Continuous on-line derivatization and determination of amino acids by a microfluidic capillary electrophoresis system with a continuous sample introduction interface

An automatic, rapid and continuous on-line derivatization system coupled to microfluidic capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the determination of amino acids using o-phthaldialdehyde/N-acetyl-l-cysteine (OPA/NAC) as the derivative agents has been developed. By on-line derivatization, amino acids were automatically and reproducibly converted to the UV-absorbing derivatives, which were separated by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). Optimization of derivatization and separation condition was carried out to achieve both good sensitivity and separation efficiency. The separation could be achieved within 4 min and sample throughput rate can reach up to 16 h⁻¹. The repeatability (defined as relative standard deviation, R.S.D.) was 2.56, 2.85, 3.24 and 3.60% with peak area evaluation and 2.93, 3.12, 4.20 and 4.91% with peak height evaluation for arginine (Arg), phenylalanine (Phe), serine (Ser) and glycine (Gly), respectively. The limits of detection (S/N=3) were 10.46, 13.14, 34.39 and 44.79 μmol/l for Arg, Phe, Ser and Gly, respectively. Major advantages of the proposed method include improved precision and efficient automation of the derivatization by the FI system and the enhanced sampling frequencies by the combined FI-CE system.     

毛细管电泳序列分析技术用于在线酶分析研究进展

毛细管电泳技术具有操作简单、样品消耗量少、分离效率高和分析速度快等优势,不仅是一种高效的分离分析技术,而且已经发展成为在线酶分析和酶抑制研究的强有力工具。酶反应全程的实时在线监测,可以实现酶反应动力学过程的高时间分辨精确检测,以更准确地获得反应机制和反应速率常数,有助于更好地了解酶反应机制,从而更全面深入地认识酶在生物代谢中的功能。此外,准确、快速的在线酶抑制剂高通量筛选方法的发展,对加快酶抑制类药物的研发以及疾病的临床诊断亦具有重要意义。电泳媒介微分析法(EMMA)和固定化酶微反应器(IMER)是毛细管电泳酶分析技术中常用的在线分析方法。这两种在线酶分析法的进样方式通常为流体动力学进样和电动进样,无法实现酶反应过程中的无干扰序列进样分析。近年来,基于快速序列进样的毛细管电泳序列分析技术已经发展成为在线酶分析的另一种强有力手段,以实现高时间分辨和高通量的酶分析在线检测。该文从快速序列进样的角度,综述了近年来毛细管电泳序列分析技术在线酶分析的研究进展,并着重介绍了各种序列进样方法及其在酶反应和酶抑制反应中的应用,包括光快门进样、流动门进样、毛细管对接的二维扩散进样、流动注射进样、液滴微流...     

Recent advances in on-line coupling of capillary electrophoresis to atomic absorption and fluorescence spectrometry for speciation analysis and studies of metal-biomolecule interactions

Speciation information is vital for the understanding of the toxicity, mobility and bioavailability of elements in environmental or biological samples. Hyphenating high resolving power of separation techniques and element-selective detectors provides powerful tools for studying speciation of trace elements in environmental and biological systems. During the last five years several novel hybrid techniques based on capillary electrophoresis (CE) and atomic spectrometry have been developed for speciation analysis and metal-biomolecule interaction study in our laboratory. These techniques include CE on-line coupled with atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS), chip-CE on-line coupled with AFS, CE on-line coupled with flame heated quartz furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (FHF-AAS), and CE on-line coupled with electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). The necessity for the development of these techniques, their interface design, and applications in speciation analysis and metal-biomolecule interaction study are reviewed. The advantages and limitations of the developed hybrid techniques are critically discussed, and further development is also prospected.     

The combination of flow injection with electrophoresis using capillaries and chips

The combined flow injection capillary electrophoresis (FI-CE) system that integrates the essential favorable merits of FI and CE, can significantly expand the application scope of CE by exploring the various on-line sample pretreatments and preconcentration of FI. The principle behind this technique, some innovative designs of the split-flow interface, as well as novel applications to a variety of analytical problems, are reviewed and discussed. Some salient features and unique advantages of this technique are outlined.     

