Purification of lignans from Fructus Arctii using off‐line two‐dimensional supercritical fluid chromatography/reversed‐phase liquid chromatography

As a common traditional Chinese medicine, Fructus Arctii has important clinical medical values. Its main components are lignans, which are difficult to separate and analyze because of the complex composition, similar chemical structures, and close properties. In this study, an off‐line two‐dimensional supercritical fluid chromatography/reversed‐phase liquid chromatography method, as well as an effective sample pretreatment method based on hydrophilic interaction chromatography material, was developed to enrich the minor lignan fractions and obtain high‐purity compounds. In total, 12 high‐purity compounds were isolated from Fructus Arctii . Their structures were identified by using high‐resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which showed that all were lignans and that most of them were isomers. The results demonstrated the effective off‐line two‐dimensional supercritical fluid chromatography/reversed‐phase liquid chromatography method for the purification of lignans from Fructus Arctii . The separation protocol established here will be beneficial for the separation of complex samples from other kinds of natural products.     

Two‐dimensional hydrophilic interaction chromatography × reversed‐phase liquid chromatography for the preparative isolation of potential anti‐hepatitis phenylpropanoids from Salvia prattii

Traditional Tibetan medicine is important for discovery of drug precursors. However, knowledge of the chemical composition of traditional Tibetan medicines is very limited due to the lack of appropriate chromatographic purification methods. In the present work, Salvia prattii was taken as an example, and an off‐line hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography/reversed‐phase liquid chromatography preparative method was developed for the purification of phenylpropanoids with high purity from a crude sample of Salvia prattii. Based on the separation results of four different chromatographic stationary phases, the first‐dimensional preparation was performed on an XAmide preparative column with the crude sample concentration of 62.0 mg/mL, and five main fractions were obtained from the 12.4 g crude sample with a recovery of 54.8%. An XCharge C₁₈ preparative column was applied in the second‐dimensional preparation to further isolate the phenylpropanoids from the redissolved first‐dimensional fractions with concentration of approximately 50.0 mg/mL. The purities of the phenylpropanoids isolated from the crude sample of Salvia prattii were higher than 98%, indicating that the method was efficient for the purification of phenylpropanoids with high purity from Salvia prattii. Additionally, this method showed great potential in the preparation of phenylpropanoids and can serve as a good example for the purification of phenylpropanoids from other plant materials.     

Multidimensional preparative liquid chromatography to isolate flavonoids from bergamot juice and evaluation of their anti‐inflammatory potential

Important objectives of a high‐performance liquid chromatography preparative process are: purity of products isolated, yield, and throughput. The multidimensional preparative liquid chromatography method used in this work was developed mainly to increase the throughput; moreover purity and yield are increased thanks to the automated collection of the molecules based on the intensity of a signal generated from the mass spectrometer detector, in this way only a specific product can be targeted. This preparative system allowed, in few analyses both in the first and second dimensions, the isolation of eight pure compounds present at very different concentration in the original sample with high purity (>95%) and yield, which showed how the system is efficient and versatile. Pure molecules were used to validate the analytical method and to test the anti‐inflammatory and antiproliferative potential of flavonoids. The contemporary presence, in bergamot juice, of all the flavonoids together increases the anti‐inflammatory effect with respect to the single compound alone.     

Off‐line comprehensive two‐dimensional reversed‐phase countercurrent chromatography with high‐performance liquid chromatography: Orthogonality in separation of Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc

Off‐line comprehensive two‐dimensional reversed‐phase countercurrent chromatography with high‐performance liquid chromatography was investigated in separation of crude ethanol extract from traditional Chinese medicinal herb Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. Two‐dimensional contour plots for countercurrent chromatography with high‐performance liquid chromatography was obtained after comprehensive separation was completed. Total peak capacity was evaluated and approximately 810 peaks were obtained through a comprehensive two‐dimensional separation. A highly orthogonality of 52.23% and a large separation space occupancy of 88.86% were achieved. Meanwhile, it was found that several components could be well separated by countercurrent chromatography while they could not be separated by high‐performance liquid chromatography, and vice versa, which further indicated the orthogonality of the two separation methods. The off‐line comprehensive two‐dimensional countercurrent chromatography with high‐performance liquid chromatography provided a promising and powerful method for separation of complex natural products.     

