Single-jet,single-stage cryogenic modulator for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC)

A simple, single-stage CO2 jet modulator has been designed, which cools only a single, ca. 10 mm long section of the front part of the second-dimension column of a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatographic (GC x GC) system. Direct heating by means of the GC oven air effects remobilization of the small fractions trapped upon eluting from the first-dimension column within a predetermined short period of time. Evaluation of the present modulator for the GC x GC separation of (very) polar flavour as well as non-polar compounds shows that the analytical performance of the single-stage modulator is closely similar to that of earlier reported, more complex, types of modulator.     

Effect of first-dimension column film thickness on comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatographic separation

In comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC), samples experience two-dimensional separation implemented by a modulator which helps preserve the first-dimension separation and facilitates the second-dimension separation by periodically collecting, focusing and launching the material from the primary column onto the secondary column with a different stationary phase. Column overloading in GC x GC is a considerable problem, aggravated by the fact that two columns are involved. Broad first-dimension peaks of an analyte help produce smaller fractions of the analyte in the second-dimension, reducing the chance of secondary column overloading. One of the means to generate broad peaks in the first-dimension is to use thick film primary columns. A series of primary columns of various film thickness were tested in the study, and the results indicate that when other conditions are kept constant, 1 microm film columns often provide better resolution in both first and second-dimension but at the expense of a much longer separation time; 0.1 microm is clearly inadequate for GC x GC separation; 0.5 and 0.25 microm film columns seem to be the best compromises.     

Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography with ultraviolet, evaporative light scattering and mass spectrometric detection of triacylglycerols in corn oil

An improved comprehensive two-dimensional (LC x LC) HPLC system for the analysis of triacylglycerols was developed. In the first-dimension, a Ag(I)-coated cation exchanger (250 mm x 2.1 mm, 5 microm) was employed with a gradient from 100% MeOH to 6% MeCN in MeOH at 20 microL/min. Using a 10-way valve with two switching loops, 1 min sections of the first-dimension were introduced in the second-dimension consisting of a 30 mm x 4.6 mm C18 (1.8 microm) column with an isocratic mobile phase of methanol-methyl tert-butyl ether (70:30) at 3.0 mL/min. As the second-dimension solvent was stronger than the first-dimension solvent, focusing in the second-dimension took place, leading to better separations than in previously reported analyses in which hexane was the main constituent of the first-dimension eluent. Compounds differing by 2 in their partition number were baseline separated in the second-dimension. Detection took place by UV at 210 nm, evaporative light scattering and (+)-atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation-MS with the latter giving the best results. Corn oil was investigated and 44 compounds could be detected: 34 triacylglycerols (TAGs), 8 oxygenated TAGs, and 2 TAGs containing a trans double bond. Data manipulation allowed the construction of contour plots and the automated calculation of the first- and second-dimension retention times and peak areas. Quantitative results are compared with a fatty acid methyl ester analysis, and with literature data.     

Simple calibration procedure for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

Mass transfer from the first-dimension to the second-dimension column in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) is normally quantitative, which means that the peak areas produced by GC x GC are equal to those obtained in one-dimensional gas chromatography (GC). In view of this relationship, it was investigated whether normal GC calibration could be used to quantify compounds analysed by GC x GC. Quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediment was used as a test case. It was concluded that more laborious and time-consuming GC x GC area calibration can be replaced by GC area calibration if separation quality and quantity prerequisites are met.     

Offline LC-GC x GC in combination with rapid-scanning quadrupole mass spectrometry

The present research is focused on the offline combination of normal-phase LC to double-oven GC x GC-quadrupole MS. Initially, a diesel sample was subjected to automated LC x GC in order to define the elution windows of four fractions, viz., saturated hydrocarbons, monocyclic aromatics, dicyclic aromatics, tri- + tetracyclic aromatics; each fraction was collected exploiting the LC system in a further analysis and subjected to large-volume-injection-GC x GC analysis using an apolar-polar column combination. The GC x GC operational conditions were tuned in relation to the specific separation requirements of each heart-cut. The main benefits of what can be defined as offline LC-GC x GC were: (i) the high first-dimension LC selectivity; (ii) the injection of high sample amounts in the GC x GC system, enabling the detection and quantification of a series of low-amount diesel constituents; (iii) improved GC x GC operational conditions for each heart-cut with respect to direct GC x GC.     

