Liquid exclusion-adsorption chromatography,a new technique for isocratic separation of nonionic surfactants. IV. Two-dimensional separation of fatty alcohol ethoxylates with focusing of fractions

Fatty alcohol ethoxylates can be analyzed using a combination of liquid chromatography under critical conditions as the first dimension and liquid exclusion-adsorption chromatography as the second dimension. Transfer of fractions from the first to the second dimension is achieved using the full adsorption-desorption (FAD) technique. The peaks of interest in the first dimension are trapped on a short precolumn before injecting them into the second dimension. Full adsorption is achieved by increasing the water content in the mobile phase before the FAD column. When the fractions are desorbed by switching to the mobile phase of the second dimension, they are focused and reconcentrated. In this way, a full resolution of oligomers is achieved. As both dimensions are run in isocratic mode, density and refractive index detection can be applied, which allows an accurate quantitation.     

Liquid exclusion-adsorption chromatography: new technique for isocratic separation of nonionic surfactants. I. Retention behaviour of fatty alcohol ethoxylates

A new technique of liquid chromatography is described, which allows a baseline separation of fatty alcohol ethoxylates with 15–20 ethylene oxide units under isocratic conditions. The new method is based on a combination of two different chromatographic modes for the individual structural units: size exclusion for the poly(oxyethylene) chain and adsorption interaction for the hydrophobic end fragments. A theory is provided for this mixed exclusion–adsorption mode of liquid chromatography. Chromatographic data are found to be in a good agreement with this theory.     

Liquid exclusion-adsorption chromatography, a new technique for isocratic separation of nonionic surfactants. II. Quantitation in the analysis of fatty alcohol ethoxylates

A new technique of liquid chromatography, which allows baseline separation of fatty alcohol ethoxylates with up to 15-20 ethylene oxide units under isocratic conditions allows an accurate quantitative analysis of single hydrophobic chain surfactants. Using density and refractive index detection, the accurate weight fractions of the individual oligomers are obtained. Moreover, the contribution of preferential solvation can be determined. With refractive index detection alone, good accuracy can also be achieved.     

Liquid exclusion-adsorption chromatography: a new technique for isocratic separation of non-ionic surfactants. V. Two-dimensional separation of fatty acid polyglycol ethers

Fatty acid polyglycol esters can be fully characterized using two-dimensional liquid chromatography with liquid chromatography under critical conditions (LCCC) as the first and liquid exclusion-adsorption chromatography (LEAC) as the second dimension. LEAC is run under isocratic conditions, which allows the use of the refractive index detector, and thus accurate quantitation. Fractions from LCCC are transferred to LEAC using the full adsorption-desorption technique, by which they are focussed and reconcentrated before injection into the second dimension. This is achieved by increasing the water content of the mobile phase behind the LCCC column. Monoester oligomers of up to 20 oxyethylene units can be resolved to the baseline. Diester oligomers are partially separated in the first dimension (LCCC).     

Determination of fatty alcohol ethoxylates and alkylether sulfates by anionic exchange separation, derivatization with a cyclic anhydride and liquid chromatography

A method for the separation, characterization and determination of fatty alcohol ethoxylates (FAE) and alkylether sulfates (AES) in industrial and environmental samples is described. Separation of the two surfactant classes was achieved in a 50:50 methanol-water medium by retaining AES on a strong anionic exchanger (SAX) whereas most FAE were eluted. After washing the SAX cartridges to remove cations, the residual hydrophobic FAE were eluted by increasing methanol to 80%. Finally, AES were eluted using 80:20 and 95:5 methanol-concentrated aqueous HCl mixtures. Methanol and water were removed from the FAE and AES fractions, and the residues were dissolved in 1,4-dioxane. In this medium, esterification of FAE and transesterification of AES with a cyclic anhydride was performed. Phthalic and diphenic anhydrides were used to derivatizate the surfactants in industrial samples and seawater extracts, respectively. Separation of the derivatized oligomers was achieved by gradient elution on a C8 column with acetonitrile/water in the presence of 0.1% acetic acid. Good resolution between both the hydrocarbon series and the successive oligomers within the series was achieved. Cross-contamination of FAE with AES and vice versa was not observed. Using dodecyl alcohol as calibration standard, and correction of the peak areas of the derivatized oligomers by their respective UV-vis response factors, both FAE and AES were evaluated. After solid-phase extraction on C18, the proposed method was successfully applied to the characterization and determination of the two surfactant classes in industrial samples and in seawater.     