Assessing the detectability of antioxidants in two‐dimensional high‐performance liquid chromatography

This paper explores the analytical figures of merit of two‐dimensional high‐performance liquid chromatography for the separation of antioxidant standards. The cumulative two‐dimensional high‐performance liquid chromatography peak area was calculated for 11 antioxidants by two different methods—the areas reported by the control software and by fitting the data with a Gaussian model; these methods were evaluated for precision and sensitivity. Both methods demonstrated excellent precision in regards to retention time in the second dimension (%RSD below 1.16%) and cumulative second dimension peak area (%RSD below 3.73% from the instrument software and 5.87% for the Gaussian method). Combining areas reported by the high‐performance liquid chromatographic control software displayed superior limits of detection, in the order of 1 × 10^?6 M, almost an order of magnitude lower than the Gaussian method for some analytes. The introduction of the countergradient eliminated the strong solvent mismatch between dimensions, leading to a much improved peak shape and better detection limits for quantification.     

Efficient separation of high‐purity compounds from Oxytropis falcata using two‐dimensional preparative chromatography

The separation of high‐purity compounds from traditional Tibetan medicines plays an important role in investigating their bioactivity. Nevertheless, it is often quite difficult to isolate compounds with high purity because of the complexity of traditional Tibetan medicines. In this work, an offline two‐dimensional reversed‐phase preparative method was successfully developed for the separation of high‐purity compounds from Oxytropis falcata . Based on the analysis results, an ODS C18 prep column was used for first‐dimensional preparation, and 14.8 g of the crude sample was separated into five fractions with a recovery of 74.6%. Then, an XAqua C18 prep column was used to isolate high‐purity compounds in the second‐dimensional preparation because its separation selectivity is different with the ODS C18 stationary phase. As a result, eight compounds in the crude sample were isolated in more than 98% purity. This is the first report of trans‐cinnamic acid ( 1 ) and trifolirhizin ( 2 ) from Oxytropis falcata . This method has the potential to be an efficient separation method of high‐purity compounds from Oxytropis falcata and it shows great promise for the separation of high‐purity compounds from complex samples.     

Purification of flavonoids and triterpene saponins from the licorice extract using preparative HPLC under RP and HILIC mode

A four‐channel preparative HPLC was employed to isolate and purify compounds from licorice extract. Two separation modes, RP and hydrophilic interaction LC (HILIC), were used in preparative HPLC. HILIC mode was adopted to resolve the purification of the compounds with similar hydrophobicity, which were co‐eluted under RP mode. Using the two separation modes during the purification process, fifteen compounds were isolated from licorice extract. The results indicated that preparative HPLC performed under HILIC mode is an efficient method for the isolation and purification of compounds from natural products.     

Evaluation and application of a mixed‐mode chromatographic stationary phase in two‐dimensional liquid chromatography for the separation of traditional Chinese medicine

In this study, two mixed‐mode chromatography stationary phases (C8SAX and C8SCX) were evaluated and used to establish a two‐dimensional liquid chromatography system for the separation of traditional Chinese medicine. The chromatographic properties of the mixed‐mode columns were systematically evaluated by comparing with other three columns of C8, strong anion exchanger, and strong cation exchanger. The result showed that C8SAX and C8SCX had a mixed‐mode retention mechanism including electrostatic interaction and hydrophobic interaction. Especially, they were suitable for separating acidic and/or basic compounds and their separation selectivities could be easily adjusted by changing pH value. Then, several off‐line 2D‐LC systems based on the C8SAX in the first dimension and C8SAX, C8SCX, or C8 columns in the second dimension were developed to analyze a traditional Chinese medicine—Uncaria rhynchophylla. The two‐dimensional liquid chromatography system of C8SAX (pH 3.0) × C8SAX (pH 6.0) exhibited the most effective peak distribution. Finally, fractions of U. rhynchophylla prepared from the first dimension were successfully separated on the C8SAX column with a gradient pH. Thus, the mixed‐mode stationary phase could provide a platform to separate the traditional Chinese medicine in practical applications.     