Characterisation of Stevia rebaudiana by comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LC x LC) connected on-line to electrospray ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-TOF-MS) was employed for analysis of aqueous extract of Stevia rebaudiana. Different combinations of strong cation-exchange (SCX), amino (NH2), and octadecyl siloxane (C18) stationary phases were tested in the separation of all nine known sweet Stevia glycosides. A combination of C18 as the first-dimension column and NH2 as the second-dimension column fully separated all the glycosides from the matrix. The method proved to be quantitative and repeatable. The limit of detection (S/N=3) for stevioside, a widely used natural sweetener, was 43.4 ng/g in dry leaves. The RSD for retention times was <0.1% and that of peak areas 4.5%.     

Quantitative Determination of BTEX and Total Aromatic Compounds in Gasoline by Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography (GC×GC)

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) has been applied to the quantitative analysis of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX), and all heavier aromatic compounds in gasoline. The two-dimensional chromatographic separation used volatility selection on the first-dimension column and polarity selection on the second-dimension column. In the resulting GC×GC chromatogram, aromatic species were resolved from other compound classes. Moreover, structurally related aromatics were grouped in a manner that facilitated identification and integration. The response of a flame ionization detector to each major aromatic group in gasoline was calibrated using internal standards. Quantitation produced results directly comparable with ASTM standard methods. The present GC×GC method can be expanded to analyze other gasoline components.     

Overloading of the second-dimension column in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) is based on a coupling of two GC columns of different characteristics by means of a device that allows portions of the effluent from the primary column to be injected onto the second dimension column for an additional separation. The time available for the separation in the second-dimension column is very short. Thus, this separation should be very efficient. The vast majority of GC x GC practitioners use very narrow bore columns for the second dimension. While this approach is justified in principle, if peaks in the second dimension overload this column, its peak capacity is severely reduced. A series of second-dimension columns of varying internal diameters, but similar phase ratios, were used to study these effects. The results indicate that 250 microm columns often provide comparable second dimension peak widths to 100 microm columns, while at the same time being less prone to overloading, indicating that they may often be a better choice than smaller diameter columns in the second dimension of GC x GC systems.     

Separation of seventeen 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and 12 dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with electron-capture detection

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) with electron-capture detection (ECD) has been optimized for the separation of seventeen 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and 12 dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls, with emphasis on the selection of the first- and second-dimension, commercially available, columns. When eight second-dimension columns were subsequently combined with a 100% methylpolysiloxane stationary phase (DB-1) in the first dimension to create orthogonal conditions, a complete separation of all congeners with different TEF values was obtained with two column combinations, DB-1 x VF-23 and DB-1 x LC-50. When other types of first-dimension columns were used (and orthogonality was partly sacrificed), a DB-XLB column combined with 007-65HT, VF-23 and LC-50 was found to provide a complete separation of all 29 priority congeners. Next, the potential of these three column combinations for real-life analysis was preliminarily studied. With a spiked and fractionated milk extract, DB-XLB x LC-50 was found to be the most powerful column combination, because of the good separation of the 29 priority congeners from each other as well as from the matrix constituents. Quantitative performance (close to three-order linearity; LODs, 30-150 fg injected; R.S.D.s, 1.5-6.5% (n = 10)) was satisfactory.     

