Electrically assisted capillary liquid chromatography using a silica monolithic column

A silica monolithic capillary column was linked to an open capillary of the same internal diameter via a Teflon sleeve to form a duplex column to investigate the combination of chromatography and electrophoresis in the mode of electrically assisted capillary liquid chromatography (eCLC). Using a commercial CE instrument with an 8.5 cm long, 100 μm i.d. reversed phase silica monolithic section and a window 1.5 cm beyond the end of this in a 21.5 cm open section, a minimum plate height of 9 μm was obtained in capillary liquid chromatography (CLC) mode at a low driving pressure of 50 psi. In eCLC mode, high speed and high resolution separations of acidic and basic compounds were achieved with selectivity tuning based on the flexible combination of pressure (0–100 psi) and voltage. Taking advantage of the excellent permeability of silica monolithic columns, use of a step flow gradient enabled elution of compounds with different charge state.     

Analysis of wine phenolics by high-performance liquid chromatography using a monolithic type column

A polyacrylamide gel crosslinked with allyl-β-cyclodextrin can be used repeatedly for several weeks for the separation of DNA fragments, since bubbles are not generated during a run. Allyl-β-cyclodextrin can easily be synthesized in one step from allylglycidylether and β-cyclodextrin. The plate numbers for DNA fragments, up to about 1500 bp, are high: for the separation of pBR322/HaeIII fragments they were in the range 450 000–1 600 000 m⁻¹. The resolution was almost independent of the concentration of the crosslinker (allyl-β-cyclodextrin) — in sharp contrast to gels crosslinked with N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide.     

Polydimethylsiloxane-functionalized monolithic silica column for reversed-phase capillary liquid chromatography

A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-modified monolithic silica column was prepared for performing reversed-phase capillary liquid chromatography. The prepared PDMS column has a permeability of 6.4×10(-14) m(2) with a plate height <9.2 μm. Alkylbenzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were well separated with the PDMS stationary phase, which exhibited similar selectivity and separation mechanism to that of octadecyl stationary phase. The hydrophobic interactions between the analytes and the PDMS stationary phase mainly play the roles for the separation of alkylbenzenes and PAHs. The characteristics of the PDMS column for the separation of alkylbenzenes and PAHs demonstrated that it would be a promising alternative to the octadecyl column.     

Determination of fluoroquinolone antibiotics in surface waters from Mondego River by high performance liquid chromatography using a monolithic column

A novel LC-fluorescence detection method based on the use of a monolithic column for the determination of norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and enrofloxacin antibiotic residues in environmental waters was developed. Fluoroquinolones (FQs) were isocratically eluted using a mobile phase consisting of 0.025 M phosphoric acid solution at pH 3.0 with tetrabutylammonium and methanol (960:40, v/v) through a Chromolith Performance RP-18e column (100x4.6 mm) at a flow rate of 2.5 mL/min and detected at excitation and emission wavelengths of 278 and 450 nm, respectively. After acidification and addition of EDTA, water samples were extracted using an Oasis HLB cartridge. Linearity was evaluated in the range of 0.05 to 1 microg/mL and correlation coefficients of 0.9945 for norfloxacin, 0.9974 for ciprofloxacin, and 0.9982 for enrofloxacin were found. The limit of quantification was 25 ng/L for the three FQs. The recovery of FQs spiked into river water samples at 25, 50, and 100 ng/L fortification levels ranged from 76.5 to 91.0% for norfloxacin, 78.5 to 97.2% for ciprofloxacin, and 79.4 to 93.6% for enrofloxacin. This method was successfully applied to the analysis of water samples from the Mondego River, and ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin residues were detected in eight water samples.     

Study of triacontyl-functionalized monolithic silica capillary column for reversed-phase capillary liquid chromatography

A novel stationary phase triacontyl-functionalized monolithic silica capillary column was successfully prepared for reversed-phase capillary liquid chromatography. The performance of the monolithic silica capillary column coated with triacontyl chain for the separation of alkylbenzenes, xylene isomers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and mixture of α- and β-carotenes was studied, which was compared to that using the monolithic silica capillary column coated with octadecyl chain. The comparison results showed that triacontyl-functionalized monolithic silica capillary column would be a promising media to be used for the separation of isomeric solutes with long chain in reversed-phase capillary liquid chromatography.     