Characterization and quantification of triacylglycerols in peanut oil by off‐line comprehensive two‐dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry

The complexity of natural triacylglycerols (TAGs) in various edible oils is prodigious due to the hundreds of set is of TAG compositions, which makes the identification of TAGs quite difficult. In this investigation, the off‐line 2D system coupling of nonaqueous RP and silver‐ion HPLC with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization MS detection has been applied to the identification and quantification of TAGs in peanut oil. The method was successful in the separation of a high number of TAG solutes, and the TAG structures were evaluated by analyzing their atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectra information. HPLC and MS conditions have been optimized and the fragmentation mechanisms of isomers have been validated. In addition, an internal standard approach has been developed for TAG quantification. Then this system was applied in peanut oil samples and there was a total of 48 TAGs including regioisomers that have been determined and quantified.     

New zwitterionic polymethacrylate monolithic columns for one‐ and two‐dimensional microliquid chromatography

We prepared 0.53 and 0.32 mm id monolithic microcolumns by in situ copolymerization of a zwitterionic sulfobetaine functional monomer with bisphenol A glycerolate dimethacrylate (BIGDMA) and dioxyethylene dimetacrylate crosslinkers. The columns show a dual retention mechanism (hydrophilic‐interaction mode) in acetonitrile‐rich mobile phases and RP in highly aqueous mobile phases. The new 0.53 mm id columns provided excellent reproducibility, retention, and separation selectivity for phenolic acids and flavonoids. The new zwitterionic monolithic columns are highly orthogonal, with respect to alkyl silica stationary phases, not only in the hydrophilic‐interaction mode but also in the RP mode. The optimized monolithic zwitterionic microcolumn of 0.53 mm id was employed in the first dimension, either in the aqueous normal‐phase or in the RP mode, coupled with a short nonpolar core‐shell column in the second dimension, for comprehensive 2D LC separations of phenolic and flavonoid compounds. When the 2D setup with the sulfobetaine–BIGDMA column was used for repeated sample analysis, with alternating gradients of decreasing (hydrophilic‐interaction mode), and increasing (RP mode) concentration of acetonitrile on the sulfobetaine–BIGDMA column in the first dimension, useful complementary information on the sample could be obtained.     

Optimizing separations in online comprehensive two‐dimensional liquid chromatography

Online comprehensive two‐dimensional liquid chromatography has become an attractive option for the analysis of complex nonvolatile samples found in various fields (e.g. environmental studies, food, life, and polymer sciences). Two‐dimensional liquid chromatography complements the highly popular hyphenated systems that combine liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. Two‐dimensional liquid chromatography is also applied to the analysis of samples that are not compatible with mass spectrometry (e.g. high‐molecular‐weight polymers), providing important information on the distribution of the sample components along chemical dimensions (molecular weight, charge, lipophilicity, stereochemistry, etc.). Also, in comparison with conventional one‐dimensional liquid chromatography, two‐dimensional liquid chromatography provides a greater separation power (peak capacity). Because of the additional selectivity and higher peak capacity, the combination of two‐dimensional liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry allows for simpler mixtures of compounds to be introduced in the ion source at any given time, improving quantitative analysis by reducing matrix effects. In this review, we summarize the rationale and principles of two‐dimensional liquid chromatography experiments, describe advantages and disadvantages of combining different selectivities and discuss strategies to improve the quality of two‐dimensional liquid chromatography separations.     

