Comparison of core-shell versus fully porous particle packings for chiral liquid chromatography productivity

A loading and productivity study was done using three racemates on vancomycin and teicoplanin-bonded chiral stationary phases of different particle formats. Two columns were packed with 2.7 μm superficially porous particles and two columns were packed with identically bonded 5 μm fully porous particles. The last two columns were packed with specially synthesized 4.5 μm vancomycin and teicoplanin superficially porous particles. The loading of different chiral compounds showed that the columns filled with 2.7-μm chiral stationary phases were inappropriate for preparative separations due to their very low permeability which precluded high flow rates. However, columns containing 4.5 μm superficially porous (core-shell) particles were as effective for small-scale preparative chiral separations as columns filled with classical 5 μm fully porous particles. Comparing the 4.5 μm superficially porous particles and 5 μm fully porous particles teicoplanin columns, the observed respective productivities of 270 and 265 mg/g chiral phase/h for 5-methyl-5-phenyl hydantoin enantiomers were obtained. Particular attention was given to the peculiar case of the mianserin enantiomeric separation on vancomycin columns that gave observed productivities of 200 and 205 mg/g chiral phase/h on the 4.5 μm superficially porous particles and 5 μm fully porous particles, respectively.     

Comparison of hydrophilic-interaction, reversed-phase and porous graphitic carbon chromatography for glycan analysis

Hydrophilic-interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), reversed-phase chromatography (RPC) and porous graphitic carbon (PGC) chromatography are typically applied for liquid chromatographic separations of protein N-glycans. Hence the performances of these chromatography modes for the separation of fluorescently labeled standard glycan samples (monoclonal antibody, fetuin, ribonuclease-B) covering high-mannose and a broad range of complex type glycans were investigated. In RPC the retention of sialylated glycans was enhanced by adding an ion-pairing agent to the mobile phase, resulting in improved peak shapes for sialylated glycans compared to methods recently reported in literature. For ion pairing RPC (IP-RPC) and HILIC ultra-high performance stationary phases were utilized to maximize the peak capacity and thus the resolution. But due to the shallow gradient in RPC the peak capacity was lower than on PGC. Retention times in HILIC and IP-RPC could be correlated to the monosaccharide compositions of the glycans by multiple linear regression, whereas no adequate model was obtained for PGC chromatography, indicating the significance of the three-dimensional structure of the analytes for retention in this method. Generally low correlations were observed between the chromatography methods, indicating their orthogonality. The high selectivities, as well as the commercial availability of ultra-high performance stationary phases render HILIC the chromatography method of choice for the analysis of glycans. Even though for complete characterization of complex glycan samples a combination of chromatography methods may be necessary.     

Preparation and Characterization of the Neomycin-Bonded Silica Stationary Phase for Hydrophilic-Interaction Chromatography

In this paper, a novel hydrophilic neomycin-bonded silica (Silica-NC) stationary phase for hydrophilic-interaction chromatography (HILIC) was prepared with cyanuric chloride as coupling agent. The resulting Silica-NC stationary phase was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis to prove the successful immobilization of neomycin on the surface of silica gel. A set of analytes with different properties were selected to investigate the chromatographic characteristics of the Silica-NC stationary phase under HILIC mode. The effects of mobile phase variables such as organic modifier content, ionic strength and pH values on the chromatographic behaviors of testing probes were investigated in detail. The results demonstrated that the Silica-NC phase behaved as a chromatographic packing with hydrophilic-interaction and ionic-interaction. Finally, the effective separations of nucleosides and bases, organic acids, cytokinins and sulfanilamides were achieved on the Silica-NC stationary phase under HILIC mode, indicating the excellent application potential of our developed hydrophilic Silica-NC stationary phase.     

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.     