Fast determination of tetrafluoroborate by high-performance liquid chromatography using a monolithic column

Fast determination of tetrafluoroborate by high-performance liquid chromatography using a silica-based monolithic column and direct conductivity detection was carried out. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Chromolith Speed ROD RP-18e column (50 mm x 4.6 mm i.d.) with tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBA-OH)+ phthalic acid as eluent. The effects of eluent concentration, eluent pH, column temperature and flow rate on retention time of tetrafluoroborate were investigated. The optimized chromatographic conditions for determination of tetrafluoroborate were using 0.5mM TBA-OH + 0.31 mM phthalic acid (pH 5.5) as eluent, column temperature of 30 degrees C and flow rate of 6.0 mL/min. Retention time of tetrafluoroborate was less than 1min under the conditions. Common anions (Cl(-), Br(-), NO3(-) and SO4(2-)) did not interfere with the determination of tetrafluoroborate. Detection limit (S/N = 2) for tetrafluoroborate was 1.4 mg/L. The linear range of calibration curve between peak area and the concentration of tetrafluoroborate was from 1.4 to 100.0 mg/L. The reproducibility was 0.09% and 1.8% (n = 5) relative standard deviation (RSD) for retention time and peak area, respectively. The method has been applied to the determination of tetrafluoroborate in ionic liquids. Recoveries of tetrafluoroborate after spiking were 98.2-101.5%.     

Surfactant-bound monolithic columns for separation of proteins in capillary high performance liquid chromatography

A surfactant-bound monolithic stationary phase based on the co-polymerization of 11-acrylamino-undecanoic acid (AAUA) is designed for capillary high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Using D-optimal design, the effect of the polymerization mixture (concentrations of monomer, crosslinker and porogens) on the chromatographic performance (resolution and analysis time) of the AAUA–EDMA monolithic column was evaluated. The polymerization mixture was optimized using three proteins as model test solutes. The D-optimal design indicates a strong dependence of chromatographic parameters on the concentration of porogens (1,4-butanediol and water) in the polymerization mixture. Optimized solutions for fast separation and high resolution separation, respectively, were obtained using the proposed multivariate optimization. Differences less than 6.8% between the predicted and the experimental values in terms of resolution and retention time indeed confirmed that the proposed approach is practical. Using the optimized column, fast separation of proteins could be obtained in 2.5 min, and a tryptic digest of myoglobin was successfully separated on the high resolution column. The physical properties (i.e., morphology, porosity and permeability) of the optimized monolithic column were thoroughly investigated. It appears that this surfactant-bound monolith may have a great potential as a new generation of capillary HPLC stationary phase.     

Separation of gold nanoparticles with a monolithic silica capillary column in liquid chromatography

A separation system for gold nanoparticles was developed using monolithic silica capillary columns with 50 μm i.d., which were prepared via in-situ sol-gel processes. Gold nanoparticles with five different average sizes were synthesized via reduction of tetrachloroauric acid (HAuCl(4)) under different synthesis conditions, and were evaluated by UV-visible spectrophotometry, dynamic light scattering as well as transmission electron microscopy before they were separated using the developed system. The results showed that all of the gold nanoparticles had a certain size distribution, and the mean sizes obtained were 13, 17, 33, 43 and 61 nm, with σ = 2.5, 2.7, 5.2, 5.1 and 5.6 nm, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the samples with mean sizes of 13 and 17 nm were almost spherical, while larger samples were slightly non-uniform. The agglomeration of gold nanoparticles as the sample could be prevented by using a sodium dodecyl sulfate aqueous solution as the mobile phase, and gold nanoparticles were retained by adsorption on the silica surface. Separation with 8 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate as the eluent and a 1000-mm column was successful, and the separation of gold nanoparticles with 61 and 17 nm or 61 and 13 nm was demonstrated. The separation results obtained using a nonporous silica packed column as well as monolithic silica columns with or without mesopore growth were compared. It was found that separation using the mesopore-less monolithic column achieved better resolution. Through the use of a 2000-mm separation column, the mixtures of 61, 43, 17 nm and 61, 33, 13 nm could be separated.     

整体柱在线固相微萃取-高效液相色谱法分析爽肤水中痕量雌激素

以甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯(GMA)为功能单体、乙二醇二甲基丙烯酸酯(EDMA)为交联剂,偶氮二异丁腈(AIBN)为引发剂、甲醇及正己烷(14∶5,v/v)为二元致孔剂,通过原位聚合反应制备了聚甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯(Poly(GMA-co-EDMA))毛细管整体柱。研究表明,制备的Poly(GMA-co-EDMA)整体柱具有良好的通透性和较低的柱压(1.5×106Pa,冲洗流速0.5 mL/min)。该整体柱对雌二醇、炔雌醇、雌酮和己烯雌酚的富集倍数分别为86、116、77和86。构建了整体柱在线微萃取接口装置,建立了整体柱在线固相微萃取-高效液相色谱(HPLC)测定爽肤水中痕量雌二醇、炔雌醇、雌酮和己烯雌酚的分析方法。该分析方法的检出限(S/N=3)为0.05~0.20μg/L。将方法应用于爽肤水中雌激素的检测,加标回收率为69.3%~111.3%,RSD5.0%。所建立的方法简单、快速、灵敏、准确,可满足爽肤水中痕量雌激素的分析。     