Separation of four flavonol glycosides from Solanum rostratum Dunal using aqueous two‐phase flotation followed by preparative high‐performance liquid chromatography

Aqueous two‐phase flotation followed by preparative high‐performance liquid chromatography was used to separate four flavonol glycosides from Solanum rostratum Dunal. In the aqueous two‐phase flotation section, the effects of sublation solvent, solution pH, (NH₄)₂SO₄ concentration in aqueous solution, cosolvent, N₂ flow rate, flotation time, and volumes of the polyethylene glycol phase on the recovery were investigated in detail, and the optimal conditions were selected: 50 wt% polyethylene glycol 1000 ethanol solvent as the flotation solvent, pH 4, 350 g/L of (NH₄)₂SO₄ concentration in aqueous phase, 40 mL/min of N₂ flow rate, 30 min of flotation time, 10.0 mL of flotation solvent volume, and two times. After aqueous two‐phase flotation concentration, the flotation products were purified by preparative high‐performance liquid chromatography. The purities of the final products A and B were 98.1 and 99.0%. Product B was the mixture of three compounds based on the analysis of high‐performance liquid chromatography at the temperature of 10°C, while product A was hyperoside after the identification by nuclear magnetic resonance. Astragalin, 3’‐O‐methylquercetin 3‐O‐β‐d ‐galactopyranoside, and 3’‐O‐methylquercetin 3‐O‐β‐d ‐glucopyranoside were obtained with the purity of 93.8, 97.1, and 99.2%, respectively, after the further separation of product B using preparative high‐performance liquid chromatography.     

Simultaneous quantification of five proteins and seven additives in dairy products with a heart‐cutting two‐dimensional liquid chromatography method

A heart‐cutting two‐dimensional high‐performance liquid chromatography method was developed to simultaneously quantify five major proteins and seven food additives (maltol, ethyl maltol, vanillin, ethyl vanillin, benzoic acid, sorbic acid, and saccharin sodium) in milk and milk powders. In this two‐dimensional system, a Venusil XBP‐C4 column was selected in the first dimension for protein separation, and a Hypersil ODS‐2 C18 column was employed in the second dimension for additive separation; a two‐position, six‐port switching valve was used to transfer the targets (additives) from the first dimension to the second dimension. Method validation consisted of selectivity, response function, linearity, precision, sensitivity, and recovery. In addition, a conventional one‐dimensional high‐performance liquid chromatography method was also tested for comparison. The two‐dimensional method resulted in significantly improved recovery of the food additives compared to the conventional method (90.6–105.4% and 65.5–86.5%, respectively). Furthermore, this novel method has a simple one‐step sample preparation procedure, which shortens the analysis time, resulting in more efficient analysis and less solvent usage.     

Enantioselective and simultaneous determination of lactate and 3‐hydroxybutyrate in human plasma and urine using a narrow‐bore online two‐dimensional high‐performance liquid chromatography system

For the enantioselective and simultaneous analysis of lactate and 3‐hydroxybutyrate, a validated online two‐dimensional high‐performance liquid chromatography system using 4‐nitro‐7‐piperazino‐2,1,3‐benzoxadiazole as a fluorescent derivatization reagent has been developed. For the reversed‐phase separation in the first dimension, a Capcell Pak C18 ACR column (1.5 × 250 mm, particle size 3 μm) was used, and the target fractions were isolated by their hydrophobicity. In the second dimension, a polysaccharide‐coated enantioselective column, Chiralpak AD‐H (2.0 × 250 mm, 5 μm), was used. The system was validated by the calibration curve, intraday precision, interday precision, and accuracy using standards and real human samples, and satisfactory results were obtained. The present method was applied to human plasma and urine, and in the plasma, trace amounts of d‐ lactate (8.4 μM) and l‐ 3‐hydroxybutyrate (1.0 μM), besides high levels of l‐ lactate (860.9 μM) and d‐ 3‐hydroxybutyrate (59.4 μM), were successfully determined. In urine, trace levels of d‐ lactate (3.7 μM), d‐ 3‐hydroxybutyrate (2.3 μM), and l‐ 3‐hydroxybutyrate (3.3 μM) in addition to a relatively large amount of l‐ lactate (15.4 μM) were observed. The present online two‐dimensional high‐performance liquid chromatography system is useful for the simultaneous determination of all the lactate and 3‐hydroxybutyrate enantiomers in human physiological fluids, and further clinical applications are ongoing.     