Continuous on-line concentration based on dynamic pH junction for trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole by microfluidic capillary electrophoresis combined with flow injection analysis system

A novel, rapid and continuous on-line concentration approach based on dynamic pH junction for the analysis of trimethoprim (TMP) and sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) by microfluidic capillary electrophoresis (CE) combined with flow injection analysis is developed in this paper. Stacking is due to decreases in the velocity of analytes when migrating from the low-pH sample zone (sample was dissolved in 50 mM HCl) to a relatively high-pH buffer (30 mM phosphate buffer, pH 8.5) filled in the capillary. This results in 2.9-4.7-fold improvement in concentration sensitivity relative to conventional capillary electrophoresis methods. The separation could be achieved within 2 min and sample throughput rate can reach up to 38 h(-1).     

Recent developments and applications of capillary and microchip electrophoresis in proteomics and peptidomics (mid-2018–2022)

This review gives a wide overview of recent advances and applications of capillary electrophoresis and microchip capillary electrophoresis methods in the fields of proteomics and peptidomics in the period from mid-2018 up to the end of 2022. The methodological topics covering sample preparation and concentration techniques, hyphenation of capillary electrophoresis methods with mass spectrometry, and multidimensional separations by on-line or off-line coupled different capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography techniques are described and new developments in both bottom-up and top-down approaches in proteomics are presented. In addition, various applications of capillary electrophoresis methods in proteomic and peptidomic studies are demonstrated. They include monitoring of protein posttranslational modifications and applications in biological and biochemical research, clinical peptidomics and proteomics, and food analysis.     

On-column polymer-imbedded graphite inlet electrode for capillary electrophoresis coupled on-line with flow injection analysis in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) interface

A method for coupling an electrophoretic driven separation to a liquid flow, using conventional fused-silica capillaries and a soft polymeric interface is presented. A novel design of the electrode providing high voltage to the electrophoretic separation was also developed. The electrode consisted of a conductive polyimide/graphite imbedded coating immobilized onto the capillary electrophoresis (CE) column inlet. This integrated electrode gave the same separation performance as a commonly used platinum electrode. The on-column electrode also showed good electrochemical stability in chronoamperometric experiments. In addition, with this electrode design, the electrode position relative to the inlet end of the CE column will always be constant and well defined. The on-line flow injection analysis (FIA)-CE system was used with electrospray ionization (ESI)-time of flight (TOF)-mass spectrometry detection. The preparation of the PDMS (poly(dimethylsiloxane)) interface for FIA-CE is described in detail and used for initial tests of the on-column polymer-imbedded graphite inlet electrode. In this interface, a pressure-driven liquid flow, a make up CE electrolyte and a CE column inlet meet in a two-level cross (95 microm ID) in the PDMS structure, enabling independent flow characterization.     

Flow injection analysis coupled with HPLC and CE for monitoring chemical production processes

Summary In chemical and pharmaceutical production plants process control is often performed by plant personal near the process (at-line). Alternatively, spectroscopic procedures like near infrared may be coupled to the process using in-line or on-line interfaces. When the analytical problem cannot be solved by these established approaches chromatographic techniques can be directly coupled to the production process. An application of chemical reaction monitoring which is difficult to perform is reported. The analytical problems are solved by HPLC and CE. Both techniques in the application presented need an on-line derivatization step prior to the analysis. Flow Injection Analysis (FIA) was applied for this sample preparation step. For the online coupling to the commercially available CE-instrument a special sample vial was developed. The application shows sufficient reproducibility and analysis speed for near real-time monitoring. of the process. Dedicated to Professor Dr. Heinz Engelhardt on the occasion of his 65^th birthday.     

