Evaluation and comparison of n‐alkyl chain and polar ligand bonded stationary phases for protein separation in reversed‐phase liquid chromatography

Protein retention is very sensitive to the change of solvent composition in reversed‐phase liquid chromatography for so called “on–off” mechanism, leading to difficulty in mobile phase optimization. In this study, a novel 3‐chloropropyl trichlorosilane ligand bonded column was prepared for protein separation. The differences in retention characteristics between the 3‐chloropropyl trichlorosilane ligand bonded column and n‐alkyl chain modified (C₂, C₄, C₈) stationary phases were elucidated by the retention equation . Retention parameters (a and c) of nine standard proteins with different molecular weights were calculated by using homemade software. Results showed that retention times of nine proteins were similar on four columns, but the 3‐chloropropyl trichlorosilane ligand bonded column obtained the lowest retention parameter values of larger proteins. It meant that their retention behavior affected by acetonitrile concentration would be different due to lower |c| values. More specifically, protein elution windows were broader, and retentions were less sensitive to the change of acetonitrile concentration on the 3‐chloropropyl trichlorosilane ligand bonded column than that on other columns. Meanwhile, the 3‐chloropropyl trichlorosilane ligand bonded column displayed distinctive selectivity for some proteins. Our results indicated that stationary phase with polar ligand provided potential solutions to the “on–off” problem and optimization in protein separation.     

Isocratic separation of ginsenosides by high-performance liquid chromatography on a diol column at subambient temperatures

An improved high-performance liquid chromatographic method for separation of a number of ginsenosides has been developed. The influence of temperature (from 0 to 25°C) on the retention and separation of the ginsenosides was studied by applying a binary mobile phase (acetonitrile/water, 82:18 v/v) and a diol column (LiChrospher 100 Diol). The column temperature is one of the more important parameters for the retention and separation of the components investigated. Selected thermodynamic parameters, including changes of enthalpy (ΔH°) and entropy (ΔS°), were estimated from linear van’t Hoff plots, and possible retention mechanisms were discussed. Moreover, the best separation conditions were selected based on optimization criteria including maximum retention time (t _{R max}), minimum resolution (R _{s min}), and relative resolution product (r). Temperature regions close to 14°C offered the highest selectivity and almost equal distribution of the ginsenosides peaks across the chromatogram. Under such isocratic conditions, excellent separation of chromatographic standards and selected ginseng samples was achieved in less than 16 min.     

Determination of Nimesulide by Ion Pair High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Using Tetrabutylammonium as the Counterion

A new method for nimesulide was developed using ion-pair reversed phase liquid chromatography and tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate as the ion-pairing reagent. The influence of the ion pair forming reagent concentration, pH, and mobile phase composition on the retention time of nimesulide were studied. The optimum experimental conditions included a C18 column, a mobile phase of a 50/50 (v/v) mixture of acetonitrile and 15 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8.00) containing 6 mM tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate, 25°C, isocratic elution, a flow rate of 1 mL/min, a run time of 10 minutes, and photodiode array detection at 404 nm. From the analysis of the results, the mechanism for the separation of nimesulide was also established. The retention time for nimesulide was 4.76 ± 0.05 min. The method was linear between concentrations of 9 µg/mL to 64 µg/mL, with limits of detection and quantification of 1.111 µg/mL and 3.390 µg/mL, respectively. The method is simple, rapid, accurate, and precise, and successfully applied for the determination of nimesulide in pharmaceutical products.     

