A weak cation-exchange monolith as stationary phase for the separation of peptide diastereomers by CEC

A CEC weak cation-exchange monolith has been prepared by in situ polymerization of acrylamide, methylenebisacrylamide and 4-acrylamidobutyric acid in a decanol-dimethylsulfoxide mixture as porogen. The columns were evaluated by SEM and characterized with regard to the separation of diastereomers and α/β-isomers of aspartyl peptides. Column preparation was reproducible as evidenced by comparison of the analyte retention times of several columns prepared simultaneously. Analyte separation was achieved using mobile phases consisting of acidic phosphate buffer and ACN. Under these conditions the peptides migrated due to their electrophoretic mobility but the EOF also contributed as driving force as a function of the pH of the mobile phase due to increasing dissociation of the carboxyl groups of the polymer. Raising the pH of the mobile phase also resulted in deprotonation of the peptides reducing analyte mobility. Due to these mechanisms each pair of diastereomeric peptides displayed the highest resolution at a different pH of the buffer component of the mobile phase. Comparing the weak-cation exchange monolith to an RP monolith and a strong cation-exchange monolith different elution order of some peptide diastereomers was observed, clearly illustrating that interactions with the stationary phase contribute to the CEC separations.     

Enantioseparation of aromatic amino acids using CEC monolith with novel chiral selector,N‐methacryloyl‐l‐histidine methyl ester

A new type of polymethacrylate‐based monolithic column with chiral stationary phase was prepared for the enantioseparation of aromatic amino acids, namely d ,l ‐phenylalanine, d ,l ‐tyrosine, and d ,l ‐tryptophan by CEC. The monolithic column was prepared by in situ polymerization of butyl methacrylate (BMA), N‐methacryloyl‐l ‐histidine methyl ester (MAH), and ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) in the presence of porogens. The porogen mixture included DMF and phosphate buffer. MAH was used as a chiral selector. FTIR spectrum of the polymethacrylate‐based monolith showed that MAH was incorporated into the polymeric structure via in situ polymerization. Some experimental parameters including pH, concentration of the mobile phase, and MAH concentration with regard to the chiral CEC separation were investigated. Single enantiomers and enantiomer mixtures of the amino acids were separately injected into the monolithic column. It was observed that l ‐enantiomers of aromatic amino acids migrated before d ‐enantiomers. The reversal enantiomer migration order for tryptophan was observed upon changing of pH. Using the chiral monolithic column (100 μm id and 375 μm od), the best chiral separation was performed in 35:65% ACN/phosphate buffer (pH 8.0, 10 mM) with an applied voltage of 12 kV in CEC. SEM images showed that the chiral monolithic column has a continuous polymeric skeleton and large through‐pore structure.     

CEC separation of insect oostatic peptides using a strong-cation-exchange stationary phase

The separation of several insect oostatic peptides (IOPs) was achieved by using CEC with a strong-cation-exchange (SCX) stationary phase in the fused-silica capillary column of 75 microm id. The effect of organic modifier, ionic strength, buffer pH, applied voltage, and temperature on peptides' resolution was evaluated. Baseline separation of the studied IOPs was achieved using a mobile phase containing 100 mM pH 2.3 sodium phosphate buffer/water/ACN (10:20:70 v/v/v). In order to reduce the analysis time, experiments were performed in the short side mode where the stationary phase was packed for 7 cm only. The selection of the experimental parameters strongly influenced the retention time, resolution, and retention factor. An acidic pH was selected in order to positively charge the analyzed peptides, the pI's of which are about 3 in water buffer solutions. A good selectivity and resolution was achieved at pH <2.8; at higher pH the three parameters decreased due to reduced or even zero charge of peptides. The increase in the ionic strength of the buffer present in the mobile phase caused a decrease in retention factor for all the studied compounds due to the decreased interaction between analytes and stationary phase. Raising the ACN concentration in the mobile phase in the range 40-80% v/v caused an increase in both retention factor, retention time, and resolution due to the hydrophilic interactions of IOPs with free silanols and sulfonic groups of the stationary phase.     