Quantitative analysis of pesticides by capillary column high performance liquid chromatography combined with solid-phase extraction

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with solid-phase extraction was reported on, for simultaneous analysis of pesticides in this work. The separation of 12 pesticides was achieved on a C(18) capillary column with gradient elution. Sub-microlitre injection volume of the samples and a U-shaped 35 nl flow cell were used to improve the separation and detection. In addition, the method used C(18) solid-phase extraction disks to allow a 250-fold enrichment of the pesticides from fortified water and apple samples. The calculated detection limits range was 0.15-0.8 mug/l. Under the optimal extraction conditions, recoveries of 85-107% for most of the pesticides at 1.0-10.0 mug/l level, were obtained.     

Determination of tetracyclines in food samples by molecularly imprinted monolithic column coupling with high performance liquid chromatography

A novel solid phase extraction (SPE) method for determination of tetracyclines (TCs) in milk and honey samples by molecularly imprinted monolithic column was developed. Using tetracycline (TC) as the template, methacrylic acid (MAA) as the functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross-linker, methanol as the solvent, cyclohexanol and dodecanol as the mixed porogenic solvents, a TC imprinted monolithic column was prepared by in situ molecular imprinting technique for the first time, and the optimal synthesis conditions and the selectivity of TC imprinted monolithic column were investigated. The interfering substances in food samples and TCs can be separated successfully on imprinted column. Molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) coupling with C18 column was used to determinate the TCs in milk and honey. The recoveries of this method for six tetracyclines antibiotics such as tetracycline (TC), oxytetracycline (OTC), minocycline (MINO), chlortetracycline (CTC), metacycline (MTC) and doxycycline (DTC) were investigated, and high recoveries of 73.3-90.6% from milk samples and 62.6-82.3% from honey samples were obtained. A method for determination of TCs at low concentration level in milk and honey samples was successfully developed by using the monolithic column as the precolumn for solid phase extraction of six TCs compounds.     

Analysis of metal ions in crude oil by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography using short column

In this study a rapid, simultaneous analysis of V, Ni, Fe and Cu in crude oil was achieved by high performance liquid chromatography using 10 cm length reversed-phase C18 column. Since the amount of metal ions is at a very low level, in this work, solvent extraction of metals by a ligand such as 8-hydroxyquinoline from acidic media was investigated with some modification to previous procedures. Average extraction recoveries were 99, 85, 94 and 96 for V, Ni, Fe and Cu, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the crude oil which was obtained from Koshk area in southern Iran. Fast analysis of metal ion in reversed-phase short column was achieved with methanol/water (55/45, v/v) and the detection limits measured as three times the background noise were obtained. Also it was shown that if small amount of 8-hydroxyquinoline was added to the mobile phase, the peak height and the peak symmetry were improved. A typical chromatogram for the separation of the 8-hydroxyquinoline complexes of V (V), Ni (II), Fe (III) and Cu (II) in crude oil was obtained in less than 4 min.     

Divinylbenzene-based monolithic capillary columns in capillary liquid chromatography

The effect of the conditions of synthesis of divinylbenzene-based monolithic capillary columns on their chromatographic characteristics was studied. It was demonstrated that the porosity and permeability of the column change significantly even at small deviations from the optimum conditions of polymerization of the monolith in the column. By contrast, the minimum value of HETP proved to be only slightly sensitive to the conditions of synthesis, ranging within ～10–20 μm. The conditions of polymerization of the monolith were found to produce more pronounced effect on the slope of the right branch of the van Deemter curve (parameter C), with the flattest curve being observed for columns prepared under optimum conditions. The minimum value of HETP for polymer monolithic capillary columns was found to be similar to that for silica gel monolithic capillary columns, but the latter are characterized by C values approximately an order of magnitude lower.     

Hydrothermal preparation of hybrid carbon/silica monolithic capillary column for liquid chromatography

A simple, easy and economical approach for the preparation of a hybrid carbon/silica monolithic capillary column was described for the first time by using silica monolith as framework in combination with hydrothermal carbonization at 180°C. During the preparation process, formamide was introduced to the reaction solutions to reduce the dissolution rate of monolithic silica skeleton and its optimal concentration was 1.5 M. Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray spectrometry, and inverse size exclusion chromatography were carried out to characterize the as‐prepared column. The results demonstrated that carbon spheres ranging from 150 to 1000 nm were successfully attached to the surface of silica skeleton. The prepared hybrid carbon/silica column had a permeability of 4.4 × 10^?14 m². Chromatographic performance of the column was evaluated by separation of various compounds including alkylbenzenes, nucleosides and bases, and aromatic acids. The column exhibited an efficiency of 75 000 plates/m for butylbenzene at the optimal linear velocity of 0.23 mm/s. The successful separation of these compounds and the study on mechanism indicated that the column can be applied in mixed‐mode chromatography.     