Optimizing gradient conditions in online comprehensive two‐dimensional reversed‐phase liquid chromatography by use of the linear solvent strength model

The linear solvent strength model was used to predict coverage in online comprehensive two‐dimensional reversed‐phase liquid chromatography. The prediction model uses a parallelogram to describe the separation space covered with peaks in a system with limited orthogonality. The corners of the parallelogram are assumed to behave like chromatographic peaks and the position of these pseudo‐compounds was predicted. A mix of 25 polycyclic aromatic compounds were used as a test. The precision of the prediction, span 0–25, was tested by varying input parameters, and was found to be acceptable with root mean square errors of 3. The accuracy of the prediction was assessed by comparing with the experimental coverages. Less than half of experimental coverages were outside prediction ± 1 × root mean square error and none outside prediction ± 2 × root mean square error. Accuracy was lower when retention factors were low, or when gradient conditions affected parameters not included in the model, e.g. second dimension gradient time affects the second dimension equilibration time. The concept shows promise as a tool for gradient optimization in online comprehensive two‐dimensional liquid chromatography, as it mitigates the tedious registration and modeling of all sample constituents, a circumstance that is particularly appealing when dealing with complex samples.     

Peak purity assessment in a triple‐active fixed‐dose combination drug product related substances method using a commercial two‐dimensional liquid chromatography system

Pharmaceutical formulations containing multiple active components challenge the development of analytical methods, especially as the individual active ingredients diverge in their physicochemical properties. Establishing specificity, especially peak purity, is one of the major evaluation criteria when developing a related substances method for drug substances or products. Fixed‐dose combination products may not be amenable to common strategies for assessing peak purity, such as performing orthogonal separations, due to the complexity of the separation and/or diversity of the active ingredients. An alternate approach to evaluating peak purity is demonstrated for a triple‐active component fixed‐dose combination product under development. A commercially available automated two‐dimensional liquid chromatography system was used to perform a selective comprehensive multidimensional separation of an active ingredient peak. The first dimension performed the drug product impurity/degradant profiling method; the second dimension assayed these fractions using the drug substance profiling method, which was pseudo‐orthogonal to the first dimension. A total of 14 targeted fractions were sampled across the first dimension main peak, with 11 containing detectable analytes and the remaining fractions bracketing the main peak. This degree of sampling allowed profiling of a coeluting degradant present at a 0.2% w/w level throughout the main peak.     

Preparative separation of isoquinoline alkaloids from Corydalis impatiens using a middle‐pressure chromatogram isolated gel column coupled with two‐dimensional liquid chromatography

We established a two‐dimensional strong cation exchange/reversed‐phase liquid chromatography protocol to isolate and purify isoquinoline alkaloids from Corydalis impatiens. Isoquinoline alkaloids were first enriched from a C. impatiens extract in which liposoluble components were removed using a medium‐pressure chromatographic tower containing middle chromatogram isolated gel. A strong cation exchange column was employed to separate and obtain 30 fractions. We chose fractions 22–29 for reversed‐phase liquid chromatography purification using characteristic isoquinoline alkaloid ultraviolet absorption spectra. Several isoquinoline alkaloid fractions (22–29) were further separated, and those of low resolution were isolated via two‐dimensional liquid chromatography in the orthogonal plane. A total of eight novel isoquinoline alkaloids with characteristic ultraviolet spectra were obtained from C. impatiens. We thus demonstrate the benefits of off‐line two‐dimensional strong cation exchange/reversed‐phase liquid chromatography to isolate isoquinoline alkaloids from C. impatiens.     

