Implications of column peak capacity on the separation of complex peptide mixtures in single- and two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography

Column peak capacity was utilized as a measure of column efficiency for gradient elution conditions. Peak capacity was evaluated experimentally for reversed-phase (RP) and cation-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) columns, and compared to the values predicted from RP-HPLC gradient theory. The model was found to be useful for the prediction of peak capacity and productivity in single- and two-dimensional (2D) chromatography. Both theoretical prediction and experimental data suggest that the number of peaks separated in HPLC reaches an upper limit, despite using highly efficient columns or very shallow gradients. The practical peak capacity value is about several hundred for state-of-the-art RP-HPLC columns. Doubling the column length (efficiency) improves the peak capacity by only 40%, and proportionally increases both the separation time and the backpressure. Similarly, extremely shallow gradients have a positive effect on the peak capacity, but analysis becomes unacceptably long. The model predicts that a 2D-HPLC peak capacity of 15,000 can be achieved in 8 h using multiple fraction collection in the first dimension followed by fast RP-HPLC gradients employing short, but efficient columns in the second dimension.     

Effect of Column Dimensions on HPLC Separations Using Constant Volume Columns

Abstract

The effect of column dimension on resolution, sample capacity, retention time, efficiency and mobile phase composition were studied, using both constant flow rate and constant linear velocity. The four columns selected (A = 238 × 3.2 mm, B = 153 × 4.0 mm, C = 116 × 4.6 mm and D = 50 × 7 mm) had the same volume. K¹ values were found to be constant, within experimental error, for all columns. At constant linear velocity, the retention time was found to be a linear function of column length, while at constant flow rate retention time was constant for all columns. The longest column (A) generated the largest N values while columns 3 and C gave the lowest H values, for dilute solutions, while they decreased with decreasing column length. On the other hand, it was observed that as the sample size increased, N generated by column A decreased more rapidly and eventually fell below the values generated by columns B and C. These two columns (B & C) can tolerate a larger sample size with less reduction in N value than the longest column. It is important to note that although there were minor differences in performance between columns B and C, there were significant differences between them (B and C) and the other two columns (A and D). Column A offered the highest sensitivity (narrower peaks) for dilute solutions, while columns B and C offered higher loadability. The volume of organic modifier in the mobile phase affected the retention equally in the four columns. It was also found that equal separation (a) was obtained for each column at constant flow rate and constant linear velocity, except with the latter the retention times were longer.     

Removal and Recovery of UO2(??) from Water Samples Using 2,2′‐Diamino‐4,4′‐bithiazole as a New Reagent for Solid Phase Extraction

A novel sensitive and simple method for rapid and selective extraction, preconcentration and determination of uranyl as its 2,2′‐diamino‐4,4′‐bithiazole (DABTZ) complex by using octadecylsilica columns and spectrophotometry is presented. Extraction efficiency and the influence of flow rates of sample solution and eluent, pH, amount of DABTZ, type and least amount of eluent for elution of uranyl complex from columns, break‐through volume and limit of detection were evaluated. Also the effects of various cationic and anionic interferences on percent recovery of uranyl were studied. Average extraction efficiency of ca. 90% was obtained by elution of the column with minimal amount of solvent in the presence of interferences. The average preconcentration factor, 136 and a detection limit 0.32 ng·mL^?1 were obtained. The method was applied to the recovery and determination of uranyl in different water samples.     

Approaches to characterise chromatographic column performance based on global parameters accounting for peak broadening and skewness

Peak broadening and skewness are fundamental parameters in chromatography, since they affect the resolution capability of a chromatographic column. A common practice to characterise chromatographic columns is to estimate the efficiency and asymmetry factor for the peaks of one or more solutes eluted at selected experimental conditions. This has the drawback that the extra-column contributions to the peak variance and skewness make the peak shape parameters depend on the retention time. We propose and discuss here the use of several approaches that allow the estimation of global parameters (non-dependent on the retention time) to describe the column performance. The global parameters arise from different linear relationships that can be established between the peak variance, standard deviation, or half-widths with the retention time. Some of them describe exclusively the column contribution to the peak broadening, whereas others consider the extra-column effects also. The estimation of peak skewness was also possible for the approaches based on the half-widths. The proposed approaches were applied to the characterisation of different columns (Spherisorb, Zorbax SB, Zorbax Eclipse, Kromasil, Chromolith, X-Terra and Inertsil), using the chromatographic data obtained for several diuretics and basic drugs (β-blockers).     