Separation of complex sugar mixtures on a hydrolytically stable bidentate urea‐type stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction near ultra high performance liquid chromatography

A stationary phase bearing both bridged bis‐ureido and free amino groups (USP‐HILIC‐NH₂–2.5SP) for high‐speed hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography separations was prepared using a one‐pot two‐step procedure starting from 2.5 μm totally porous silica particles. Highly polar compounds, such as polyols, hydroxybenzoic acids, and sugars, were successfully analyzed in shorter times and with higher peak efficiency, when compared to results obtained with a bidentate urea‐type column packed with 5 μm particles. Increased sugarophilicity and better peak shape were attested for the USP‐HILIC‐NH₂–2.5SP column (100 × 3.2 mm id) when compared with two commercially available UHPLC columns, namely an acquity BEH amide packed with totally porous 1.7 μm microparticles and a HILIC Kinetex column packed with core–shell 2.6 μm particles. Finally, the new column was employed in the separation of complex mixture of sugars (mono‐, di‐, and oligosaccharides) and in the analysis of beer samples. The resulting chromatograms showed good selectivity and overall resolution, while the catalyzing effect of the free amino moieties resulted in excellent peak shapes and in the absence of split peaks due to sugar anomerization phenomena.     

Considerations on HILIC and polar organic solvent-based separations: use of cyclodextrin and macrocyclic glycopetide stationary phases

There is a natural tendency in science to prefer straightforward, logical classification systems. The use of mobile phase-stationary phase combinations that do not fit neatly into the standard "normal phase" or "reversed-phase" categories has been going on for over 50 years. The term "hydrophilic interaction chromatography" (HILIC) is sometimes being used as a general category for these "other" separations. In some cases, it may be appropriate and in others, not. Indeed the mechanistic constrains used to define the method seem to be varying with time. Given the name HILIC, it is assumed that water is not only present in the mobile phase, but also plays an essential role in the retention mechanism. However, there is residual water present in all organic solvents. Regardless, the number of reported separations in this alternative mode has increased tremendously in the last two decades. This is due to the advent of new stationary phases and an emphasis on polar, biologically important molecules. We discuss the relationships between HILIC and other chromatographic modes. We then examine two classes of stationary phases that have played a major role in these separations. These particular stationary phases can be used to provide appreciable mechanistic information as well.     

Sulfonated cyclofructan 6 based stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction chromatography

A stationary phase composed of silica-bonded sulfonated cyclofructan 6 (SCF6) was synthesized and evaluated for hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC). The separation of a large variety of polar compounds was evaluated on different versions of the stationary phase and compared with the same separations obtained with commercially available HILIC columns. The new columns successfully separate polar and hydrophilic compounds including β blockers, xanthines, salicylic acid related compounds, nucleic acid bases, nucleosides, maltooligosaccharides, water soluble vitamins and amino acids. The separation conditions were optimized by changing the composition and the pH of the mobile phase. The dependence of analyte retention on temperature was studied using van't Hoff plots. The newly synthesized stationary phase showed broad applicability for HILIC mode separations.     

Investigation of polar stationary phases for the separation of sympathomimetic drugs with nano-liquid chromatography in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography mode

In this study, the retention and selectivity of a mixture of basic polar drugs were investigated in hydrophilic interaction chromatographic conditions (HILIC) using nano-liquid chromatography (nano-LC). Six sympathomimetic drugs including ephedrine, norephedrine, synephrine, epinephrine, norepinephrine and norphenylephrine were separated by changing experimental parameters such as stationary phase, acetonitrile (ACN) content, buffer pH and concentration, column temperature. Four polar stationary phases (i.e. cyano-, diol-, aminopropyl-silica and Luna HILIC, a cross-linked diol phase) were selected and packed into fused silica capillary columns of 100 μm internal diameter (i.d.). Among the four stationary phases investigated a complete separation of the all studied compounds was achieved with aminopropyl silica and Luna HILIC stationary phases only. Best chromatographic results were obtained employing a mobile phase composed by ACN/water (92/8, v/v) containing 10 mM ammonium formate buffer pH 3. The influence of the capillary temperature on the resolution of the polar basic drugs was investigated in the range between 10 and 50 °C. Linear correlation of ln k vs. 1/T was observed for all the columns; ΔH° values were negative with Luna HILIC and positive with aminopropyl- and diol-silica stationary phases, demonstrating that different mechanisms were involved in the separation.To compare the chromatographic performance of the different columns, Van Deemter curves were also investigated.     