Crossed D-Optimal Experimental Design Methodology for the Chromatographic Separation of Antihypertensive Drugs

An efficient, isocratic, reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography method was developed, optimized, and validated to separate nine antihypertensive drugs by experimental design methodology and the Crossed D-Optimal process. In order to find the most suitable separation conditions, twenty-three experiments were carried out, based on the simultaneous effects of three solvent (methanol, acetonitrile, and water) compositions in combination with different pH values of the mobile phase. The components were cross-combined with a pH factor (quadratic x quadratic process), whereas optimal adjusted models were used for the eight individually chosen responses. The optimal mobile phase consisted of methanol, acetonitrile, and 0.05 M aqueous ammonium acetate at pH 3.1 (18:26: 56 v/v/v, pH adjustment with formic acid). Analysis was carried out on a C₁₈ column (150 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) at 40 °C using photodiode array detection at 242 nm. The system was found to produce sharp and well resolved peaks for all analytes while the retention times ranged from 2.3 to 31 min. The method was linear (r² > 0.999) and reliable since the accuracy (recovery = 100 ± 2.9) and the precision (relative standard deviation < 2%) met International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. The technique was shown to be a useful tool for separating complex mixtures using experimental design methodology.     

Enhanced‐fluidity liquid chromatography using mixed‐mode hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography/strong cation‐exchange retention mechanisms

The potential of enhanced‐fluidity liquid chromatography, a subcritical chromatography technique, in mixed‐mode hydrophilic interaction/strong cation‐exchange separations is explored, using amino acids as analytes. The enhanced‐fluidity liquid mobile phases were prepared by adding liquefied CO₂ to methanol/water mixtures, which increases the diffusivity and decreases the viscosity of the mixture. The addition of CO₂ to methanol/water mixtures resulted in increased retention of the more polar amino acids. The “optimized” chromatographic performance (achieving baseline resolution of all amino acids in the shortest amount of time) of these methanol/water/CO₂ mixtures was compared to traditional acetonitrile/water and methanol/water liquid chromatography mobile phases. Methanol/water/CO₂ mixtures offered higher efficiencies and resolution of the ten amino acids relative to the methanol/water mobile phase, and decreased the required isocratic separation time by a factor of two relative to the acetonitrile/water mobile phase. Large differences in selectivity were also observed between the enhanced‐fluidity and traditional liquid mobile phases. A retention mechanism study was completed, that revealed the enhanced‐fluidity mobile phase separation was governed by a mixed‐mode retention mechanism of hydrophilic interaction/strong cation‐exchange. On the other hand, separations with acetonitrile/water and methanol/water mobile phases were strongly governed by only one retention mechanism, either hydrophilic interaction or strong cation exchange, respectively.     

Determination of aromatic amines in environmental water samples using solid-phase extraction modified with sodium dodecyl sulphate and micellar liquid chromatography

Extraction and determination of seven aromatic amines in environmental water samples were performed with solid-phase extraction (SPE) and micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) using experimental design. Extraction of aromatic amines was carried out with a C₁₈ cartridge modified with sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). The washing solution and elution solvent for extraction of aromatic amines were aqueous solution containing 5% (v/v) acetonitrile and 5% (v/v) acetone and 3 mL methanol, respectively. The chemometrics approach was applied for the separation optimisation of these compounds using MLC. Different mobile phase compositions were used for modelling based on retention times to obtain the best separation using central composite design. The optimum mobile phase composition for separation and determination of analytes in water samples was 69 mM SDS, 9% v/v 1-propanol and pH = 6.4. Recoveries were between 84.8–93.5% with relative standard deviation (RSD) less than 5.8% (n = 5). Limits of detection and linear range were 1–4.5 and 3.1–125.0 µg/L, respectively. The proposed method was applied to determine the aromatic amines in real samples (river and well waters). Amount of 4-nitroaniline and 3-nitroaniline in river water sample were 2.15 and 1.91 µg/L, respectively.     

