fractionation of a complex protein sample from HeLa cell. After hydrophilic interaction chromatography enrichment, 1,484 unique N-glycopeptides with 1,759 unique N-glycosylation sites were finally identified.

Discussion of thermodynamic data obtained by adsorption gas chromatography on carbograph 6

Summary Carbograph 6, a new graphitized carbon black with a specific surface area of 203 m² g⁻¹, as measured by BET, both uncoated and coated with up to 12% (w/w) of squalane, a non-polar stationary phase, has been studied by gas chromatographic determination of the enthalpy, entropy, and free energy of adsorption of a series of alkanes (C₂−C₆) and benzene. The data obtained are discussed and compared with those available in the literature for other graphitized carbon blacks. An example of a separation obtaned with Carbograph 6 is reported.     

Selective enrichment of N‐linked glycopeptides and glycans by using a dextran‐modified hydrophilic material

Glycosylation analysis of proteins from biological sources utilizing mass spectrometry based approaches is challenging due to the relatively low abundance of glycopeptides, the structural diversity of glycans, and the coexisting matrices. In this study, a customized dextran‐bonded silica‐based stationary phase was introduced for selective enrichment of glycopeptides and glycans from complex biological samples. This material has exhibited superior selectivity and broader glycosylation site coverage over commercial Sepharose in glycoproteomic evaluation. Additionally, the glycomic analysis of fetuin, α₁‐acid glycoprotein, and human serum N‐glycome also indicated the relatively higher sensitivity, selectivity, and glycoform coverage of dextran‐bonded silica than that of Sepharose and porous graphitized carbon. Therefore, the dextran‐bonded silica is expected to make contributions in the fields of glycoproteomics and glycomics.     

Determination of Antiviral Drugs and Their Metabolites Using Micro-Solid Phase Extraction and UHPLC-MS/MS in Reversed-Phase and Hydrophilic Interaction Chromatography Modes

Two new ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) methods for analyzing 21 selected antivirals and their metabolites were optimized, including sample preparation step, LC separation conditions, and tandem mass spectrometry detection. Micro-solid phase extraction in pipette tips was used to extract antivirals from the biological material of Hanks balanced salt medium of pH 7.4 and 6.5. These media were used in experiments to evaluate the membrane transport of antiviral drugs. Challenging diversity of physicochemical properties was overcome using combined sorbent composed of C₁₈ and ion exchange moiety, which finally allowed to cover the whole range of tested antivirals. For separation, reversed-phase (RP) chromatography and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), were optimized using extensive screening of stationary and mobile phase combinations. Optimized RP-UHPLC separation was carried out using BEH Shield RP18 stationary phase and gradient elution with 25 mmol/L formic acid in acetonitrile and in water. HILIC separation was accomplished with a Cortecs HILIC column and gradient elution with 25 mmol/L ammonium formate pH 3 and acetonitrile. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) conditions were optimized in both chromatographic modes, but obtained results revealed only a little difference in parameters of capillary voltage and cone voltage. While RP-UHPLC-MS/MS exhibited superior separation selectivity, HILIC-UHPLC-MS/MS has shown substantially higher sensitivity of two orders of magnitude for many compounds. Method validation results indicated that HILIC mode was more suitable for multianalyte methods. Despite better separation selectivity achieved in RP-UHPLC-MS/MS, the matrix effects were noticed while using both chromatographic modes leading to signal enhancement in RP and signal suppression in HILIC.     

Separation of cannabinoids on three different mixed‐mode columns containing carbon/nanodiamond/amine‐polymer superficially porous particles

Three mixed‐mode high‐performance liquid chromatography columns packed with superficially porous carbon/nanodiamond/amine‐polymer particles were used to separate mixtures of cannabinoids. Columns evaluated included: (i) reversed phase (C₁₈), weak anion exchange, 4.6 × 33 mm, 3.6 μm, and 4.6 × 100 mm, 3.6 μm, (ii) reversed phase, strong anion exchange (quaternary amine), 4.6×33 mm, 3.6 μm, and (iii) hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography, 4.6 × 150 mm, 3.6 μm. Different selectivities were achieved under various mobile phase and stationary phase conditions. Efficiencies and peak capacities were as high as 54 000 N/m and 56, respectively. The reversed phase mixed‐mode column (C₁₈) retained tetrahydrocannabinolic acid strongly under acidic conditions and weakly under basic conditions. Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid was retained strongly on the reversed phase, strong anion exchange mixed‐mode column under basic polar organic mobile phase conditions. The hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography column retained polar cannabinoids better than the (more) neutral ones under basic conditions. A longer reversed phase (C₁₈) mixed‐mode column (4.6 × 100 mm) showed better resolution for analytes (and a contaminant) than a shorter column. Fast separations were achieved in less than 5 min and sometimes 2 min. A real world sample (bubble hash extract) was also analyzed by gradient elution.     