Column temperature as an active variable in the isocratic, normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography separation of lipophilic metabolites of nonylphenol ethoxylates

Normal-phase separation of technical grade nonylphenol (t-NP, about 90% 4-nonylphenol), 4-nonylphenol mono-ethoxylate (4-NP1EO) and 4-nonylphenol di-ethoxylate (4-NP2EO) was assessed, with the inclusion of column temperature as an active variable. The compound 2,4,6-trimethylphenol was evaluated for use as internal standard. Isocratic elution with 2-propanol/hexanes mixtures from an amino-silica column and spectrometric UV detection at 277 nm were employed. Technical nonylphenol presented a significant contribution from unknown substances that eluted with retention times similar to that of 4-NP1EO. GC-MS analysis of the unknowns allowed to identify them as isomers of 2-NP. The response of the system to joint variations in flow rate, eluent composition and column temperature was investigated by means of Doehlert statistical experimental design. A model for retention of the analytes as a function of the experimental variables was proposed, and separation selectivity was studied. Selection of the optimal working zone was made through desirability function (D) calculations. Potential co-elution of 2-NP isomers with 4-NP1EO was considered when optimizing the separation. The occurrence of a restricted region of the experimental space where baseline resolution of analytes, associated impurities and internal standard results feasible (D not equal to 0) is apparent.     

Liquid chromatography of polymer mixtures by a combination of exclusion and full adsorption mechanisms. Three- and four-component polymer blends

Summary Coupling of full adsorption-desorption and size-exclusion chromatography (FAD-SEC) has been applied to the separation and molecular characterization of three- and four-component polymer blends. The method is based on the full adsorption of alln orn−1 components of the polymer blend in a specially designed FAD minicolumn. By appropriate eluent switching the adsorbed polymers are desorbed stepwise from the FAD minicolumn into an on-line SEC column for molecular characterization. It is shown that the desorption isotherms of particular blend components give valuable information about the appropriate displacer composition. The exact position of the desorption isotherms depends, however, both on the amount of polymer adsorbed and in the presence of other, chemically different, polymers within FAD column. The nature and composition of the displacer must, therfore, be adjusted if the intervals between the desorption of particular blend components are to be large enough to prevent displacement overlap. Presented at: Balaton Symposium on High-Performance Separation Methods, Siófok, Hungary, September 3–5, 1997.     

Experimental observations on the scaling of adsorption isotherms for nonionic surfactants at a hydrophobic solid-water interface

The self-assembly of nonionic surfactants in bulk solution and on hydrophobic surfaces is driven by the same intermolecular interactions, yet their relationship is not clear. While there are abundant experimental and theoretical studies for self-assembly in bulk solution and at the air-water interface, there are only few systematic studies for hydrophobic solid-water interfaces. In this work, we have used optical reflectometry to measure adsorption isotherms of seven different nonionic alkyl polyethoxylate surfactants (CH3(CH2)I-1(OCH2CH2)JOH, referred to as CIEJ surfactants, with I = 10-14 and J = 3-8), on hydrophobic, chemically homogeneous self-assembled monolayers of octadecyltrichlorosilane. Systematic changes in the adsorption isotherms are observed for variations in the surfactant molecular structure. The maximum surface excess concentration decreases (and minimum area/molecule increases) with the square root of the number of ethoxylate units in the surfactant (J). The adsorption isotherms of all surfactants collapse onto the same curve when the bulk and surface excess concentrations are rescaled by the bulk critical aggregation concentration (CAC) and the maximum surface excess concentration. In an accompanying paper we compare these experimental results with the predictions of a unified model developed for self-assembly of nonionic surfactants in bulk solution and on interfaces.     

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry of synthetic polymers. 7. analysis of fatty alcohol ethoxylates by coupled liquid chromatography at the critical point of adsorption and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Fatty alcohol ethoxylates can be analyzed efficiently with respect to functionality and molar mass by coupled liquid chromatography and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Both techniques are coupled via a robotic interface, where the matrix is coaxially added to the eluate and spotted dropwise onto the MALDI target. It is shown that liquid chromatography at critical conditions of adsorption coupled to MALDI-TOF yield useful structural information on oligomer masses and chemical composition. In particular, the analysis of technical fatty alcohol ethoxylates by LC-CC/MALDI-TOF reveals the presence of different functionality fractions in one sample. The oligomer distributions of all functionality fractions are determined.     