Optimizing the peak capacity per unit time in one-dimensional and off-line two-dimensional liquid chromatography for the separation of complex peptide samples

To obtain the best compromise between peak capacity and analysis time in one-dimensional and two-dimensional (2D) liquid chromatography (LC), column technology and operating conditions were optimized. The effects of gradient time, flow rate, column temperature, and column length were investigated in one-dimensional reversed-phase (RP) gradient nano-LC, with the aim of maximizing the peak per unit time for peptide separations. An off-line two-dimensional LC approach was developed using a micro-fractionation option of the autosampler, which allowed automatic fractionation of peptides after a first-dimension ion-exchange separation and re-injection of the fractions onto a second-dimension RP nano-LC column. Under the applied conditions, which included a preconcentration/desalting time of 5 min, and a column equilibration time of 12.5 min, the highest peak capacity per unit time in the 2D-LC mode was obtained when applying a short (10 min) first-dimension gradient and second-dimension RP gradients of 20 min duration. For separations requiring a maximum peak capacity of 375, one-dimensional LC was found to be superior to the off-line strong cation-exchange/×/RPLC approach in terms of analysis time. Although a peak capacity of 450 could be obtained in one-dimensional LC when applying 120-min gradients on 500-mm long columns packed with 3-μm particles, for separations requiring a peak capacity higher than 375 2D-LC experiments provide a higher peak capacity per unit time. Finally, the potential of off-line 2D-LC coupled to tandem mass spectrometry detection is demonstrated with the analysis of a tryptic digest of a mixture of nine proteins and an Escherichia coli digest.     

Simple, non-moving modulation interface for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.

A simple, non-moving dual-stage CO2 jet modulator is described, which cools two short sections of the front end of the second-dimension column of a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatograph. A stream of expanding CO2 is sprayed directly onto this capillary column to trap small fractions eluting from the first-dimension column. Remobilization of the trapped analytes is performed by direct heating by the GC oven air. Installation, maintenance and control of the modulator is simple. Focusing and remobilization of the fractions is a very efficient process, as the bandwidths of the re-injected pulses are less than 10 ms. As a result, alkane peaks eluting from the second-dimension column have peakwidths at the baseline of only 120 ms.     

Flow regime at ambient outlet pressure and its influence in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

With method development in one-dimensional GC already being a tedious task, developing GC x GC methods is even more laborious. The majority of the present GC x GC applications are derived from previously optimised 1D-GC methods, from which especially the carrier gas flow settings are copied. However, in view of the high pressure inside the first-dimension column (high flow resistance of the narrow-bore second-dimension column), diffusion in the first column is much slower than in 1D-GC. Proper optimisation of the column combination and the carrier gas flow can considerably improve separations in GC x GC. To assist in the process of selecting column dimensions and flow rate optimization, we have developed a computer programme, based on Excel, that enables quick and simple calculation for all types of column combinations. The programme merely needs column dimensions and carrier gas type as input parameters and calculates all resolution and velocity parameters of the GC x GC separation by using flow rate and plate height equations. From the calculations a number of interesting conclusions can be drawn. As an example, the calculations clearly show that the majority of column combinations reported up till now have been operated at a far from optimal flow -- and, consequently, a far from optimal resolution. Probably even more important is the conclusion that the majority of column combinations used so far, i.e. those with 100 microm I.D. second-dimension columns, are not necessarily the best choice for GC x GC.     

Determination and removal of impurities in 2-D LC-MS of peptides

Problems occurring during operation of a 2-D LC-MS system for separation and identification of neuropeptides, such as contamination of the used salts and column bleed, are described. When using polysulfoethyl aspartamide, which is widely used as a strong cation exchange stationary phase in the first dimension, interfering peaks were observed in the second-dimension reversed-phase chromatograms. The observed peaks, found to be caused by column bleeding, had abundance above the threshold value and influenced the quality of the analyses. The origin of the peaks was verified and appropriate measures are proposed. Additionally, peaks caused by polyethylene glycols (PEGs), covering approximately 5 min of feasible chromatographic time in every fraction, were observed. The commercial ammonium formate salts used to prepare the first-dimension mobile phase were found to contain PEG impurities, and in subsequent work the salt solutions were prepared from formic acid and ammonia to avoid any additional contaminations.     