C18-磺酸基双改性液相色谱固定相的制备与评价

以十八烷基三氯硅烷和3-巯丙基三甲氧基硅烷为改性剂,采用一锅法对硅胶表面加以修饰,进一步将巯基氧化制备成C18-磺酸基双改性液相色谱固定相.在优化的反应条件下得到了十八烷基和磺酸基摩尔比为3∶7的固定相,分别采用扫描电镜、元素分析、红外光谱对固定相的形貌和特征加以表征.针对制备的固定相,在不同的分离模式下,系统考察其色谱分离性能.在反相色谱模式下,成功分离了5种烷基苯化合物;在亲水模式下,分离了3种核苷;进一步应用于牛血清白蛋白酶解产物的分离,得到了较好的结果.实验结果表明,制备的混合模式固定相同时具有多种分离机理,在分离复杂样品、调整选择性方面具有潜在的优势.     

Hydrophilic interaction chromatography: A promising alternative to reversed‐phase liquid chromatography systems for the purification of small protonated bases

The overloaded band profiles of the protonated species of propranolol and amitriptyline were recorded under acidic conditions on four classes of stationary phases including a conventional silica/organic hybrid material in reversed‐phase liquid chromatography mode (BEH‐C₁₈), an electrostatic repulsion reversed‐phase liquid chromatography C₁₈ column (BEH‐C₁₈+), a poly(styrene‐divinylbenzene) monolithic column, and a hydrophilic interaction chromatography stationary phase (underivatized BEH). The same amounts of protonated bases per unit volume of stationary phase were injected in each column (16, 47, and 141 μg/cm³). The performance of the propranolol/amitriptyline purification was assessed on the basis of the asymmetry of the recorded band profiles and on the selectivity factor achieved. The results show that the separation performed under reversed‐phase liquid chromatography like conditions (with BEH‐C₁₈, BEH‐C₁₈+, and polymer monolith materials) provide the largest selectivity factors due to the difference in the hydrophobic character of the two compounds. However, they also provide the most distorted overloaded band profiles due to a too small loading capacity. Remarkably, symmetric band profiles were observed with the hydrophilic interaction chromatography column. The larger loading capacity of the hydrophilic interaction chromatography column is due to the accumulation of the protonated bases into the diffuse water layer formed at the surface of the polar adsorbent. This work encourages purifying ionizable compounds on hydrophilic interaction chromatography columns rather than on reversed‐phase liquid chromatography columns.     

Discussion of thermodynamic data obtained by adsorption gas chromatography of hydrocarbons on a new graphitized carbon black with a high specific surface area

Summary A new graphitized carbon black (Carbograph 5) with a specific surface area (560 m² g⁻¹) greater than those of commerically available graphitized carbons was studied by gas chromatography to determine the enthalpy, entropy, and free energy of adsorption of a series of alkanes (C₂−C₆). The adsorption properties were also investigated by considering changes in the isosteric heats and entropies of adsorption when a nonpolar stationary phase (squalane) was added to the adsorbent. The data obtained are discussed and compared with literature values for other graphitized carbon blacks.     

Liquid chromatography of carbon clusters

Summary A comparison of three binary mobile phases in LC separation of C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerences on chemically bonded 2,4-dinitroanilinopropyl (DNAP) stationary phase was carried out, n-Hexane-benzene has been found to be the best mobile phase for efficient separation of the all-carbon molecules permitting high loads in preparative LC.     

Synthesis of monodisperse silica microspheres and modification with diazoresin for mixed‐mode ultra high performance liquid chromatography separations

Monodisperse silica particles with average diameters of 1.9–2.9 μm were synthesized by a modified Stöber method, in which tetraethyl orthosilicate was continuously supplied to the reaction mixture containing KCl electrolyte, water, ethanol, and ammonia. The obtained silica particles were modified by self‐assembly with positively charged photosensitive diazoresin on the surface. After treatment with ultraviolet light, the ionic bonding between silica and diazoresin was converted into covalent bonding through a unique photochemistry reaction of diazoresin. Depending on the chemical structure of diazoresin and mobile phase composition, the diazoresin‐modified silica stationary phase showed different separation mechanisms, including reversed phase and hydrophilic interactions. Therefore, a variety of baseline separation of benzene analogues and organic acids was achieved by using the diazoresin‐modified silica particles as packing materials in ultra high performance liquid chromatography. According to the π–π interactional difference between carbon rings of fullerenes and benzene rings of diazoresin, C₆₀ and C₇₀ were also well separated by ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography. Because it has a small size, the ∼2.5 μm monodisperse diazoresin‐modified silica stationary phase shows ultra‐high efficiency compared with the commercial C₁₈‐silica high‐performance liquid chromatography stationary phase with average diameters of ∼5 μm.     