Preparative isolation of flavonoid glycosides from Sphaerophysa salsula using hydrophilic interaction solid‐phase extraction coupled with two‐dimensional preparative liquid chromatography

An offline preparative two‐dimensional reversed‐phase liquid chromatography/hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with hydrophilic interaction solid‐phase extraction method was developed for the preparative isolation of flavonoid glycosides from a crude sample of Sphaerophysa salsula . First, the non‐flavonoids were removed using an XAmide solid‐phase extraction cartridge. Based on the separation results of three different chromatographic stationary phases, the first‐dimensional preparation was performed on an XAqua C18 prep column, and 15 fractions were obtained from the 5.2 g target sample. Then, three representative fractions were selected for additional purification on an XAmide preparative column to further isolate the flavonoid glycosides. In all, eight flavonoid glycosides were isolated in purities over 97%. The results demonstrated that the two‐dimensional liquid chromatography method used in this study was effective for the preparative separation of flavonoid glycosides from Sphaerophysa salsula . Additionally, this method showed great potential for the separation of flavonoid glycosides from other plant materials.     

Purification of spinosin from Ziziphi Spinosae Semen using macroporous resins followed by preparative high‐performance liquid chromatography

As a well‐known traditional Chinese medicine, Ziziphi Spinosae Semen has been used for treating anxiety and insomnia for a long time. Spinosin, the main active C‐glycoside flavonoid in Ziziphi Spinosae Semen, has attracted much attention because of its many pharmacological activities including strong hypnotic effects, anxiolytic‐like effects, and so on. In the present work, high‐purity spinosin was separated from Ziziphi Spinosae Semen using the HPD‐300 resin followed by preparative high‐performance liquid chromatography. The adsorption kinetics curve of spinosin on the HPD‐300 resin was studied and fitted well by the pseudo‐second‐order equation. The adsorption isotherms were also constructed and low temperature favored the adsorption reaction. The separation parameters were optimized using dynamic adsorption and desorption tests. After a one‐run treatment with HPD‐300 resin, the concentration of spinosin increased 11.8‐fold from 0.99 to 11.7% with a recovery yield of 80.4%. Furthermore, the purity of spinosin could surpass above 98% after separation by preparative high‐performance liquid chromatography and recrystallization with a recovery yield of 72.6%. The developed method was effective and suitable for the large‐scale preparation of spinosin. Moreover, it was confirmed that HPD‐300 resin could enable good selection for the enrichment of flavonoids from different plants.     

Efficient purification of high‐purity compounds from the stem of Lonicera japonica Thunb using two‐dimensional preparative chromatography

Purification of high‐purity compounds from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) plays an important role in investigating their bioactivity. Nevertheless, it is often quite difficult to isolate compounds with high purity because of the complexity of TCMs in chemical composition. In this work, a two‐dimensional preparation method was successfully developed for the preparation of high‐purity compounds from the stem of Lonicera japonica Thunb, based on two novel polar copolymerized RP stationary phases, XAqua C3 and XAqua C18. An XAqua C3 prep column was used to separate the sample in the first‐dimensional preparation, and 14 g of sample was fractionated into eight fractions with a recovery of 82%. An XAqua C18 prep column was selected to prepare high‐purity compounds in the second‐dimensional preparation for its good orthogonality with the XAqua C3 stationary phase. As a result, major compounds in the sample were isolated with more than 99% purity. This method is a potent method to realize the efficient purification of compounds with high purity from the stem of L. japonica Thunb and it shows great potential in the separation of high‐purity compounds from complex samples.