Cyclofructan 6 based stationary phases for hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography

New stationary phases for hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) were synthesized by covalently attaching native cyclofructan 6 (CF6) to silica gel. The chromatographic characteristics of the new stationary phases were evaluated and compared to three different types of commercial HILIC columns. The CF6 columns produced considerably different retention and selectivity patterns for various classes of polar analytes, including nucleic acid compounds, xanthines, β-blockers, salicylic acid and its derivatives, and maltooligosaccharides. Univariate optimization approaches were examined including organic modifier (acetonitrile) contents and buffer pH and salt concentration. The thermodynamic characteristic of the CF6 stationary phase was investigated by considering the column temperature effect on retention and utilizing van't Hoff plots. CF6 based stationary phases appear to have exceptionally broad applicability for HILIC mode separations.     

Systematic comparison of a new generation of columns packed with sub‐2 μm superficially porous particles

The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibilities/limitations of recent RP‐LC columns packed with 1.6 μm superficially porous particles (Waters Cortecs) and to compare its potential to other existing sub‐2 μm core–shell packings. The kinetic performance of Kinetex 1.3 μm, Kinetex 1.7 μm and Cortecs 1.6 μm stationary phases was assessed. It was found that the Kinetex 1.3 μm phase outperforms its counterparts for ultra‐fast separations. Conversely, the Cortecs 1.6 μm packing seemed to be the best stationary phase for assays with longer analysis time in isocratic and gradient modes, considering small molecules and peptides as test probes. This exceptional behaviour was attributed to its favourable permeability and somewhat higher mechanical stability (ΔP_max of 1200 bar). The loading capacity of these three columns was also investigated with basic and neutral drugs analysed under acidic conditions. It appears that the loading capacities of Cortecs 1.6 μm and Kinetex 1.7 μm were very close, while it was reduced by 2–7‐fold on the Kinetex 1.3 μm packing. However, this observation is dependent on the nature of the compound and certainly also on mobile phase conditions.     

Comparison of reversed-phase,anion-exchange,and hydrophilic interaction HPLC for the analysis of nucleotides involved in biological enzymatic pathways

Nucleotides and other phosphate-containing compounds are integral to enzymatic reactions such as those of the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway and glycolysis. Traditional chromatographic analysis of phosphates is often plagued by long run times and/or lack of MS compatibility. This study compares separation of five enzymatically-important nucleotides using ion-pair reversed phase (IP-RP), strong anion exchange (SAX), and hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) methods. These three methods were evaluated and compared based on separation parameters describing retention, resolution, efficiency, peak symmetry, selectivity, and inter- and intraday peak drift. Use of the FructoShell-N HILIC column led to separation of the five nucleotides isocratically with the shortest run time of all three methods tested. Additionally, the FructoShell HILIC method yielded a very low intraday variability and low peak asymmetry, issues that are often observed with HILIC separations on other stationary phases. To our knowledge, this column has not been applied to the separation of phosphates in biological samples and future work will focus on in vitro and in vivo analysis as well as broadening the applicability to other pathways. To this end, we have shown that the column will retain fructose bisphosphate, the substrate of the aldolase enzyme, under the same chromatographic conditions used for nucleotides.     