High‐performance liquid chromatography separation of phthalate acid esters with a MIL‐53(Al)‐packed column

In this study, a MIL‐53(Al)‐packed column was successfully prepared and firstly applied to separate phthalate acid esters (butyl benzyl phthalate, di‐n‐butyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, bis(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate, and dimethyl phthalate). Their baseline separation could be achieved within 12 min with a mobile phase of methanol/H₂O ratio at 92:8, and the temperature and flow rate was 40°C and 0.6 mL/min, respectively. The stacking effect and electrostatic force were the key factors in the separation. Moreover, there was a substantial linear relation between the peak height, peak area, and the analyte mass, and the relative standard deviations of retention time, peak height, peak area, and half peak width for five replicate separations of the analytes were within the ranges 0.31–0.88%, 0.72–1.52%, 1.33–1.53%, and 0.46–0.95%, respectively. The results of the calculation of the thermodynamics parameters showed that the separation of phthalate acid esters was controlled by both enthalpy change (ΔH) and entropy change (ΔS).     

Preparation and evaluation of open‐tubular capillary column combining a metal–organic framework and a brush‐shaped polymer for liquid chromatography

In this work, an open‐tubular capillary liquid‐phase column was prepared by modifying chain polymer on the inner surface of capillary and chemical bonding of metal organic frameworks, NH₂‐UiO‐66, to the brushes of chain polymer (poly(glycidyl methacrylate)). Besides advantages of facial preparation and good permeability, the chain polymer effectively increases the modification amount of NH₂‐UiO‐66 nanoparticles to increase the phase ratio of open‐tubular capillary column and enhance the interactions with analytes. The results of scanning electron microscope energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectra indicated that NH₂‐UiO‐66 nanoparticles were successfully bonded to the chain polymer. Because of the hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding interaction between the analytes and the ligand of NH₂‐UiO‐66, different analytes were well separated on the NH₂‐UiO‐66‐modified poly(glycidyl methacrylate) capillary (1.12 m × 25 μm id × 365 μm od) with the high absolute column efficiency reaching 121 477 plates, benefiting from an open‐tubular column and low mass transfer resistance provided by polymer brush and metal–organic framework crystal. The relative standard deviations of the retention time for run‐to‐run, day‐to‐day, and column‐to‐column (n = 3) runs are below 4.28%, exhibiting good repeatability. Finally, the column was successfully applied to separation of flavonoids in licorice.     

Stability Indicating HPTLC and LC Determination of Dasatinib in Pharmaceutical Dosage Form

Two sensitive and reproducible methods are described for the quantitative determination of dasatinib in the presence of its degradation products. The first method was based on high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) followed by densitometric measurements of their spots at 280 nm. The separation was on HPTLC aluminium sheets of silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ using toluene:chloroform (7.0:3.0, v/v). This system was found to give compact spots for dasatinib after development (R _F value of 0.23 ± 0.02). The second method was based on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of the drug from its degradation products on reversed phase, PerfectSil column [C₁₈ (5 μm, 25 cm × 4.6 mm, i.d.)] at ambient temperature using mobile phase consisting of methanol:20 mM ammonium acetate with acetic acid (45:55, v/v) pH 3.0 and retention time (t _R = 8.23 ± 0.02 min). Both separation methods were validated as per the ICH guidelines. No chromatographic interference from the tablet excipients was found. Dasatinib was subjected to acid–alkali hydrolysis, oxidation, dry heat, wet heat and photo-degradation. The drug was susceptible to acid–alkali hydrolysis and oxidation. The drug was found to be stable in neutral, wet heat, dry heat and photo-degradation conditions. As the proposed analytical methods could effectively separate the drug from its degradation products, they can be employed as stability indicating.     

Retention Mechanism Studies of Selected Amino Acids and Vitamin B6 on HILIC Columns with Evaporative Light Scattering Detection

The goal of the study was to investigate separation mechanism of selected “essential” amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, threonine, tryptophan, proline, and glycine) and vitamin B6 in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) with the evaporative light scattering detection. Chromatographic measurements were made on three different HILIC columns: amide-silica (TSK-gel Amide-80), amino-silica (TSK-gel NH₂-100), and cross-linked diol (Luna HILIC). The retention behaviour of the analytes was investigated as a function of different binary hydro-organic mobile phases containing 10–90 % (v/v) acetonitrile. The compounds studied were separated under isocratic and gradient conditions. The best results of tested biologically active compounds separation were obtained on the TSK-gel NH₂-100 column. TSK-gel NH₂ column showed mixed HILIC–ion-exchange mechanism, the highest separation efficiency and better selectivity and resolution for tested analytes than the other studied column, especially at concentration of water in mobile phase lower than 30 % (v/v). Special attention was dedicated to the study of interactions among the stationary phase, mobile phase and the analytes.