Liquid chromatography of polymer mixtures applying a combination of exclusion and full adsorption mechanisms. 5. Six-component blends of chemically similar polymers

The separation of six-component blends of chemically similar homopolymers utilising the full adsorption-desorption (FAD) process is presented. The main advantage of the FAD approach over other methods represents the successive and independent size- exclusion chromatography (SEC) characterisation of all blend components. The method is based on the full adsorption and retention of all n or n−1 components of the polymer blend from an adsorption promoting liquid (ADSORLI) in a small FAD column. Nonadsorbed macromolecules are forwarded directly into SEC for molecular characterisation. Next, appropriate displacers are successively applied to the FAD column to selectively release preadsorbed blend constituents into the on-line SEC column. Dynamic integral desorption isotherms for single constituents, as well as for polymer blends to be analysed, allow identification of optimal displacer compositions to release just one kind of macromolecule. Model polymer blends containing polystyrene (PS), poly(lauryl methacrylate), poly(butyl methacrylate), poly(ethyl methacrylate), poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) or, alternatively, PS, poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate), poly(butyl acrylate), poly(ethyl acrylate), poly(methyl acrylate) and PEO of similar molar masses can be separated and characterised in one multistep run using nonporous silica FAD packing, toluene as an ADSORLI and its mixtures with a desorption promoting liquid such as ethyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran or dimetylformamide to form displacers with appropriate desorption strength. Received: 9 September 1998 Accepted in revised form: 16 November 1998     

Liquid chromatography of polymers under limiting conditions of adsorption: III. Role of experimental variables

LC of polymers under limiting conditions of adsorption (LC LCA) is a novel method based on different mobility of (pore excluded) macromolecules compared to (pore permeating) solvent molecules. Polymer sample is injected in a solvent preventing its adsorption within the column. Eluent promotes sample adsorption. Under these conditions, macromolecules cannot leave its initial solvent and elute from the column independently of their molar mass. In contrast, a less interactive simultaneously injected polymer leaves its initial solvent zone and is eluted in the size exclusion mode. As a result, chemically different polymer species can be discriminated. The effect of selected experimental conditions was studied on the LC LCA behavior of poly(methyl methacrylate)s eluted from bare silica gel columns. The parameters were packing pore diameter, injected sample volume and concentration, as well as column temperature. The size independent elution was only little affected by the above parameters and LC LCA produced well-focused peaks. The LC LCA mechanism was operative even at a very large sample of both volume and concentration. This makes LC LCA a robust and user-friendly method, likely suitable also for characterization of minor components of polymer mixtures.     

Preparative gas-solid adsorption chromatography. Part II. Selection of optimal conditions for separation in preparative chromatography

Summary The paper discusses the effects of the flow rate and the nature of the carrier gas, and the value of the Henry temperature coefficient on the capacity and effciency of preparative gas-solid adsorption columns.The theoretical relationship between the height equivalent of a theoretical plate (HETP) and the experimental parameters under overloaded conditions was obtained byDe Wet andPretorius [1] and somewhat modified by us [2]. Although it was derived under the assumption that the sorption isotherm is linear, the equation was shown to be in qualitative agreement with the experimental results when the separation took place in a partition column.Consequently we investigated the applicability of this equation for separation on gas-solid adsorption columns containing modified silica, further the optimum characteristics of the adsorbents and the optimal separation conditions. The dependence of the capacity on the separation conditions, theoretically derived by us in an earlier paper [3] has also been studied.

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Präparative Adsorptions-Fest-Gas-Chromatographie. Teil II: Wahl der optimalen Trennbedingungen in der präparativen Chromatographie