The Effect of Column Diameter on HPLC Separations Using Constant Length Columns

Abstract

The effect of column dimensions on resolution, sample capacity, mobile-phase use and efficiency using both constant flow-rate and constant linear velocity was studied. The four columns selected have the same length (238 mm), but different diameters (column A: 4.6 mm; column B: 4.0 mm; column C: 3.2 mm and column D: 2.1 mm). It was observed that at constant floworate the reduced plate height was the lowest for columns B and C, higher for column A and highest for column D. On the other hand increasing the injected quantity while keeping injected volume constant revealed columns B and C to have a better efficiency only at the low concentrations. Column A with the largest diameter was superior at high concentrations and thus offers the best loadability. Column D offered, as expected, poor loadability. Examination of the columns at the same calculated linear velocity, showed no appreciable changes in efficiency for the four columns. Preferable detection limits and big solvent savings were obtained when small column diameters were used.     

Chromatographic properties of the ion-exclusion column IonPac ICE-AS6 and application in environmental analysis. Part I: Chromatographic properties

The chromatographic performance of the Dionex IonPac ICE-AS6 ion exclusion column is investigated. Therefore, capacity factors, efficiency, peak symmetry, resolution, and selectivity are determined for various mono- and polyfunctional aliphatic carboxylic acids under selected chromatographic conditions. Except for the stronger acids (pKa1 < 3.75), the highest chromatographic efficiency is achieved at a column temperature of 40 or 50 degrees C, and peak shape is found to be optimal at approximately 60 degrees C. The separation of the stronger acids is favored by an eluent pH below 3.0 and column temperatures below 40 degrees C. The maximal effective plate numbers range between 126 (tartronic acid) and 6380 (4-oxovaleric acid). Hydroxy-substituted acids are less retained and less influenced by temperature changes than the unsubstituted compounds. It is estimated that size exclusion effects take part in the separation of aldonic acids. The addition of 1% isopropanol to the acidic eluent increases the chromatographic efficiency generally, whereas higher concentrations reduce the retention of several acids drastically.     

Retention behaviour of strong acid anions in ion-exclusion chromatography on sulfonate and carboxylate stationary phases

Some factors influencing the retention of strong-acid anions on ion-exclusion columns were investigated using columns with sulfonate and carboxylate functional groups. The nature of the functional group on the resin, the eluent pH and the eluent ionic strength all significantly affected the retention and separation of these analytes. Retention was observed for all strong-acid anions over the eluent pH range 2.2-5.7 and increased with both decreasing eluent pH and increasing eluent ionic strength. Some separation of strong-acid anions was possible when using a resin with carboxylate functional groups. It has also been demonstrated that strong-acid anions are poor markers of column void volume for ion-exclusion chromatography. A more accurate value was obtained using the neutral polymeric material dextran blue. When using eluents of low ionic strength, poor or fronted peak shapes were observed. A mechanism for these observations is proposed that relates the shape to ionic strength changes across the peak. A system peak was encountered under most experimental conditions. The properties of this peak are discussed and a cause for the system peak postulated.     