     

Sulfamethazine and Sulfadimethoxine Separation Strategies Based on Molecularly Imprinted Adsorbents

Abstract

The synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as a stationary phase of high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), for the efficient determination of sulfamethazine and sulfadimethoxine in tablets is reported. The polymers were prepared by a noncovalent method with sulfamethazine as the template, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer and ethylene glycoldimethacrylate as the cross‐linker in the presence of chloroform as the solvent. The retention time of sulfamethazine and sulfadimethoxine were approximately 5.2±0.2 and 10.3±0.5 min, respectively. In order to compare the chromatographic data from the stationary phase, retention factor (k) and separation factors (α) were given. The values of α were 2.05～2.17 showed that the MIP was able to recognize structurally subtle differences from the template molecule.

The MIP was successfully applied to commercial tablet analysis and the result showed a good recovery with 99 and 98% for sulfamethazine and sulfadimethoxine.     

Separation optimization of quercetin,hesperetin and chrysin in honey by micellar liquid chromatography and experimental design

The chemometrics approach was applied for the separation optimization of flavonoid markers (quercetin, hesperetin and chrysin) in honey using micellar liquid chromatography (MLC). The investigated method combines SPE of flavonoids from honey using C₁₈ cartridge and their separation and quantification by micellar liquid chromatography. A two level full factorial design was carried out to evaluate the effect of four experimental factors including concentration of SDS, alkyl chain length of the alcohol used as the organic modifier (N), volume percentage of the organic modifier (V_m) and volume percentage of acetic acid (AcOH) in mobile phase on analytes retention times. Experiments for analytes retention times modeling and optimization of separation were performed according to central composite design. Multiple linear regression method was used for the construction of the best model based on experimental retention times. Pareto optimal method was used to find suitable compatibility between resolution and analysis time of analytes in honey. The optimum mobile phase composition for separation and determination of analytes in honey were [SDS]=0.124 mol/L; 7.8% v/v ethanol and 5.0% v/v AcOH. Limits of detection and linear range of flavonoid markers were 0.0079–0.0126, 0.05–50.0 mg/L, respectively.     

Separation of antiviral nucleoside phosphoramidate diastereomers by analytical supercritical fluid chromatography

Two amino acid phosphoramidates with high antiviral activity were used as model compounds and separated using supercritical fluid chromatography on an achiral Hypersil BDS cyano column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm). Supercritical CO₂ was used as a mobile phase with different co-solvents, including methanol, ethanol, and 2-propanol. Several key processing parameters were evaluated, including the type and concentration of alcohol modifier (5 to 15%), backpressure (100 to 200 bar), and column temperature (30 to 45 ?C) in terms of their impact on retention factor, diastereoselectivity, and resolution. The optimized chromatographic conditions allowed for a complete separation of mixture of two diastereomers with good resolution over a short time (5–9 min). At a backpressure of 150 bar and a temperature of 33°C, the diastereomers of phenylalanine methyl ester phenyl 5′-phosphoamidate of d4T (d4T-P-N-PheOMe) and alanine methyl ester phenyl 5′-phosphoamidate of d4T (d4T-P-N-AlaOMe) were separated with resolutions of 4.43 and 2.55 using 10.0% and 5.0% (v/v) methanol, respectively.     