Reversed-phase depletion coupled with hydrophilic affinity enrichment for the selective isolation of N-linked glycopeptides by using Click OEG-CD matrix

Selective enrichment of glycopeptides is of great importance for protein glycosylation analysis using mass spectrometry since the signals of glycopeptides could be severely suppressed by the coexisting non-glycosylated peptides in the protein digest. In the present work, a strategy for N-linked glycopeptide enrichment through reversed-phase depletion coupled with hydrophilic affinity enrichment by applying the customized matrix named Click OEG-CD is developed. Compared with single hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) mode, the strategy exhibited remarkably higher selectivity for N-linked glycopeptides. As many as 22, 18, and eight glycopeptides were detected in the glycopeptide fraction enriched with the strategy from the digests of human immunoglobulin G, horseradish peroxidase and bovine ribonuclease B, respectively. In addition, the strategy also showed high glycosylation microheterogeneity coverage for the enrichment of human α₁-acid glycoprotein glycopeptides. More than 170 glycopeptides covering all the glycosylation sites were detected in the enriched fraction. The revered-phase liquid chromatography depletion coupled with HILIC enrichment strategy by using Click OEG-CD matrix is expected to show more potential in further applications in glycosylation analysis.     

Porous graphitic carbon chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric determination of cytarabine in mouse plasma

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system using a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) stationary phase interfaced with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source and a tandem mass spectrometer (MS/MS) for the analysis of cytarabine (ara-C) in mouse plasma samples has been developed in support of a pharmacodynamic study. The graphitized carbon column was adopted for the separation of ara-C and endogenous peaks from mouse plasma samples under the reversed-phase phase mode in liquid chromatography. The retention characteristics of the PGC column and the ionization efficiencies of all analytes based on the experimental factors such as the composition of mobile phases were investigated. The potential of ionization suppression resulting from the endogenous biological matrices on the PGC column during HPLC/ESI-MS/MS was investigated using post-column infusion. The concentrations of ara-C in mouse plasma obtained by using PGC-HPLC/MS/MS and ion-pairing HPLC/MS/MS were found to be in good agreement in terms of analytical accuracy.     

Discussion of thermodynamic data obtained by adsorption gas chromatography of hydrocarbons on carbograph 4

Summary A new graphitized carbon black, Carbograph 4, with a specific surface area of 240 m² g⁻¹ was studied in terms of enthalpy, entropy and free energy of adsorption, determined by gas chromatographic method on a series of alkanes (C₂−C₆) and on benzene. The changes in the isosteric heat and entropy of adsorption when a non-polar stationary phase (squalane) was added to the adsorbent were also investigated. The data obtained are discussed and compared to those present in the literature for other graphitized carbon blacks. Some examples of separations obtained with Carbograph 4 are reported.     

氮氧化硅反相色谱固定相材料的制备及色谱分离性能评价

硅胶是目前高效液相色谱(HPLC)固定相中应用最为广泛的基质材料,其流动相的最佳使用范围为pH 2～8。在高pH(pH＞8)的流动相条件下,流动相中的氢氧根会进攻硅胶基质表面残余的硅醇基,导致硅胶基质固定相骨架溶解。在前期的研究中,我们将高温氨气处理多孔硅胶微球得到的氮氧化硅材料用作HPLC固定相,氮氧化硅在高pH流动相条件下表现出了较硅胶更高的稳定性。本文利用元素分析对氮氧化硅材料的氮化程度及含氮量进行系统的表征,并考察了氮氧化硅材料在不同pH条件下的静态稳定性。利用十八烷基二甲基氯硅烷试剂对氮氧化硅材料表面进行疏水性修饰,并以元素分析和核磁共振波谱对表面键合氮氧化硅材料进行了表征。考察了不同碳链的烷基苯、酸性化合物、碱性化合物在疏水改性的C₁₈氮氧化硅反相色谱固定相上的色谱分离性能。进一步分别以酸、碱和中性化合物为分析对象,比较了C₁₈-SiON1050(10)与C₁₈-SiO₂色谱保留的差异。     

Relationships between Retention Factors and Analyte Hydrophobicity on Cyanopropyl and n‐Octadecyl Bonded Silicas,Cross‐Linked Polymers and Porous Graphitic Carbon Stationary Phases. Consequences for the Trace Analysis of Highly Polar Organic Compounds