Preparation of a neutral porous monolith and its evaluation in pressurized capillary electrochromatography with neutral and charged solutes

A neutral, nonpolar monolithic capillary column was evaluated as a hydrophobic stationary phase in pressurized CEC system for neutral, acidic and basic solutes. The monolith was prepared by in situ copolymerization of octadecyl methacrylate and ethylene dimethacrylate in a binary porogenic solvent consisting of cyclohexanol/1,4‐butanediol. EOF in this hydrophobic monolithic column was poor; even the pH value of the mobile phase was high. Because of the absence of fixed charges, the monolithic capillary column was free of electrostatic interactions with charged solutes. Separations of neutral solutes were based on the hydrophobic mechanism with the pressure as the driving force. The acidic and basic solutes were separated under pressurized CEC mode with the pressure and electrophoretic mobility as the driving force. The separation selectivity of charged solutes were based on their differences in electrophoretic mobility and hydrophobic interaction with the stationary phase, and no obvious peak tailing for basic analytes was observed. Effects of the mobile phase compositions on the retention of acidic compounds were also investigated. Under optimized conditions, high plate counts reaching 82 000 plates/m for neutral compounds, 134 000 plates/m for acid compounds and 150 000 plates/m for basic compounds were readily obtained.     

Separation of small peptides by electrochromatography on silica-based reversed phases and hydrophobic anion exchange phases

Peptide separations are regarded as a promising application of capillary electrochromatography (CEC) and, at the same time, a suitable model to elucidate its mixed separation mechanism when charged analytes are involved. In this paper, studies on the separation of small peptides (2-4 amino acids) on a Spherisorb octadecyl silane (ODS) phase at acidic pH and on a strong anion exchange (SAX)/C18 mixed mode phase at weakly basic pH are reported. For the ODS phase a comparison of CEC, capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) under identical buffer/eluent conditions is presented. The predicted retention factors for CEC under the assumption of simple superposition of HPLC retention and CZE migration matched the measured results for the peptides that had small retention factors in HPLC. For both types of stationary phases, a variation of the acetonitrile content in the mobile phase led to a wide range of retention factors, including negative values when co-electroosmotic migration was dominant. Though both the ODS and the SAX/C18 phase offer unique advantages, the SCX/C18 phase at pH 9 provides more flexibility to alter separation selectivity for the selected peptides.     

Capillary electrochromatography of proteins and peptides with a cationic acrylic monolith

For the separation of proteins and peptides by capillary electrochromatography (CEC), columns with a monolithic stationary phase were prepared from silanized fused-silica capillaries of 50 microm I.D. by in situ copolymerization of glycidyl methacrylate, methyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate in the presence of propanol and formamide as porogens. The epoxide groups at the surface of the porous monolith were reacted with N-ethylbutylamine to form fixed tertiary amino functions with ethyl- and butyl-chains. A mixture of ribonuclease A, insulin, alpha-lactalbumin and myoglobin was separated isocratically by counterdirectional CEC with hydro-organic mobile phases containing acetonitrile and sodium phosphate buffer, pH 2.5. The separation of four angiotensin type peptides by CEC was also achieved under similar conditions. The elution order of proteins was similar to that obtained in reversed-phase chromatography. Plots of the migration factors for proteins and peptides against the acetonitrile concentration exhibit opposite trends. This is most likely due to the greater chromatographic retention and lower electrophoretic migration velocity of proteins than that of peptides in the counterdirectional CEC system. From this it is concluded that the separation is governed by a dual mechanism that involves the complex interplay between selective chromatographic retention and differential electrophoretic migration.     

Rapid separation of peptides and proteins by isocratic capillary electrochromatography at elevated temperature

The use of capillary electrochromatography (CEC) for the separation by isocratic elution of synthetic peptides, proteins as well as the tryptic digest of cytochrome c has been demonstrated. The monolithic porous stationary phase was prepared from silanized fused-silica capillaries of 75 microm I.D. by in situ copolymerization of vinylbenzyl chloride and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate in the presence of propanol and formamide as the porogens. The chloromethyl groups at the surface of the porous monolith were reacted with N,N-dimethylbutylamine to form a positively charged chromatographic surface with fixed n-butyl chains. Results of studies on the influence of temperature and mobile phase composition on the retention and selectivity of separation by CEC demonstrated the feasibility of rapid polypeptide analysis and tryptic mapping at elevated temperature with high resolution and efficiency. Typically the chromatography of a tryptic digest of cytochrome c took about 5 min at 55 degrees C and 75 kV/m with hydro-organic mobile phases containing acetonitrile in 50 mM phosphate buffer, pH 2.5. For peptides and proteins plots of logarithmic k'cec against acetonitrile concentration were nonlinear, whereas Arrhenius plots for the mobilities were nearly linear. Comparison of the separation of such samples under conditions of CEC and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) indicates that the mechanism of separation in CEC is unique and leads to a chromatographic profile different from that obtained by CZE.     