Vacancy ion-exclusion chromatography of carboxylic acids on a weakly acidic cation-exchange resin

In this preliminary study, a new approach to ion-exclusion chromatography is proposed to overcome the relatively poor conductivity detection response which occurs in ion-exclusion chromatography when acids are added to the eluent in order to improve peak shape. This approach, termed vacancy ion-exclusion chromatography, requires the sample to be used as eluent and a sample of water to be injected onto a weakly acidic cation-exchange column (TSKgel OApak-A). Vacancy peaks for each of the analytes appear at the retention times of these analytes. Highly sensitive conductivity detection is possible and sharp, well-shaped peaks are produced, leading to efficient separations. Retention times were found to be affected by the concentration of the analytes in the eluent, and also by the presence of an organic modifier such as methanol in the eluent. Detection limits for oxalic, formic, acetic, propionic, butyric and valeric acids were 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 microM, respectively, and linear ranges for some acids extended over two orders of magnitude. Precision values for retention times were 0.21% and for peak areas were <1.90%. The vacancy ion-exclusion chromatography method was found to give detection responses four to 10 times higher than conventional ion-exclusion chromatography using sulfuric acid eluent and two to five times higher than conventional ion-exclusion chromatography using benzoic acid eluent.     

High efficiency, high temperature separations on silica based monolithic columns

The effect of temperature on separation using reversed-phase monolithic columns has been investigated using a nano-LC pumping system for gradient separation of tryptic peptides with MS detection. A goal of this study was to find optimal conditions for high-speed separations. The chromatographic performance of the columns was evaluated by peak capacity and peak capacity per time unit. Column lengths ranging from 20 to 100 cm and intermediate gradient times from 10 to 30 min were investigated to assess the potential of these columns in a final step separation, e.g. after fractionation or specific sample preparation. Flow rates from 250 to 2000 nL/min and temperatures from 20 to 120°C were investigated. Temperature had a significant effect on fast separations, and a flow rate of 2000 nL/min and a temperature of 80°C gave the highest peak capacity per time unit. These settings produced 70% more protein identifications in a biological sample compared to a conventional packed column. Alternatively, an equal amount of protein identifications was obtained with a 40% reduction in run time compared to the conventional packed column.     

Effect of ionic liquid additives to mobile phase on separation and system efficiency for HPLC of selected alkaloids on different stationary phases

The silica-based stationary phases with favorable physical characteristics are the most popular in liquid chromatography. However, there are several problems with silica-based materials: severe peak tailing in the chromatography of basic compounds, non-reproducibility for the same chemistry columns, and limited pH stability. Ionic liquids (ILs) as mobile phase components can reduce peak tailing by masking residual free silanol groups. The chromatographic behavior of some alkaloids from different classes was studied on C18, phenyl, and pentafluorophenyl columns with different kinds and concentrations of ionic liquids as additives to aqueous mobile phases. Ionic liquids with different alkyl substituents on different cations or with different counterions as eluent additives were investigated. The addition of ionic liquids has great effects on the separation of alkaloids: decrease in band tailing, increase in system efficiency, and improved resolution. The retention, separation selectivity, and sequence of alkaloid elution were different when using eluents containing various ILs. The increase of IL concentration caused an increase in silanol blocking, thus conducted to decrease the interaction between alkaloid cations and free silanol groups, and caused a decrease of alkaloids retention, improvement of peak symmetry, and increase of theoretical plate number in most cases. The effect of ILs on stationary phases with different properties was also examined. The different properties of stationary phases resulted in differences in analyte retention, separation selectivity, peak shape, and system efficiency. The best shape of peaks and the highest theoretical plate number for most investigated alkaloids in mobile phases containing IL was obtained on pentafluorophenyl (PFP) phase.     

Influence of inorganic mobile phase additives on the retention, efficiency and peak symmetry of protonated basic compounds in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Inorganic eluent additives affect the retention of protonated basic analytes in reversed-phase HPLC. This influence is attributed to the disruption of the analyte solvation-desolvation equilibria in the mobile phase, also known as "chaotropic effect". With an increase of counteranion concentration analyte retention increases with concomitant decrease in the tailing factor. Different inorganic counteranions at equimolar concentrations affect protonated basic analyte retention and peak symmetry to varying degrees. The effect of the concentrations of four different inorganic mobile phase additives (KPF6, NaClO4, NaBF4, NaH2PO4) on the analyte retention, peak symmetry, and efficiency on a C8-bonded silica column has been studied. The analytes used in this study included phenols, toluene, benzyl amines, beta-blockers and ophthalmic drugs. The following trend in increase of basic analyte retention factor and decrease of tailing factor was found: PF6- > ClO4- approximately BF4- > H2PO4-. With the increase of the counteranion concentration greater analyte loading could be achieved and consequently an increase in the apparent efficiency was observed until the maximum plate number for the column was achieved. At the highest concentration of counteranions, the peak efficiency for most of the basic compounds studied was similar to that of the neutral markers. In contrast, the neutral markers, such as phenols, showed no significant changes in retention, efficiency or loading capacity as counteranion concentration was increased.     

