On-line sample treatment—capillary gas chromatography

Summary Sample pretreatment is often the bottleneck of a tracelevel analytical procedure. In order to increase performance, increasing attention is therefore being devoted to combining sample pretreatment on-line with the separation technique that has to be used. In the present review, a variety of procedures in use today for sample treatment coupled on-line to capillary gas chromatography (GC) is briefly discussed. Special attention is devoted to coupled-column techniques such as SPE-GC and LC-GC (SPE, solid-phase extraction; LC, column liquid chromatography) which are topics of much current interest, also because of their frequent use in so-called hyphenated systems.     

The role of the sample standard deviation in the analysis of measurement data

This paper builds on recent letters to the editor to consider different ways in which the ‘sample standard deviation’ of a set of repeated measurements might be used in the expression of accuracy or uncertainty. A distinction is made between using the sample standard deviation, s, to calculate a figure of merit for the measurement procedure and using s to express uncertainty in the estimate of a measurand. In particular, we consider whether s should be adjusted for bias. It is shown that most procedures involving s are valid without the application of any such adjustment. The paper emphasizes the importance of clear definitions and an unambiguous statement of purpose, and also emphasizes the need for a distinction in notation between a random variable and its observed value.     

An on‐line sample pretreatment technique for the HPLC analysis of plant samples

A continuous‐flow, on‐line sample pretreatment technique using a silica gel microsyringe extractor has been developed. All steps including extraction, separation, clean‐up, and concentration occur in the microsyringe. The overall sample pretreatment process takes <10 min per sample. Different polarity chemicals in the plant sample are successively extracted and separated, and analyzed in parallel using HPLC–UV and HPLC–UV–MS/MS. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, alkylphenols, and plant hormones were determined as model compounds for nonpolar, intermediate polarity, and polar fractions, respectively. All the parameters that influence the extraction and separation efficiency of the microsyringe extractor have been optimized and evaluated. Under the optimized conditions, recoveries of target compounds ranged from 78.4 to 101.9%, the RSD was <12.8% and the square of the correlation coefficient was >0.99. Complex plant samples of Sambucus Mandshurica Kitag have been tested using this method. Fluorene, phenanthrene, pyrene, and plant hormones were detected in all the samples, and concentrations ranged from 24.2–34.9, 43.8–67.1, 25.9–29.2, and 14.5～110.8 ng/g, respectively.     

Off-line Coupling of Isotachophoresis and High Performance Liquid Chromatography for Determination of Flavonoids in Plant Extract

Summary The use of isotachophoretic sample pretreatment coupled with high performance liquid chromatography for the analysis of some flavonoids occurring in plant extracts of Hypericum perforatum and Crataegus sp. is described. The samples were extracted with methanol by means of sonication in low temperature. The optimal leading electrolyte was used 10 mM Cl^– as a leading ion in a buffer system at apparent pH^*=7.2 (adjusted by TRIS) and terminating electrolyte was 50 mM boric acid at apparent pH^*=8.2 (adjusted by barium hydroxide). The ITP electrolytes contained 20% (v/v) of methanol. To improve the sample pre-treatment, a pair of discrete ITP spacers defining the trapped constituents was used. Major components presented in the extracts were separated on a Discovery C18 and Discovery RP Amid C16 columns with a gradient mobile phase consisting of methanol, acetonitrile and diluted ortho-phosphoric acid. The quantification was performed by using external standards. The recoveries of the coupled ITP-HPLC analytical procedure were in the range of 91.2–95.6%.     

Quantification of imatinib and related compounds using capillary electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry with field-amplified sample stacking

A quantification method for imatinib (IM), its major metabolite N-desmethyl imatinib (NDI), and a degradation by-product was developed using CE–MS combined with an online concentration technique. The use of multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)–MS/MS further improved the sensitivity of this technology. Liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) using tertiary butyl methyl ether yielded high recovery and reproducibility for the pretreatment of serum samples. The recovery rate exceeded 83% for all three analytes, and was 90% for IM. To improve quantification results, a conductivity-induced online analyte concentration technique, field-amplified sample stacking (FASS), was used. The S/N ratios were improved at least 10-fold when compared with conventional capillary zone electrophoresis. The detection limits were 0.2 ng/mL for IM, 0.4 ng/mL for NDI, and 4 ng/mL for the degradation by-product. These results are superior to those previously obtained by other reported methods. The new method was validated in terms of its selectivity, intra- and interday repeatability and accuracy, and sample storage stability, following the guidelines issued by the European Medicines Agency. Considering the convenient pretreatment procedure (LLE), superior sensitivity, and fast analysis speed (<15 min), this method can be useful in the determination of imatinib levels in blood.     