Phenylalanine functionalized zwitterionic monolith for hydrophobic interaction electrochromatography

A novel phenylalanine (Phe) functionalized zwitterionic monolith for hydrophobic electrochromatography was prepared by a two‐step procedure involving the synthesis of glycidyl methacrylate based polymer monolith and subsequent on‐column chemical modification with Phe via ring‐opening reaction of epoxides. Benefitting from the hydrophobicity of both methacrylate‐based matrix and aromatic group of Phe, this monolith could exhibit good hydrophobic interaction for the separation. Typical RP chromatographic behavior was observed toward various solutes. The well‐controlled cathodic or anodic EOF of the prepared column could be facilely switched by altering the pH values of running buffers. The separation mechanism of this Phe functionalized zwitterionic monolith is discussed in detail. Two mixed‐mode mechanisms of RP/cation exchange and RP/anion exchange could be further realized on the same monolith in different pH condition of the mobile phase. Versatile separation capabilities of neutral, basic, and acidic analytes have been successfully achieved in this zwitterionic monolith by CEC method.     

Investigation of the novel mixed-mode stationary phase for capillary electrochromatography. II. Separation of amino acids and peptides on sulfonated naphthalimido-modified silyl silica gel

The potential of 3-(4-sulfo-1,8-naphthalimido)propyl-modified silyl silica gel (SNAIP) as a mixed-mode stationary phase for capillary electrochromatography (CEC) was investigated for the separation of charged analytes, taking four amino acids (tyrosine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, histidine) as model analytes. The elution process of these charged analytes in CEC with SNAIP was dominated by a combination of both electrophoretic process and chromatographic process involving hydrophobic as well as electrostatic interactions. In order to study the retention mechanism, the CEC retention factor k* and the velocity factor ke* were measured for the amino acids, which allowed the assessment of the respective contribution from the differential processes underlying the separation. Migration and retention could be mediated by changing various mobile phase compositions, including buffer pH, buffer concentration, and concentration of organic solvent. Based on the results obtained by separation of the amino acids, the separation of eight peptides (Gly-Val, Gly-Phe, Gly-Ile, Gly-His, Gly-Lys, Lys-Lys, Gly-Gly-Gly, Gly-Gly-His) was attempted. A good separation was achieved under an isocratic elution with a mobile phase consisting of 35 mM phosphate buffer (pH 3.8) and 40% methanol.     

Electrochromatographic performance of conventional and polar-embedded C16 silica monolithic stationary phases

A novel monolithic silica column that has a polar‐embedded amide‐secondary amine group linking with C16 functionality for RP‐CEC is described. The amide‐secondary aminealkyloxysilane was synthesized by the reaction of 3‐(2‐aminoethylamino) propyltrimethoxysilane with hexadecanoyl chloride. Then, the silylant agent was bonded to the silica monolith matrix to produce hexadecanamide‐secondary amine bonded silica (HDAIS) monolithic column. The electrochromatographic performance of HDAIS monolithic column for the separation of neutral, basic and polar solutes was studied, which was compared to that using the hexadecyl bonded silica monolithic column. The HDAIS monolithic column displayed reduced hydrophobic retention characteristics in the separation of five hydrophobic n‐alkylbenzenes and four polar phenols when compared to the hexadecyl bonded silica monolithic column. A very much reduced silanol activity of HDAIS monolithic column was observed in the separation of test basic mixture including four aromatic amines, atenolol and metoprolol with 10 mM borate buffer (pH 7.5) containing 30% v/v ACN as the mobile phase. The comparison results indicate good performance for both polar and basic mixtures on HDAIS monolithic column in RP‐CEC, and also show promising results for further applications.     