Zusammenfassung Die Arbeit befaßt sich mit der Wirkung von Strömungsgeschwindigkeit und Art des Trägergases, sowie mit dem Wert des Temperatur-Koeffizienten nach Henry auf die Kapazität und Wirksamkeit von Adsorptionssäulen für die präparative Fest-Gas-Chromatographie. Die theoretische Beziehung zwischen Bodenzahl (HETP) und Versuchsbedingungen bei Überladung wurde vonDe Wet undPretorius [1] emittelt und von uns etwas abgewandelt [2]. Obwohl sie unter der Voraussetzung einer linearen Adsorptionsisotherme abgeleitet wurde, zeigte die Gleichung gute Übereinstimmungmit den experimentell erhaltenen Ergebnissen bei der Trennung in einer Verteilungssäule. Daraufhin untersuchten wir die Anwendbarkeit dieser Gleichung für Trennungen auf Adsorptionssäulen für die Gas-Fest-Chromatographie, die mit modifiziertem Silicagel gefüllt waren; weiterhin versuchten wir die optimalen Eigenschaften der Adsorbentien und die optimalen Trennbedingungen zu ermitteln. Die Abhängigkeit der Belastbarkeit von den Trennbedingungen, die in einer früheren Arbeit [3] von uns schon theoretisch abgeleitet worden war, wurde ebenfalls untersucht.

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Chromatographie d'adsorption gaz-solide prépartive. 2ème Partie: Sélection des conditions optimales de séparation en chromatographie préparative

Résumé Dans ce travail on étudie les effets de la vitesse, de la nature du gaz vecteur, ainsi que de la valeur du coefficient de température selon Henry, sur la capacité et l'efficacité de colonnes adsorbantes en chromatographie préparative gaz-solide. La relation théorique entre la hauteur équivalente d'un plateau théorique (HETP) et les paramètres expérimentaux, dans des conditions de surcharge, a été établie parDe Wet etPretorius [1] et légèrement modifiée par nous [2]. Bien que cette relation füt obtenue en supposant que l'isotherme d'adsorption est linéaire, on trouve une bonne concordance qualitative avec les résultats expérimentaux de la chromatographie de partage. Par conséquent nous avons étudié la validité de cette équation pour des séparations sur colonnes adsorbantes en chromatographie gaz-solide (silice modifié); en outre nous avons essayé d'établir les caractéristiques optimales des adsorbants et les conditions de séparation optimales. On a étudié la relation existant entre la capacité et les conditions de séparation, en tenant compte des équations théoriques établies par nous dans un travail antérieur [3].

     

Liquid-liquid/solid three-phase high-speed counter-current chromatography, a new technique for separation of polyphenols from Geranium wilfordii Maxim

High-speed counter-current chromatography using a new liquid-liquid/solid three-phase system was used for the separation of the polyphenols corilagin and geraniin from a crude extract of Geranium wilfordii Maxim in one step. The optimized three-phase system was composed of n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/acetic acid/water and to which was added 10-μm average diameter microspheres of cross-linked 12% agarose at the ratio of 0.2:10:2:1:5 and 0.1 g/mL, respectively. The purities of geraniin and corilagin were 82 and 90%, which were determined by HPLC at 280 nm. A 14.5 and 7 mg of geraniin and corilagin were purified from 160 mg crude extract with the yields of 70 and 78%, respectively.     

High-performance size exclusion chromatography as a rapid method for the separation of steroid hormone receptors

Triazine dyes, bound to polyethylene glycol, have been used to influence the partition of some enzymes within a dextran-polyethylene glycol-water two-phase system. The enzymes, present in a protein extract from baker's yeast, included glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase, 3-phospho-glycerate kinase and alcohol dehydrogenase. The partition coefficients of the enzymes could be changed by a factor of 10-500 in favour of the polyethylene glycol-rich phase, while the partition of bulk protein was much less affected. The influence of the concentration of polymer-bound dye and phase-forming polymers, temperature, pH, kind and concentration of salt and the presence of nucleotides on this affinity partitioning effect was studied. The extraction was effective even at high concentrations of dye and protein (40 g/l). A partial purification (32-fold) of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase was carried out by an extraction in five steps.     

Characterization of polysorbate 85, a nonionic surfactant,by liquid chromatography vs. ion mobility separation coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

Liquid chromatography (LC) and ion mobility (IM) separation have been coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS²) to characterize a commercially important nonionic surfactant, polysorbate 85. The constituents of this amphiphilic blend contained a sorbitan or isosorbide core that was chain extended with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and partially esterified at the PEO termini with oleic acid or, to a lesser extent, other fatty acids. Using interactive LC in reverse-phase mode, the oligomers of the surfactant were separated according to their hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity balance. On the other hand, IM spectrometry dispersed the surfactant oligomers by their charge and collision cross section (i.e. size/shape). With either separation method, an increased number of fatty ester groups and/or lack of the polar sorbitan (or isosorbide) core led to higher retention/drift times, enabling the separation of isobaric species or species with superimposed isotope patterns, so that their ester content could be conclusively identified by MS². LC–MS and IM–MS permitted the detection of several byproducts besides the major PEO-sorbitan oleate oligomers. LC–MS provides the separation resolution needed for quantitative determination of the degree of esterification. IM–MS, which minimizes analysis time and solvent use, is ideally suitable for a fast, qualitative survey of samples differing in their minor constituents or impurities.     