Evaluation of modulators and electron-capture detectors for comprehensive two-dimensional GC of halogenated organic compounds

Different cryogenic and a heated GC x GC modulator(s) were evaluated and compared for the analysis of high-boiling halogenated compounds. The cryogenic modulators investigated were: (i) the longitudinally modulated cryogenic system; (ii) the liquid-nitrogen-cooled jet modulator (KT2001); (iii) a dual-jet CO2 modulator (made in-house); (iv) a semi-rotating cryogenic modulator (made in-house) and (v) a CO2 loop modulator (KT2003); the heated modulator was the slotted heater system (sweeper). Each modulator was optimised with respect to analyte peak widths at half height in the second-dimension. n-Alkanes, chlorinated alkanes, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and fluorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (F-PAHs) were used as test analytes. The flow rate of the coolant was found to be an important parameter, i.e. the flow rate of the gaseous nitrogen in the KT2001, and of the liquid CO2 in the other cryogenic modulators. For the slotted heater the stroke velocity and pause time were important parameters. This modulator had a limited application range in terms of temperature due to a necessary 100 degrees C difference between sweeper and oven temperature. All cryogenic modulators were found to be suitable for the GC x GC analysis of high-boiling compounds, but the CO2 modulators are to be preferred to the KT2001 due to a wider application range and slightly narrower peaks. As regards the performance of three commercially available electron-capture detectors (ECDs), the aim was to obtain narrow peak widths in GC x GC, i.e. to avoid band broadening caused by the cell volume. The most important parameters were the flow rate of the make-up gas and the detector temperature which both should be as high as possible. Comparison of analyte peak widths obtained with ECD mode and flame ionisation detection (FID) showed that all ECDs exhibited band broadening compared to the FID. The narrowest peaks were obtained with the Agilent micro-ECD, which has a cell volume of only 150 microl.     

Comparison of one-dimensional and comprehensive two-dimensional separations by gas chromatography

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) can reveal information on the composition of a sample in a way that cannot be done by one-dimensional GC (1D-GC). GC x GC also offers much greater control of chromatographic selectivity based on molecular structure. However, in spite of more than 15 years of claims of the ability of GC x GC to resolve an overwhelmingly larger number of peaks than 1D-GC, and in spite of the theoretically proven potential of GC x GC to have an order of magnitude larger peak capacity than 1D-GC, the peak capacity of currently practiced GC x GC does not generally exceed the peak capacity attainable from 1D-GC with the same analysis time and the same minimal detectable concentration (MDC). The methodology for comparing the peak capacity of GC x GC to 1D-GC is described. The comparison of the performance of GC x GC to 1D-GC shows that the modulator is the key bottleneck limiting the performance of existing GC x GC. To realize the full potential of GC x GC, duration of injection from a modulator into the second-dimension column should be reduced by an order of magnitude or more. Use of powerful data analysis techniques such as peak deconvolution in both dimensions can further increase resolving power of GC x GC.     

Optimization of separation in two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography by adjusting phase system selectivity and using programmed elution techniques

The overall peak capacity in comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatographic (LC x LC) separation can be considerably increased using efficient columns and carefully optimized mobile phases providing large differences in the retention mechanisms and separation selectivity between the first and the second dimension. Gradient-elution operation and fraction-transfer modulation by matching the retention and the elution strength of the mobile phases in the two dimensions are useful means to suppress the band broadening in the second dimension and to increase the number of sample compounds separated in LC x LC. Matching parallel gradients in the first and second dimension eliminate the necessity of second-dimension column re-equilibration after the independent gradient runs for each fraction, increase the use of the available second-dimension separation time and can significantly improve the regularity of the coverage of the available retention space in LC x LC separations, especially with the first- and second-dimension systems showing partial selectivity correlations. Systematic development of an LC x LC method with parallel two-dimensional gradients was applied for separation of phenolic acids and flavone compounds. Several types of bonded C18, amide, phenyl, pentafluorophenyl and poly(ethylene glycol) columns were compared using the linear free energy relationship method to find suitable column combination with low correlation of retention of representative standards. The phase systems were optimized step-by-step to find the mobile phases and gradients providing best separation selectivity for phenolic compounds. The optimization of simultaneous parallel gradients in the first and second dimension resulted in significant improvement in the utilization of the available two-dimensional retention space.     