Column wall modifications using polyethylene oxide for capillary electrophoresis of ribonucleotides

Summary In this study, a variety of fused silica capillaries with different combinations and sequences of treatments with HMDS and polyethylene oxide were prepared in order to develop an optimized column modification method for analysis of ribonucleotides. The 12 most common ribonucleotides (UTP, CTP, ATP, GTP, UDP, CDP, ADP, GDP, UMP, CMP, AMP, and GMP) in human cells were used as test solutes. Column performance measurements, including electroosmotic flow (EOF), solute migration speed and retention, column efficiency, peak shape, and resolution were investigated. By analyzing solute migration speed and retention of various hydrophilic/hydrophobic solutes, the column wall effects (EOF and adsorption) can be distinguished. This analysis method can give guidance in optimizing polymer coating properties (hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity) for CE columns. By studying the performance of these columns after various surface treatments, we were able to improve the separation of ribonucleotides from real samples to within 16 minutes with high efficiency and stability (over 300 analyses) using columns first deactivated with hexamethyldisilazane, and then coated with polyethylene oxide.     

Preparative high-performance liquid chromatography with reversed phase packed glass columns

An efficient system for preparative reversed-phase separations with packed glass columns is described. The advantage of this system is the use of relatively simple and inexpensive equipment. Column performance, load capacity, effect of the feed volume and the feed concentration on peak broadening are shown. The influence of the selectivity and the capacity factors on column load have been measured. The effect of the column dimensions is demonstrated by means of practical applications. The loading capacity of a column depends on the thermodynamic proporties of the separation system used. It is therefore not expedient in preparative chromatography to correlate the loading capacity of a column by means of grams dissolved per grams of adsorbent.     

Peak capacity in gradient reversed-phase liquid chromatography of biopolymers. Theoretical and practical implications for the separation of oligonucleotides

Reversed-phase ultra-performance liquid chromatography was used for biopolymer separations in isocratic and gradient mode. The gradient elution mode was employed to estimate the optimal mobile phase flow rate to obtain the best column efficiency and the peak capacity for three classes of analytes: peptides, oligonucleotides and proteins. The results indicate that the flow rate of the Van Deemter optimum for 2.1 mm I.D. columns packed with a porous 1.7 microm C18 sorbent is below 0.2 mL/min for our analytes. However, the maximum peak capacity is achieved at flow rates between 0.15 and 1.0 mL/min, depending on the molecular weight of the analyte. The isocratic separation mode was utilized to measure the dependence of the retention factor on the mobile phase composition. Constants derived from isocratic experiments were utilized in a mathematical model based on gradient theory. Column peak capacity was predicted as a function of flow rate, gradient slope and column length. Predicted peak capacity trends were compared to experimental results.     

Loading capacities of monolithic capillary columns in gas chromatography

The loading capacities of monolithic capillary columns based on silica gel and divinylbenzene are studied for two carrier gases, CO₂ and N₂. It is shown that the efficiency of the column is more sensitive to the overload of the column than the retention time of the sorbate is, especially for the CO₂ carrier gas. It is established that the loading capacity of a monolithic column based on silica gel decreases significantly in going from N₂ to CO₂. For columns based on divinylbenzene, the loading capacity is found to be virtually the same for both carrier gases. For monolithic columns, the loading capacity per one meter of column length is found to be 10 and more times higher than that for a standard open capillary column.     