Neutral octadecyl monolith for reversed phase capillary electrochromatography of a wide range of solutes

A neutral octadecyl monolithic (ODM) column for RP capillary electrochromatography (RP-CEC) has been developed. The ODM column was prepared by the in situ polymerization of octadecyl acrylate (ODA) as the monomer and trimethylolpropanetrimethacrylate (TRIM) as the crosslinker, in a ternary porogenic solvent containing cyclohexanol, ethylene glycol, and water. The ODM column exhibited cathodal EOF over a wide range of pH and ACN concentration in the mobile phase despite the fact that it was devoid of any fixed charges. It is believed that the EOF is due to the adsorption of ions from the mobile phase onto the surface of the monolith thus imparting to the neutral ODM column the zeta potential necessary to support the EOF required for mass transport across the monolithic column. Furthermore, the adsorption of mobile phase ions to the neutral monolith modulated solute retention and affected the separation selectivity. The wide applications of the neutral ODM column were demonstrated by its ability to separate a wide range of small and large solutes, both neutral and charged. While the separation of the neutral solutes was based on RP retention mechanism, the charged solutes were separated on the basis of their electrophoretic mobility and hydrophobic interaction with the C18 ligands of the stationary phase. As a typical result, the neutral monolithic column was able to separate peptides quite rapidly with a separation efficiency of nearly 200,000 plates/m, and this efficiency was exploited in tryptic peptide mapping of standard proteins, e. g., lysozyme and cytochrome C, by isocratic elution.     

Polyacrylamide-based monolithic capillary column with coating of cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl-carbamate) for enantiomer separation in capillary electrochromatography

A hydrophilic chiral capillary monolithic column for enantiomer separation in CEC was prepared by coating cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl-carbamate) (CDMPC) on porous hydrophilic poly(acrylamide-co-N,N'-methylene-bisacrylamide) (poly(AA-co-MBA)) monolithic matrix with confine of a fused-silica capillary. The coating conditions were optimized to obtain a stable and reproducible chiral stationary phase for CEC. The effect of organic modifier of ACN in aqueous mobile phase for the enantiomer separation by CEC was investigated, and the significant influence of ACN on the enantioresolution and electrochromatographic retention was observed. Twelve pairs of enantiomers including acidic, neutral, and basic analytes were tested and nine pairs of them were baseline-enantioresolved with acidic and basic aqueous mobile phases. A good within-column repeatability in retention time (RSD = 2.4%) and resolution (RSD = 3.2%) was obtained by consecutive injections of a neutral compound, benzoin, on a prepared chiral monolithic column, while the between-column repeatability in retention time (RSD = 6.4%) and resolution (RSD = 9.6%) was observed by column-to-column examination. The prepared monolithic stationary phase showed good stability in either acidic or basic mobile phase.     

Capillary electrochromatography-mass spectrometry of cationic surfactants

The CEC-MS of alkyltrimethylammonium (ATMA+) ions with chain lengths ranging from C1-C18 is optimized using an internally tapered column packed with mixed mode reversed phase/strong cation exchange stationary phase. A systematic study of the CEC separation parameters is conducted followed by evaluation of the ESI-MS sheath liquid and spray chamber settings. First, the optimization of CEC separation parameters are performed including the ACN concentration, triethylamine (TEA) content, buffer pH and ammonium acetate concentration. Using 90% v/v ACN with 0.04% v/v TEA as mobile phase, the separation of longer chain C6-C18-TMA+ surfactants could be achieved in 15 min. Lowering the ACN concentration to 70% v/v provided resolution of shorter chain C1, C2-TMA+ from C6-TMA+ although the total analysis time increased to 40 min. Furthermore, variation of both the ACN and TEA content as well as ionic strength has found to significantly influence the retention of longer chain surfactants as compared to shorter chains. The optimum CEC conditions are 70% v/v ACN, 0.04% v/v TEA, pH 3.0 and 15 mM ammonium acetate. Next, the optimization of the ESI-MS sheath liquid composition is conducted comparing methanol to isopropanol followed by the use of experimental design for analysis of spray chamber parameters. Overall, the developed CEC-ESI-MS method allows quantitative and sensitive monitoring of ATMA+ from < or =10 microg/mL down to 10 ng/mL. Utilizing the optimized CEC-ESI-MS protocol, the challenging analysis of commercial sample Arquad S-50 ATMA+ containing cis-trans unsaturated and saturated soyabean fatty acid derivatives is demonstrated.     