Trends of flow injection sample pretreatment approaching the new millennium

The important role of flow injection (FI) techniques for the automation, acceleration and miniaturization of solution handling in sample pretreatment as well as some recent trends in the development of the field are discussed, illustrated mainly by recent achievements in the author’s laboratory, including: (a) sample pretreatment for vapor generation and electrothermal AAS based on sequential injection (SI) techniques, with low reagent consumption and enhanced ruggedness; (b) combination of FI and SI sample pretreatment (filtration, dialysis, gas diffusion, column sorption) with capillary electrophoresis (CE) giving enhanced reproducibility and efficiency; (c) application of on-line microdialysis in in vivo monitoring of blood glucose in test animals and (d) application of on-line microdialysis and solvent extraction in continuous monitoring of drug dissolution processes with high resolution of process events. Future perspectives of FI sample pretreatment are discussed, emphasizing the improvement in ruggedness of the equipment and methods, the combination and synchronization of different means for liquid propulsion, and the development of miniaturized systems.     

Combination of flow injection with electrophoresis using capillaries and chips

The technique of combined flow injection CE (FI-CE) integrates the essential favorable merits of FI and CE and can significantly expand the application of CE by utilizing the various on-line sample pretreatments and preconcentration of FI. The basic principles, instrumental developments, and applications of the FI-CE system from 2004 to 2006 are reviewed. The recent developments and applications of FI-CE are outlined.     

毛细管电泳-原子荧光在线联用新技术及其在形态分析中的应用

讨论了原子荧光光度计从传统的间歇式或流动注射式操作到与毛细管电泳联用技术的转化.考察了不同接口对分离的影响,优化了氢化物发生所用的气液分离器及原子荧光光度计的原子化器.通过缩短连路和改变管路内径等方式消除了体系的反压.将优化的仪器条件应用于As的形态分析,结果令人满意.     

A review of the recent achievements in capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection

Capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C⁴D) in the axial electrode configuration was introduced in 1998 as a quantification method for capillary electrophoresis. Its universality allows the detection of small inorganic ions as well as organic and biochemical species. Due to its robustness, minimal maintenance demands and low cost the popularity of this detector has been steadily growing. Applications have recently also been extended to other analytical methods such as ion chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography and flow-injection analysis. C⁴D has also found use for detection on electrophoresis based lab-on-chip devices. Theoretical aspects of C⁴D in both the capillary and microchip electrophoresis format have been comprehensively investigated. Commercial devices are now available and the method can be considered a mature detection technique. In this article, the achievements in C⁴D for the time period between September 2004 and August 2007 are reviewed.     

Method for on-line derivatization and separation of aspartic acid enantiomer in pharmaceuticals application by the coupling of flow injection with micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A novel, easy and accurate capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with flow injection (FI) method for the separation and determination of aspartic acid (Asp) enantiomers by on-line derivatization had been developed, and it had been applied to the real sample for the first time. The derivatization reagents were o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) and mercaptoethanol (ME), which were obtained easily, the chiral selector was beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD), the micellar chemical was sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and the modifier was methanol. By on-line derivatization, aspartic acid enantiomers were automatically and reproducibly converted to the ultraviolet (UV)-absorbing diastereoisomer derivates, which were separated by micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). According to the factors affecting the separation and sensitivity of aspartic acid enantiomer and other amino acids in the real sample, the pH value and concentration of the buffer, the concentration of beta-CD and SDS, the volume percentage of the methanol (v/v) in the buffer, the applied voltage and the conversion time were selected as the investigating variates. Under the investigated separation conditions, D-aspartic acid (D-Asp), L-aspartic acid (L-Asp) and other four amino acids achieved the baseline separation in not only the standard mixture of amino acids but also the real sample (Compound Amino Acid Injection (6AA)). The repeatability (defined as relative standard deviation (RSD), n = 5) was 4.0% and 4.0% with peak area evaluation, and 4.2% and 3.7% with peak height evaluation for D-Asp and L-Asp in the real sample. Recovery at added standard levels of 1.0, 3.0 and 6.0 mM was 92%, 104% and 109%, respectively.     