A new approach to the determination of column overload characteristics in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Column overloading is very common during the separations of basic analytes in analytical scale reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). Due to the complex interactions of ionic analytes with stationary and mobile phases, only a very small amount of ionized sample compared to the amount of nonpolar solute can be injected before the peak shape is distorted by non-linear chromatographic processes. Often the amount that can be injected before overload is observed is so small that the signal is quite noisy, thereby making the measured plate count imprecise and possibly inaccurate. The purpose of the present study was to develop a practical method for the precise measurement of the plate count and a column overload parameter using a simple but mathematically rigorous model of Langmuirian non-linear chromatography. An “overload profile”, i.e. a plot of apparent plate count versus amount injected, is characterized by two parameters: the limiting plate count (N₀) and the column sample loading capacity (ω_0.5). The limiting plate count is the plate count that should be observed when the amount of sample injected is so small that a linear isotherm pertains. The column sample loading capacity, which is taken as the sample load that leads to a plate count equal to half of the limiting plate count, is a measure of the maximum amount of sample that can be injected into that column. The approach was tested by applying it to the study of cationic analytes in RPLC. We show that N₀ under constant conditions (column length, flow rate, mobile phase composition, etc.) is almost independent of column type (manufacturer); however, different column types (at the same length, diameter and flow rate) exhibit clear differences in their sample loading capacity (ω_0.5). We believe that for most well packed type B columns, the column sample loading capacity and not the limiting plate count is the more important property that accounts for most of the apparent differences in peak width when different types of columns are examined.     

Effect of ammonia in the ion-chromatographic determination of trace anions and optimization of analytical conditions

The ion-chromatographic determination of traces of anions in the fluids of a thermal power plant is examined with an on-line automated system. Ammonia in the sample affects the analytical response for the Dionex AS4-A and AS2 anion-separation columns, because of the variable efficiency of the preconcentration. This effect can be corrected for, without sample pretreatment, by evaluating the response surface of the systems. The use of the more sensitive AS4-A column requires the chloride peak to be shifted away from the “water dip” in the chromatograms. Simplex optimization of the eluent enabled this to be done for samples with ammonia. Real utilization of AS4-A columns in however inhibited if samples contain organic acids because their peaks are not well resolved from that of chloride under the conditions adopted.     

Fast gas chromatography: packed column solvating gas chromatography versus open tubular column gas chromatography

Packed capillary column solvating gas chromatography (SGC) and open tubular column gas chromatography (GC) were compared with respect to their potentials for fast separations. A recently introduced "universal" peak capacity equation was used to compare the performance of these two methods. The effects of various factors on peak capacity were investigated. Results demonstrate that retention factor and column efficiency are the main factors affecting peak capacity for fast separations. Packed columns produce both high retention factors and high selectivities. While high efficiencies and high peak capacities can be demonstrated by both techniques, open tubular column GC can surpass packed capillary column SGC in both measurements, except for the case of the analysis of simple mixtures in short analysis times, where retention factor and selectivity become important. Practical aspects such as pressure drop and sample capacity are compared for SGC and open tubular column GC. It was found that packed column SGC demonstrates higher sample capacities, but requires much higher column inlet pressures than open tubular column GC. A variety of mobile phases can be used for packed column SGC, which can provide high solvating power for large and polar compounds.     

单萜/顺丁烯二酸酐加成物及其酯类衍生物的气相色谱法分析

 摘要：研究了单萜/顺酐加成物及其酯化衍生物在OV-17和SE-30柱上的某些色谱性能和定量分析的线性相应关系。结果表明,这两种化合物在涂渍量为5％～10％的OV-17和SE-30柱上均能正常出峰;在峰形对称性和出峰时间上,OV-17柱具有优势。260℃以后,色谱峰面积与汽化温度无关。     

Liquid chromatography of cardiac glycosides

Summary LC was used for the separation of several cardiac glycosides with water-alcohol eluents on a silanised silica column. The influence of temperature and composition of the eluent on the retention time, the retention volumes of the glycosides, the selectivity and the capacity factor of the column were studied. Higher temperature and a higher ethanol content in the eluent reduce the retention time, the selectivity and the capacity factor but the efficiency of the column increases. The best separation of six glycosides studied was obtained at 50°C, the ethanol content in the eluent being about 30%.