Siliceous mesocellular foam for high-performance liquid chromatography: Effect of morphology and pore structure

Spherical siliceous mesocellular foam (MCF) particles with an average particle size of 4.8 μm have been successfully prepared. These spherical particles were tailored in pore sizes and surface areas. They were functionalized with C₈ or C₁₈ groups, and applied towards reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column separations. Their high surface areas gave rise to very good retention characteristics, as illustrated in the separation of a series of alkylbenzene solutes with increasing chain length. The highly interconnected porous structure and ultralarge pore size of MCF allowed the columns to be used at high flow rates without much loss in column efficiency. The column efficiency and peak symmetry were further improved by eliminating the micropores of the stationary phase. The reversed phase column packed with C₁₈-modified spherical MCF particles provided for excellent separation of different deoxynucleosides, illustrating the broad applicability of these materials due to their controlled pore size.     

Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography for the separation of acidic agricultural compounds

Organic acids with very low pK_a require extremely low pH conditions to achieve adequate retention in reversed‐phase liquid chromatography, but an extremely low pH mobile phase can cause instrument reliability problems and limit the choice of columns. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography is a potential alternative to reversed‐phase liquid chromatography for the separation of organic acids using more moderate conditions. However, the hydrophilic interaction chromatography separation mechanism is known to be very complex and involves multiple competing mechanisms. In the present study, a hydrophilic interaction chromatography column packed with bare silica core–shell particles was used as the separation column and six agricultural organic acids were used as model analytes to evaluate the effects of buffer concentration, buffer pH, and temperature on sample loading capacity, selectivity, retention, and repeatability. It was found that using a higher concentration of buffer can lead to a significant improvement in the overall performance and reproducibility of the separation. Investigation of column equilibration time revealed that a very long equilibration time is needed when changing mobile phase conditions in between runs. This limitation needs to be acknowledged in hydrophilic interaction chromatography method development and sufficient equilibration time needs to be allowed in method scouting.     

UPLC-DAD-MS/MS Method for Analysis of PQQ in Fermentation Broth

Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is an important biofactor which can be synthesized by several bacteria. To determine the level of PQQ in a fermentation broth, a rapid and reliable UPLC-DAD-MS/MS method was developed. In this method, solid phase extraction allowed for excellent recoveries (>90 %) and eliminated interference at the same time. The pretreated sample was separated on a Waters Acquity BEH C₁₈ column (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.7 μm) and detected using an ESI tandem mass spectrometer operated in negative-ion mode at a m/z range between 90.0 and 1000.0 and a DAD detector in the range from 200 to 400 nm. PQQ was observed to separate absolutely from the other components using gradient elution with water and acetonitrile. This separation also reduced the matrix effects. The assay range is 200–500 µg/mL and proved to be linear (R ² > 0.996), accurate (≤10 % deviation), and precise (CV < 15 %). The retention time for PQQ in the column was almost 1 min due to the high column efficiency on the UPLC system. Therefore, this work provides a rapid and reliable method to quantitate the PQQ level in a fermentation broth.

     

Development of a high-performance liquid chromatography method for simultaneous determination of pioglitazone and felodipine in pig serum: application to pharmacokinetic study

A simple and sensitive high‐performance liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for simultaneous estimation of pioglitazone and felodipine in pig serum. The present method consists of protein precipitation, extraction of analytes from pig serum into dichloromethane and separation using reversed‐phase C₁₈ column. Nitrendipine was used as an internal standard and the eluent was monitored by UV detector at 240 nm. The mobile phase used was acetonitrile and 50 mm ammonium acetate buffer at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The retention times for pioglitazone, felodipine and nitrendipine were found to be 5.12, 10.53 and 7.14 min, respectively. The intraday and inter‐day coefficient of variation and percent error values of assay method were less than 7% and mean recovery was more than 94% for each analyte, and the method was found to be precise, accurate and specific during study. The method was successfully applied for pharmacokinetic study of pioglitazone and felodipine from bioadhesive buccal tablet after buccal administration to pigs. The C_Max, T_Max, and AUC_0–24 of pioglitazone and felodipine from buccal tablet were found to be 394.6 ng/mL, 5.6 h, 2624.2 ng h/mL and 44.4 ng/mL, 5.5 h, 275.8 ng h/mL, respectively. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation of an ionic liquid-functionalized polymer monolith and its application in the separation of Chinese herb with HPLC