Deconvolution of overlapped peaks based on the exponentially modified Gaussian model in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) has attracted much attention for the analysis of complex samples. Even with a large peak capacity in GC x GC, peak overlapping is often met. In this paper, a new method was developed to resolve overlapped peaks based on the mass conservation and the exponentially modified Gaussian (EMG) model. Linear relationships between the calculated sigma, tau of primary peaks with the corresponding retention time (tR) were obtained, and the correlation coefficients were over 0.99. Based on such relationships, the elution profile of each compound in overlapped peaks could be simulated, even for the peak never separated on the second-dimension. The proposed method has proven to offer more accurate peak area than the general data processing method.     

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography of the 209 polychlorinated biphenyls

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) of the 209 polychlorinated biphenyls (CBs) was carried out using a longitudinally modulated cryogenic system (LMCS) and liquid carbon dioxide as cryogen. The effluent from a non-polar column was modulated and further separated on either a polar or a shape-selective second-dimension column. Five GC x GC column combinations were evaluated, with DB-XLB as the first column in each case. DB-XLB separates more congeners than any other GC column currently available. When combined with a biscyanopropyl siloxane (SP-2340 or BPX70) or smectic liquid crystal (LC-50) second-dimension column in a GC x GC system many additional CBs can be separated. In total, 176 and 181 of the 209 congeners were separated (Rs = 0.5) on the column combinations DB-XLB/SP-2340 and DB-XLB/LC-50, respectively. Of the 136 CBs present in any Aroclor mixture at concentrations greater than 0.05% (w/w), 126 were resolved using either of these two column combinations. The seven frequently measured CBs 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, 180, and the WHO-PCBs 77, 81, 105, 114, 118, 123, 126, 156. 157, 167, 169 and 189 were all separated from Aroclor CBs on the DB-XLB/LC-50 column set, whereas CBs 118 and 131 coeluted on the DB-XLB/SP-2340 column set. In addition, three technical CB formulations (Aroclors 1232, 1248 and 1260) and a seal blubber sample (Halichoerus grypus) from the Baltic Sea were analyzed. Similar peak patterns were found for Aroclor 1260 and the CBs in the seal blubber, facilitating use of this technical CB formulation to identify the CBs in the blubber by GC x GC. Individual CBs in environmental samples, such as seal blubber, may be identified semi-automatically by matching the samples GC x GC profiles to a template generated using a standard containing all 209 CBs. Using such a template, 64 CBs were identified in the grey seal blubber sample.     

Semi-rotating cryogenic modulator for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

A laboratory-made cryogenic modulator for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) was constructed and evaluated. Analytes were trapped with carbon dioxide and desorbed with heated GC oven air. The GCxGC system included a non-polar first-dimension column and a semi-polar second-dimension column connected to a flame ionisation detector. A laboratory-written Matlab-based program was used for the data analysis. Peak widths at half height for n-alkanes, obtained with use of new modulator, were at narrowest 60 ms.     

Application of headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) for the chemical profiling of volatile oils in complex herbal mixtures

The coupling of headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) was shown to be a powerful technique for the rapid sampling and analysis of volatile oils in complex herbal materials. When compared to one-dimensional (1-D) GC, the improved analytical capabilities of GC x GC in terms of increased detection sensitivity and separation power were demonstrated by using HS-SPME/GC x GC for the chemical profiling (fingerprinting) of essential/volatile oils contained in herbal materials of increasing analytical complexity. More than 20 marker compounds belonging to Panax quinquefolius (American ginseng) can be observed within the 2-D contour plots of ginseng itself, a mixture of ginseng and another important herb (P. quinquefolius/Radix angelicae sinensis), as well as a mixture of ginseng and three other herbs (P. quinquefolius /R. angelicae sinensis/R. astragali/R. rehmanniae preparata). Such analytical capabilities should be important towards the authentication and quality control of herbal products, which are receiving increasing attention as alternative medicines worldwide. In particular, the presence of Panax in the herb formulation could be readily identified through its specific peak pattern in the 2-D GC x GC plot.