Chiral separation of amides of amino acid on a (S)‐N‐(3,5‐dinitrobenzoyl)leucine‐N‐phenyl‐N‐propylamide‐bonded silica using nonaqueous capillary electrochromatography

(S)‐N‐(3,5‐dinitrobenzoyl)leucine‐N‐phenyl‐N‐propylamine‐bonded silica was used as a chiral stationary phase for separation of a set of racemic π‐acidic and π‐basic α‐amino acid amides in electrolyteless ACN‐water eluents by CEC in the RP and polar organic (PO) modes. The effect of the amount of water in the ACN‐water eluent on chiral separation was examined. As water is added to ACN, retention was shortened but resolution and selectivity deteriorated severely. Retention, enantioselectivity, and resolution factors obtained in 100% ACN were compared with those in an n‐hexane‐isopropanol eluent with a small amount of water by normal phase (NP) CEC. Much shorter retention times with comparable enantioselectivities were observed with 100% ACN, demonstrating the advantage of separation on (S)‐N‐(DNB)leucine‐N‐phenyl‐N‐propylamine‐bonded silica in PO‐CEC over NP‐CEC.     

Evaluation of polymeric methacrylate-based monoliths in capillary electrochromatography for their potential to separate pharmaceutical compounds

Polymeric methacrylate-based monoliths are evaluated in capillary electrochromatography (CEC) and pressurized capillary electrochromatography (p-CEC) for their potential in pharmaceutical analysis. Using a given polymerization mixture as a basis for the monolith synthesis, different mobile phase pH at constant organic modifier concentrations are tested in both CEC and p-CEC. The test set consists of basic, acidic, amphoteric, and neutral compounds, which are mainly pharmaceuticals. Because of the mainly hydrophobic character of the stationary phase, the interactions are largest when the compounds appear in an uncharged state, but some ion-exchange phenomena with negatively charged compounds can also be observed. In CEC, acidic substances are most retained at low pH. For amphoteric and neutral compounds, no preference regarding analyzing pH can be derived from these experiments. For basics, a high pH is chosen, but a reduced solvent strength is needed to enhance the retention of these compounds. The retention mechanism in p-CEC can also be assigned to both hydrophobic and ionic interactions. For acidic, amphoteric, and neutral compounds, acceptable retention is seen. For the basic compounds, the retention with a mobile phase containing 50% organic modifier is low, as in CEC. However, when the organic modifier content in the mobile phase is decreased, retention increases and the selectivity of the stationary phase is more pronounced. This mode of operation presents a possibility for separating some test mixtures, thus some potential for pharmaceutical analysis is seen. More efforts are needed to obtain higher efficiencies and better peak shapes, which might be solved by a further optimization of both the stationary phase synthesis and the mobile phase composition.     

Chromatographic behaviour of peptides on a mixed-mode stationary phase with an embedded charged group by capillary electrochromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography

Retention behaviour of biological peptides was investigated on a stationary phase bearing an embedded quaternary ammonium group in a C21 alkyl chain by both high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrochromatography (CEC). In HPLC experiments, variation of acetonitrile (ACN) content in the mobile phase showed that peptides are mainly separated by RP mechanism. The weak or negative retention factors observed as compared to C18 silica stationary phase suggested the involvement of an electrostatic repulsion phenomenon in acidic conditions. Comparison of HPLC and CEC studies indicated that (i) ion-exclusion phenomenon is more pronounced in HPLC and (ii) higher ACN percentage in mobile phase induce for some peptides an increase of retention in CEC, pointing out the existence of mechanisms of retention other than partitioning mainly involved in chromatographic process. This comparative study demonstrated the critical role of electric field on peptide retention in CEC and supports the solvatation model of hydrolytic pillow proposed by Szumski and Buszewski for CEC using mixed mode stationary phase in CEC.     