A porous functionalized monolithic material based on ionic liquids (ILs) was produced through in situ polymerization within the confines of a stainless steel column (50 × 4.6 mm i.d.). In the processes, 1-vinyl-3-butylimidazolium chlorine ionic liquid, 1-dodecylene, and butyl methacrylate were used as ternary monomers; ethylene dimethacrylate as the cross-linker; azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator; and dodecanol as the porogen. The optimized monolith showed high permeability as 13.54 × 10^?14 m², and high porosity as 75.08%. Then, its chromatographic characteristic was estimated by being used as the stationary phase of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to separate the mixtures of aromatic series compounds. Finally, the monolith was used to separate gastrodin from Chinese herb gastrodia rhizome; benzene and biphenyl from the effluent water, respectively. The column efficiency of the obtained IL-based monolith was calculated by the gastrodin peak as 22,000 plates m^?1. Moreover, the repeatability of the method was studied with the RSDs calculated by retention times and peak areas of gastrodin peak as 0.79%, 1.23% (run-to-run, n = 6) and 0.86%, 1.89% (column-to-column, n = 6), respectively. The results confirmed that the produced monolith was successfully used as the stationary phase of HPLC to separate small molecules in real samples with high performance.     

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-size exclusion chromatography (SEC) for qualitative detection of humic substances and dissolved organic matter in mineral soils and peats in Lithuania

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with size exclusion (SEC) separation function was used to isolate and examine the molecular mass (MM) distributions and polydispersity of humic substances (HSs) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) from mineral soils and peats. The aim was to improve their detailed characterisation and to inform of their soil carbon (C) sequestration and environmental quality. This is the first study conducted in Lithuania in which HSs and DOM, separated from two soil types, have been used to characterise soil at the molecular level. The HPLC-SEC, as a separation method, was coupled with diode-array detection (DAD), thus enabling the separation of molecular fractions. Results showed that HPLC-SEC can be used to determine the MM of HSs in soil, provided that the relation between retention time and MM is known and a suitable method for fitting the HS peak is available. The UV-spectra analysis showed that DOM has a larger MM (M_w = 2439–3436 Da), which contains more aliphatic C. The HS fraction has a smaller MM (M_w = 2776 Da), with aromatic structures that reflect a higher aromaticity. Separated fractions had characteristic MMs of humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA) and DOM. The HSs separated from peat samples were characterised by higher aromaticity, humification and stability. The HSs extracted from mineral soil samples showed a higher degradability level. The results also show the MM distribution and polydispersity of HS and DOM fractions (M_w/M_n = 1.009–1.252) are relatively homogenous in both soil types. Findings confirm that chromatographic and spectrometric parameters can be used for characterisation of both HSs and DOM, and for detecting changes in organic matter quality. Moreover, they can also be used for a further understanding the C-cycle and could be applied for enhancing soil C-sequestration and informing environmental quality management.     

Tetrazole-Functionalized Silica for Hydrophilic Interaction Chromatography of Polar Solutes

In this work, tetrazole-functionalized stationary phase was prepared with nitrile-modified silica by an ammonium-catalyzed (3 + 2) azide-nitrile cycloaddition reaction. The prepared stationary phase was used for separation of nucleobases and nucleosides by hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) mode. A typical HILIC mechanism was observed at higher content of acetonitrile (>85%, v/v) in the mobile phase. The retention mechanism of the column was investigated by the models used for describing partitioning and surface adsorption through adjustment ratio of water in the mobile phase, and by the influence of salt concentration, buffer pH, and temperature on the retention of solutes. The results illustrated that the surface adsorption through hydrogen bonding dominated the retention behavior of nucleobases/nucleosides under HILIC mode. From the separation ability, the tetrazole-functionalized stationary phase could become a valuable alternative for the separation of the compounds concerned.