Determination of DL-tetrahydropalmatine in Corydalis yanhusuo by L-tetrahydropalmatine imprinted monolithic column coupling with reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography

A method for direct determination of DL-tetrahydropalmatine (DL-THP) in Corydalis yanhusuo, a traditional Chinese herb, by L-THP imprinted monolithic precolumn on-line/off-line coupling with reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was developed. The L-THP imprinted monolithic column has been prepared by in situ polymerization using methacrylic acid (MAA) and ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) as functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively. With the optimization of chromatographic conditions, such as mobile phase composition, flow rate, column temperature and sample loading, for the separation of enantiomer, DL-THP was base-line separated on the MIP. The imprinted monolithic column was used as a precolumn for fractionation of the C. yanhusuo extract. Both the non-retained and retained fractions were separated by RP-HPLC. Meanwhile, the D-THP and L-THP can be detected in the non-retained and retained fractions, respectively. Additionally, direct determination of L-THP using molecularly imprinted monolith on-line coupling with a reversed-phase column was acquired.     

High-performance liquid chromatography with contactless conductivity detection for the determination of peptides and proteins using a monolithic capillary column

Gradient programs were applied to the determination of peptides and proteins in HPLC with contactless conductivity detection. A monolithic capillary column was used for the fast and sensitive determination of the biochemical species in acidic mobile phases consisting of acetic acid or trifluoroacetic acid in various concentrations of acetonitrile in water. The drift in baseline, which is caused by conductivity changes during the elution program, was minimized by careful optimization of the composition of the mobile phase and remaining drift was removed by computational baseline normalization. The flow rate from a conventional HPLC pump was reduced to a flow rate suitable for capillary systems using a pre-column flow splitter and a final total flow rate of 1.65 microl/min was used for all capillary HPLC separations. The contactless conductivity detector was positioned directly on the outlet capillary of the separation column and positively charged peptides and proteins were determined as sharp and symmetrical peaks. Detection limits in a concentration range from 3.7 x 10(-8) to 5.1 x 10(-7)M and a reproducibility of peak areas and peak heights between 2.3% and 7.3% were achieved for all biochemical species tested.     

Evaluation of ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP)-derived monolithic capillary high performance liquid chromatography columns

Novel monolithic capillary HPLC columns were prepared via ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) within the confines of fused silica columns with 200 microm i.d. using norborn-2-ene (NBE), 1,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-1,4,5,8, exo, endo-dimethanonaphthalene (DMN-H6) as monomers, 2-propanol and toluene as porogens and RuCl2(PCy3)2(CHPh) as initiator. Using the monolithic capillary HPLC columns, different sets of analytes (i.e. standard systems) were used for the evaluation of the monolithic columns: (i) a protein standard consisting of six proteins in the range of 5000-66 000 g/mol, (ii) an insulin-albumin standard, and (iii) a peptide standard obtained from a tryptic digest of cytochrome C. With these three different standard systems the reproducibility of synthesis in terms of separation performance proved to be 1-2% relative standard deviation in tR. Variation of polymerization parameters had a significant influence on the monolithic morphology and therefore separation efficiency and back pressure. The maximum analytical loading capacity of ROMP-derived monolithic capillary columns for albumin was found to be 30-125 ng, depending on the monomer content. Long-term stability studies showed no alteration in separation performance.     

Preparation and evaluation of a macroporous molecularly imprinted hybrid silica monolithic column for recognition of proteins by high performance liquid chromatography

A novel type of macroporous molecularly imprinted hybrid silica monolithic column was first developed for recognition of proteins. The macroporous silica-based monolithic skeleton was synthesized in a 4.6 mm i.d. stainless steel column by a mild sol–gel process with methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) as a sole precursor, and then vinyl groups were introduced onto the surface of the silica skeleton by chemical modification of γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (γ-MAPS). Subsequently, the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) coating was copolymerized and anchored onto the surface of the silica monolith. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme (Lyz), which differ greatly in molecular size, isoelectric point, and charge, were representatively selected for imprinted templates to evaluate recognition property of the hybrid silica-based MIP monolith. Some important factors, such as template–monomer molar ratio, total monomer concentration and crosslinking density, were systematically investigated. Under the optimum conditions, the obtained hybrid silica-based MIP monolith showed higher binding affinity for template than its corresponding non-imprinted (NIP) monolith. The imprinted factor (IF) for BSA and Lyz reached 9.07 and 6.52, respectively. Moreover, the hybrid silica-based MIP monolith displayed favorable binding characteristics for template over competitive protein. Compared with the imprinted silica beads for stationary phase and in situ organic polymer-based hydrogel MIP monolith, the hybrid silica MIP monolith exhibited higher recognition, stability and lifetime.