Separation of basic and acidic compounds by capillary electrochromatography using monolithic silica capillary columns with zwitterionic stationary phase

A novel monolithic silica column with zwitterionic stationary phase was prepared by in-situ covalent attachment of phenylalanine to a 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane-modified silica monolith. Due to the zwitterionic nature of the resulting stationary phase, the density and sign of the net surface charge, and accordingly the direction and magnitude of electroosmotic flow in this column during capillary electrochromatography could be manipulated by adjusting the pH values of the mobile phase. CEC separations of various acidic and basic compounds were performed on the prepared column in anodic and weakly cathodic EOF modes, respectively. The peak tailing of basic compounds in CEC on a silica column could be alleviated at optimized buffer compositions. Besides the electrophoretic mechanism and weak hydrophobic interaction, weak cation- and anion-exchange interactions are also involved in the separations of acids and bases, respectively, on the zwitterionic column.     

Chemically L-prolinamide-modified monolithic silica column for enantiomeric separation of dansyl amino acids and hydroxy acids by capillary electrochromatography and mu-high performance liquid chromatography

A silica-based chiral monolithic column prepared by sol-gel process and chemical modification of chiral selector was used for enantioseparation of dansyl amino acids and hydroxy acids by capillary electrochromatography (CEC) and mu-high-performance liquid chromatography (mu-HPLC). L-Prolinamide was modified as a chiral selector. The chiral stationary phase (CSP), the chiral complex of Cu(II) with L-prolinamide, provides an anodic electroosmotic flow (EOF) in CEC. The EOF was found to be dependent on applied electric field strength, the pH, and the composition of mobile phases. Scanning electron micrograph showed that monolithic columns have the morphology of continuous skeleton and large through-pore. D-Enantiomers migrated before L-enantiomers except for dansyl-(Dns)-DL-Ser. The separation efficiencies of up to 17600 (D) and 13,200 plates m(-1) (L) were achieved for the separation of DL-indole-3-lactic acid.     

Dipyridyl‐immobilized ionic liquid type hybrid silica monolith for hydrophilic interaction electrochromatography

A pyridinium‐based immobilized ionic liquid type multifunctional hybrid silica monolith was prepared by the in situ polymerization of 3‐chloropropyl‐silica matrix and 4,4′‐dipyridyl for hydrophilic interaction CEC. The obtained hybrid monolith possessed of high stable skeletal microstructures with obviously hydrophilic retention mechanism under ACN content >50% in the mobile phase. Strong and stable anodic EOF could be observed under a broad pH range from pH 3.0 to 9.0. Due to the immobilized dipyridyl groups bonded to the silica matrix surface, the resulting hydrophilic hybrid monolith possessed multiple separation interactions including hydrogen bond, π–π, and anion exchange. Excellent separations of various polar analytes including electroneutral phenols, charged acid nucleotides, and basic analytes were successfully achieved. The highest column efficiencies up to 120 000, 164 000, and 106 000 plates/m were obtained for nucleotides, nucleic acid bases, and nucleosides and nicotines, respectively. These results demonstrated that the dipyridyl‐immobilized ionic liquid functionalized hybrid monolith possessed highly mechanical stability and good chromatographic performance for hydrophilic interaction electrochromatography.     

Preparation and characterization of grafted imprinted monolith for capillary electrochromatography

In this paper, a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) coating grafted to a trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) core material for CEC was reported. The core monolith was prepared with a solution of 20% (w/w) TRIM in a mixture of porogen and a polymerization precursor, which can generate a stable electroosmotic flow due to the formation of ionizable groups after postpolymerization hydrolization. Graft polymerization took place on the resultant TRIM monolith with a mixture of template, methacrylic acid, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate. Strong recognition ability (selectivity factor was 5.83) for S‐amlodipine and resolution of enatiomers separation (up to 7.99) were obtained on the resulting grafted imprinted monolith in CEC mode. The influence of CEC conditions on chiral separation, including the composition of mobile phase, pH value, and the operating voltages was studied. These results suggest that the method of grafted polymerization reported here allows a rapid development of MIP monolith once core materials with desired properties are available, and is a good alternative to prepare CEC‐based monolithic MIPs.