基于聚倍半硅氧烷微球的亲水/反相混合模式色谱填料的制备与评价

亲水/反相混合模式色谱应用广泛,但pH使用范围有限,不利于碱性药物的分离。该工作利用巯基-烯基点击化学合成了单分散多孔的半胱氨酸改性乙烯基功能化聚甲基倍半硅氧烷(C-V-PMSQ)微球。元素分析表明半胱氨酸成功键合在微球表面。C-V-PMSQ微球为介孔结构,单分散性好且具有优良的化学稳定性。以几种常见的核苷和核酸碱基作为测试样品,考察其色谱保留行为,溶质的保留因子随流动相中水相含量的变化呈现典型的U型曲线,表明C-V-PMSQ固定相具有亲水/反相的双重保留特征。使用该固定相可以分离苯的同系物及一系列亲水性与疏水性化合物。另外在高碱性流动相条件下利用亲水和反相模式成功分离了中药苦参中的3种主要活性成分,表明它在分离碱性药物方面具有较大的优势。     

Practical comparison of LC columns packed with different superficially porous particles for the separation of small molecules and medium size natural products

Commercial C(18) columns packed with superficially porous particles of different sizes and shell thicknesses (Ascentis Express, Kinetex, and Poroshell 120) or sub-2-μm totally porous particles (Acquity BEH) were systematically compared using a small molecule mixture and a complex natural product mixture as text probes. Significant efficiency loss was observed on 2.1-mm id columns even with a low dispersion ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography system. The Kinetex 4.6-mm id column packed with 2.6-μm particles exhibited the best overall efficiency for small molecule separations and the Poroshell 120 column showed better performance for mid-size natural product analytes. The Kinetex 2.1-mm id column packed with 1.7-μm particles did not deliver the expected performance and the possible reasons besides extra column effect have been proved to be frictional heating effect and poor column packing quality. Different column retentivities and selectivities have been observed on the four C(18) columns of different brands for the natural product separation. Column batch-to-batch variability that has been previously observed on the Ascentis Express column was also observed on the Kinetex and Poroshell 120 column.     

Evaluation of silica from different vendors as the solid support of anion‐exchange chiral stationary phases by means of preferential sorption and liquid chromatography

Chromatographic performance of a chiral stationary phase is significantly influenced by the employed solid support. Properties of the most commonly used support, silica particles, such as size and size distribution, and pore size are of utmost importance for both superficially porous particles and fully porous particles. In this work, we have focused on evaluation of fully porous particles from three different vendors as solid supports for a brush‐type chiral stationary phase based on 9‐O‐tert‐butylcarbamoyl quinidine. We have prepared corresponding stationary phases under identical experimental conditions and determined the parameters of the modified silica by physisorption measurements and scanning electron microscopy. Enantiorecognition properties of the chiral stationary phases have been studied using preferential sorption experiments. The same material was slurry‐packed into chromatographic columns and the chromatographic properties have been evaluated in liquid chromatography. We show that preferential sorption can provide valuable information about the influence of the pore size and total pore volume on the interaction of analytes of different size with the chirally‐modified silica surface. The data can be used to understand differences observed in chromatographic evaluation of the chiral stationary phases. The combination of preferential sorption and liquid chromatography separation can provide detailed information on new chiral stationary phases.     

Two-dimensional liquid chromatography normal-phase and reversed-phase separation of (co)oligomers

Many samples contain compounds with various numbers of two or more regular structural groups. Such "multidimensional" samples (according to the Giddings' notation) are best separated in orthogonal chromatographic systems with different selectivities for the individual repeat structural groups, described by separation factors. Correlations between the repeat group selectivities characterize the degree of orthogonality and suitability of chromatographic systems for two-dimensional (2D) separations of two-dimensional samples. The range of the structural units in that can be resolved in a given time can be predicted on the basis of a model describing the repeat group selectivity in the first- and second-dimension systems. Two-dimensional liquid chromatographic system combining reversed-phase (RP) mode in the first dimension and normal-phase (NP) mode in the second dimension were studied with respect to the possibilities of in-line fraction transfer between the two modes. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) with an aminopropyl silica column (APS) is more resistant than classical non-aqueous NP systems against adsorbent desactivation with aqueous solvents transferred in the fractions from the first, RP dimension to the second dimension. Hence, HILIC is useful as a second-dimension separation system for comprehensive RP-NP LCxLC. A comprehensive 2D RP-NP HPLC method was developed for comprehensive 2D separation of ethylene oxide-propylene oxide (EO-PO) (co)oligomers. The first-dimension RP system employed a 120 min gradient of acetonitrile in water on a C18 microbore column at the flow-rate of 10 microL/min. In the second dimension, isocratic HILIC NP with ethanol-dichloromethane-water mobile phase on an aminopropyl silica column at 0.5 mL/min was used. Ten microliter fractions were transferred from the RP to the HILIC NP system at 1 min switching valve cycle frequency.     

Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)—a powerful separation technique

Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) provides an alternative approach to effectively separate small polar compounds on polar stationary phases. The purpose of this work was to review the options for the characterization of HILIC stationary phases and their applications for separations of polar compounds in complex matrices. The characteristics of the hydrophilic stationary phase may affect and in some cases limit the choices of mobile phase composition, ion strength or buffer pH value available, since mechanisms other than hydrophilic partitioning could potentially occur. Enhancing our understanding of retention behavior in HILIC increases the scope of possible applications of liquid chromatography. One interesting option may also be to use HILIC in orthogonal and/or two-dimensional separations. Bioapplications of HILIC systems are also presented.     

1.1 μm superficially porous particles for liquid chromatography. Part I: synthesis and particle structure characterization

Superficially porous particles are characterized by a non-porous particle core surrounded by a thin porous layer. Superficially porous particles have been shown to have chromatographic advantages over traditional totally porous particles by reducing the resistance to mass transfer and the eddy diffusion contributions to the theoretical plate height, particularly for biomolecule separations. Currently, 1.7 μm superficially porous particles are commercially available, but a further decrease in the particle diameter and reduction in the porous layer thickness has the potential to further improve the efficiency of the column packing material. In this study, the synthesis of smaller diameter superficially porous particles was investigated. As the particle diameter was decreased, however, synthesis parameters previously reported were rendered unsuitable due to particle agglomeration, non-uniform coating, and porous layer disintegration. Parameters such as colloidal silica size, drying process, and sintering temperature were investigated to improve the structural characteristics of smaller diameter superficially porous particles. Reported is a synthetic route for production of 1.1 μm superficially porous particles having a 0.1 μm porous layer. Based on the revised method, the particles produced have a surface area, pore diameter, and particle size distribution RSD of 52 m²/g, 71 Å, and 2.2%, respectively.     

Carbon nanoparticles from corn stalk soot and its novel application as stationary phase of hydrophilic interaction chromatography and per aqueous liquid chromatography

Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) (6–18 nm in size) were prepared by refluxing corn stalk soot in nitric acid. The obtained acid-oxidized CNPs are soluble in water due to the existence of carboxylic and hydroxyl groups. ¹³C NMR measurement shows the CNPs are mainly of sp² and sp³ carbon structure different from CNPs obtained from candle soot and natural gas soot. Furthermore, these CNPs exhibit unique photoluminescence properties. Interestingly, the CNPs might be exploited to immobilize on the surface of porous silica particles as chromatographic stationary phase. The resultant packing material was evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography, indicating that the new stationary phase could be used in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and per aqueous liquid chromatography (PALC) modes. The separation of five nucleosides, four sulfa compounds and safflower injection was achieved by using the new column in the HILIC and PALC modes, respectively.     

Determination of N-Glycopeptides by Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography and Porous Graphitized Carbon Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry Detection

An offline two-dimensional chromatographic method based on the combination of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and porous graphitized carbon (PGC) chromatography was developed for the separation and purification of glycopeptides. The high selectivity of HILIC and PGC isolated high-purity isomers of N-glycopeptides from ribonuclease B. N-Glycopeptides were first separated from nonglycosylated peptides, and N-glycopeptides were sorted into fractions through the first-dimensional HILIC according to their monosaccharides. Further separation of the glycopeptide isomers in each fraction was achieved using second-dimensional PGC. Structural differences of the glycopeptide isomers were further enzymatically hydrolyzed with peptide-N-glycosidase F. The glycan structure were elucidated by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The established procedure allows the isolation of glycopeptide or glycan standards from natural sources.