LC retention data have been measured using various stationary phases with an emphasis on highly polar to moderately polar neutral organic compounds having octanol‐water partition coefficients (K_ow) in log units between 0 and 3. The relationships between the retention factor measured in water and the octanol‐water partition coefficient are linear but with different slopes for octadecyl (C₁₈) silicas, and two polystyrene divinylbenzene (PS‐DVB) phases with low and high surface areas. These relationships confirm that highly cross‐linked polymers can provide more than 1000‐times higher retention values than C₁₈ silicas for moderately polar analytes but close values for highly polar ones. They also explain why C₁₈ silicas and polymers are equivalent for the separation of very polar analytes. In contrast, due to a different retention mechanism, no relation exists between the retention shown by porous graphitic carbons (PGC) and analyte hydrophobicity, but highly polar analytes are in general much more strongly retained than by any other sorbent. The potential of PGC for both the extraction and the separation of analytes is shown. Due to the difference in separation mechanism, PGC is the analytical phase that should be used for confirmation of the identity of analytes instead of a cyanopropylsilica column as recommended in some environmental procedures. Applications are presented for the trace‐determination of triazines and polar degradation products in ground and surface water with detection limits below the 0.1 μg/L level.     

“Sock-Ball” Chromatographic Separation of High Molecular Weight Fullerenes with Sock-Shaped Stationary Phase

A method for “Sock-Bail” chromatographic separation of high molecular weight fullerenes is described. A prepared sock-shaped stationary phase (Sock-SAF-phase) was used for HPLC separation of several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and fullerenes. Fullerenes, as ball-shaped molecules, are much more strongly retained than PAHs on this stationary phase and have the eluted order C₅₀ < C₇₀ < C₇₆ < C₇₈ < C₈₄ in the mobile phase of n-hexane/dichloromethane (100/0 ～ 80/20). In contrast, chromatography on the corresponding unmodified silica phase or SC-3OH-phase (an intermediate phase of Sock-SAF-phase) gave no separation of fullerenes. This fact indicated that the separation of fullerenes on Sock-SAF-phase was related to the selective interaction with the sock moiety.     

Automated screening of reversed‐phase stationary phases for small‐molecule separations using liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry

There are various reversed‐phase stationary phases that offer significant differences in selectivity and retention. To investigate different reversed‐phase stationary phases (aqueous stable C₁₈, biphenyl, pentafluorophenyl propyl, and polar‐embedded alkyl) in an automated fashion, commercial software and associated hardware for mobile phase and column selection were used in conjunction with liquid chromatography and a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer detector. A model analyte mixture was prepared using a combination of standards from varying classes of analytes (including drugs, drugs of abuse, amino acids, nicotine, and nicotine‐like compounds). Chromatographic results revealed diverse variations in selectivity and peak shape. Differences in the elution order of analytes on the polar‐embedded alkyl phase for several analytes showed distinct selectivity differences compared to the aqueous C₁₈ phase. The electron‐rich pentafluorophenyl propyl phase showed unique selectivity toward protonated amines. The biphenyl phase provided further changes in selectivity relative to C₁₈ with a methanolic phase, but it behaved very similarly to a C₁₈ when an acetonitrile‐based mobile phase was evaluated. This study shows the value of rapid column screening as an alternative to excessive mobile phase variation to obtain suitable chromatographic settings for analyte separation.     

Separation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with a C60 bonded silica phase in microcolumn liquid chromatography

A chemically bonded C₆₀ silica phase was synthesized as a stationary phase for liquid chromatography (LC) and its retention behavior evaluated for various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using microcolumn LC. The results indicate that the C₆₀ bonded phase offers selectivity different from that of octadecylsilica (ODS) bonded phases in the separation of isomeric PAHs. With the C₆₀ phase, PAH molecules having a partial structure similar to that of the C₆₀ molecule, e.g. triphenylene and perylene, were retained longer than with ordinary ODS stationary phases. The results also show that good correlation exists between the retention data with this C₆₀ bonded phase and with C₆₀ itself as the stationary phase.     

LC and LC-MS Separation of Peptides on Macrocyclic Glycopeptide Stationary Phases: Diastereomeric Series and Large Peptides

Previous work on the LC separation of peptides had shown that macrocyclic glycopeptide stationary phases to be selective for peptides of five to thirteen amino acids in length. In this work, the selectivity of the teicoplanin stationary phase is compared to that of a C18 stationary phase for seven diastereomeric enkephalin peptides. The teicoplanin stationary phase separated all seven diastereomeric enkephalin peptides in a single chromatographic run. The insertion of d-amino acids into the primary enkephalin sequence produced areas of hydrophobicity that influenced retention order on the C18 stationary phase. However, analogous trends are not observed on the teicoplanin stationary phase, which is more polar and structurally diverse. Optimization of the mobile phase and the use of a step-gradient for the enkephalin separation on the teicoplanin stationary phase is discussed. Also, the selectivity of macrocyclic glycopeptide stationary phases for peptides of 14, 28, 30, and 36 amino acids also is investigated and compared to separation on a C18 stationary phase. A method for eluting peptides with multiple basic amino acids, which tend to be strongly retained on the macrocyclic glycopeptide stationary phases, is presented.