Silicon‐modified surfactants and wetting: III. The spreading behaviour of equimolar mixtures of nonionic trisiloxane surfactants on a low‐energy solid surface

The spreading behaviour of binary and ternary equimolar mixtures of siloxane surfactants of general formula [(CH₃)₃SiO]₂CH₃Si(CH₂)₃ (OCH₂CH₂) _nOCH₃, n = 3–9, has been investigated. The mixtures show a pronounced temperature dependence on the initial spreading rate. Mixtures imitating the average oligoethylene glycol chain length n = 5 are the fastest spreaders at 15 °C. At 23 °C and 40 °C these mixtures spread fastest sucking n = 6 and n = 8, respectively. For a given average chain length an increasing length difference between the components of the binary mixtures reduces the initial spreading rate. Nevertheless, substantial differences between the phase transition temperature T_c from the lamellar phase (L_α) into the two‐phase state (2Φ) and the actual spreading temperature are tolerated. A clear relation between phase transition temperature T_c and initial spreading rate does not exist. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Long-chain alkylimidazolium ionic liquids, a new class of cationic surfactants coated on ODS columns for anion-exchange chromatography

Separations of common inorganic anions were carried out on ODS columns coated with two long-chain alkylimidazolium ionic liquids ([C(12)MIm]Br and [C(14)MIm]Br) as new cationic surfactants for ion chromatography. With phthalate buffer solution as the mobile phases and non-suppressed conductivity detection, high column efficiencies and excellent selectivity were obtained in the separation of inorganic anions. Chromatographic parameters are calculated and the results show that the coated column possesses significant potential for the analysis of some inorganic anions such as CH(3)COO(-), IO(3)(-), Cl(-), BrO(3)(-), NO(2)(-), Br(-), NO(3)(-), SO(4)(2-), I(-), BF(4)(-), and SCN(-). The effect of eluent pH values on the separation of anions has been studied on the column coated with [C(12)MIm]Br. The stability of the coated columns was also examined.     

Towards porous polymer monoliths for the efficient, retention-independent performance in the isocratic separation of small molecules by means of nano-liquid chromatography

We have investigated the free-radical copolymerization dynamics of styrene and divinylbenzene in the presence of micro- and macro-porogenic diluents in 100 μm I.D. sized molds under conditions of slow thermal initiation leading to (macro)porous poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) monolithic scaffolds. These specifically designed experiments allowed the quantitative determination of monomer specific conversion against polymerization time to derive the porous polymer scaffold composition at each desirable copolymerization stage after phase separation. This was carried out over a time scale of 3h up to 48 h polymerization time, enabling the efficient and repeatable termination of the polymerization reactions. In parallel, the porous and hydrodynamic properties of the derived monolithic columns were thoroughly studied in isocratic nano-LC mode for the reversed-phase separation of a homologous series of small retained molecules. At the optimized initiator concentration, polymerization temperature and time, the macroporous poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) monoliths show a permanent mesoporous pore space, which was readily observable by electron microscopy and indicated by nitrogen adsorption experiments. Under these conditions, we consistently find a polymer scaffold composition which suggests a high degree of cross-linking and thus minimum amount of gel porosity. These columns reveal a retention-insensitive plate height in the separation of small retained molecules which only slightly decreases at increased linear mobile phase velocity. As the polymerization progresses, a build-up of less-densely cross-linked material occurs, which is directly reflected in the observed consistent increase in retention and plate heights. This leads to a significant deterioration in overall isocratic separation performance. The decrease in performance is ascribed in particular to the increased mass transfer resistance governing the monoliths' performance over the whole linear chromatographic flow velocity range at polymerization times significantly higher than that of phase separation. The performance of the optimized monoliths only becomes limited by fluid dispersion due to the poorly structured macroporous pore space.