毛细管电泳流动注射-负压进样装置的研究

设计了一种用于毛细管电泳系统的流动注射-负压进样装置。样品由蠕动泵输送到进样阀后再由缓冲液带到分离毛细管入口,由毛细管出口端施加的负压引入。进样时间由自制精密控时电路控制,经进样条件的优化,能获得良好的重现性。实验中两种阳离子峰面积和迁移时间的RSD(n=8)≤2.7%,优于传统重力进样,而且操作简便;与非接触电导检测器组装成流动注射-毛细管电泳系统,可实现快速、高效的在线分析。初步应用于无机阳离子的分离,取得了满意的结果。     

石墨烯类材料在毛细管电泳中的应用新进展

由于石墨烯类材料具有独特的物理化学性质,因而在生命分析、化学分析等领域得到了广泛的应用。本文结合国内外文献对石墨烯类材料在毛细管电泳中的应用进展及相关探索研究进行了评述,包括修饰电化学检测电极、制备毛细管整体柱、修饰毛细管内壁及毛细管芯片等,并对其在毛细管电泳中的应用方向进行了展望。     

流动注射-毛细管电泳联用及应用进展

流动注射是一种高效进样及在线溶液处理手段。毛细管电泳是一种高分离效率、高选择性的分析技术,但传统的毛细管电泳间歇式进样方式效率低且难用于过程分析,将流动注射进样技术与毛细管电泳结合,既弥补了毛细管电泳的进样缺陷,又可兼具两者的优点。有关两种技术的联用一直都在探索之中。文中对近年流动注射一毛细管电泳联用及应用研究进行了综述。     

毛细管电泳在线聚焦原理、技术及应用

毛细管电泳以其分析速度快、分离效率高、操作简便、能够实现高通量而获得了广泛的应用,但由于检测窗口小而导致其检测灵敏度低。为了提高检测灵敏度,目前已发展了多种毛细管电泳在线聚焦和样品预浓缩技术,如场放大样品堆积、pH调节浓缩、胶束电动毛细管色谱、等速电泳等。这些技术由于能够在毛细管内同时实现样品的聚焦和分离、操作简便而获得了广泛的兴趣和关注。本文针对毛细管电泳的在线聚焦的原理、技术和应用做一简要的介绍和总结。     

毛细管电泳进样技术新进展

评述了毛细管电泳进样技术新成果。对直接在线进样，二维分离体系中毛细管电泳分离的增样，相关毛细管电泳增样，超微量样品及单个分子的进样，近端进样，双向进样和高温下的进样装置的应用状况作了介绍。     

Numerical simulation of electrokinetic injection techniques in capillary electrophoresis microchips

The effective design and control of a capillary electrophoresis (CE) microchip requires a thorough understanding of the electrokinetic transport phenomena associated with its microfluidic injection system. The present study utilizes a numerical simulation approach to investigate these electrokinetic transport processes and to study the control parameters of the injection process. Injection systems with a variety of different configurations are designed and tested, including the cross-form, T-form, double-T-form, variable-volume focused flow cross-form, and variable-volume triple-T-form configuration. Each injection system cycles through a predetermined series of steps in which the magnitudes and distributions of the applied electric field are precisely manipulated in order to effectuate a virtual valve. This study investigates the sample leakage effect associated with each of the injection configurations and applies the double-L, pullback, and focusing injection techniques to minimize the sample leakage effect. The injection methods presented in this paper have the exciting potential for use in high-quality, high-throughput chemical analysis applications and throughout the micro-total-analysis systems field.     

Simple in‐house flow‐injection capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity method for the determination of colistin

An in‐house flow‐injection capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection method was developed for the direct measurement of colistin in pharmaceutical samples. The flow injection and capillary electrophoresis systems are connected by an acrylic interface. Capillary electrophoresis separation is achieved within 2 min using a background electrolyte solution of 5 mM 2‐morpholinoethanesulfonic acid and 5 mM histidine (pH 6). The flow‐injection section allows for convenient filling of the capillary and sample introduction without the use of a pressure/vacuum manifold. Capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection is employed since colistin has no chromophore but is cationic at pH 6. Calibration curve is linear from 20 to 150 mg/L, with a correlation coefficient (r²) of 0.997. The limit of quantitation is 20 mg/L. The developed method provides precision, simplicity, and short analysis time.