Fast throughput, highly sensitive determination of allergenic disperse dyes in textile products by use of sample composition

A simple, highly sensitive and fast procedure for the control of allergenic disperse dyes in textile products was optimized. The method is based on ultrasound assisted extraction of textile samples with 20 mL of methanol under controlled conditions (15 min, 70 °C) followed by separation and analysis by LC-MS-MS. The sample preparation process was optimized by means of a surface response experimental design and provided quantitative recoveries of dyes, much better than the poor recoveries provided by current standard procedures. The chromatographic separation was optimized by means of computer-assisted method development by use of a special chemometric tool developed specifically for LC-MS systems, as previously reported by the authors. The result is a rapid chromatographic procedure that enables accurate quantification, at very low concentrations, of all 23 allergenic and/or carcinogenic disperse dyes considered. Matrix effects in the LC-MS procedure were studied. Under the experimental conditions, both conventional and strategic sample composition are proposed as efficient procedures that reduce the costs and work involved in the control of allergenic dyes in finished textile products. The benefits of strategic sample composition are demonstrated by means of an example case study, and the pros and cons of preparing the composite samples from sample extracts or directly from textile products are discussed.     

Critical evaluation of sample pretreatment techniques

Sample preparation before chromatographic separation is the most time-consuming and error-prone part of the analytical procedure. Therefore, selecting and optimizing an appropriate sample preparation scheme is a key factor in the final success of the analysis, and the judicious choice of an appropriate procedure greatly influences the reliability and accuracy of a given analysis. The main objective of this review is to critically evaluate the applicability, disadvantages, and advantages of various sample preparation techniques. Particular emphasis is placed on extraction techniques suitable for both liquid and solid samples. Figure Miniaturised extraction techniques allow sensitive analysis of also small sample volumes.     

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.     

On-line sample preconcentration of cationic analytes by dynamic pH junction in capillary electrophoresis

To improve detection sensitivity of cationic analytes, a dynamic pH junction technique was examined. Dynamic pH junction is an on-line focusing method in capillary electrophoresis (CE) based on the difference in the analyte's mobility between the background electrolyte (BGE) and sample matrix. The effects of pH values and concentrations of the BGE and the sample matrix on dynamic pH junction were examined. Optimization of analyte focusing resulted in enhanced detection responses of about 100-160-fold in terms of peak heights for some anilines in comparison to conventional injections. In particular, the concentration limits of detection (LOD) (S/N = 3) for the test anilines obtained with dynamic pH junction were from 1.9 to 3.7 ppb with UV detection without any pretreatment procedure.     

imFASP: An integrated approach combining in-situ filter-aided sample pretreatment with microwave-assisted protein digestion for fast and efficient proteome sample preparation

An integrated sample preparation method, termed “imFASP”, which combined in-situ filter-aided sample pretreatment and microwave-assisted trypsin digestion, was developed for preparation of microgram and even nanogram amounts of complex protein samples with high efficiency in 1 h. For imFASP method, proteins dissolved in 8 M urea were loaded onto a filter device with molecular weight cut off (MWCO) as 10 kDa, followed by in-situ protein preconcentration, denaturation, reduction, alkylation, and microwave-assisted tryptic digestion. Compared with traditional in-solution sample preparation method, imFASP method generated more protein and peptide identifications (IDs) from preparation of 45 μg Escherichia coli protein sample due to the higher efficiency, and the sample preparation throughput was significantly improved by 14 times (1 h vs. 15 h). More importantly, when the starting amounts of E. coli cell lysate decreased to nanogram level (50–500 ng), the protein and peptide identified by imFASP method were improved at least 30% and 44%, compared with traditional in-solution preparation method, suggesting dramatically higher peptide recovery of imFASP method for trace amounts of complex proteome samples. All these results demonstrate that the imFASP method developed here is of high potential for high efficient and high throughput preparation of trace amounts of complex proteome samples.     

Digestion of biological materials using the microwave-assisted sample combustion technique

In this study a procedure for sample digestion based on sample combustion assisted by microwave radiation is proposed. Combustion is started by microwave radiation in the presence of oxygen under pressure using ammonium nitrate as aid for ignition. The system was adapted in a microwave oven with quartz closed vessels. A quartz piece is used simultaneously as a sample holder and as protection to the cap of quartz vessel from the flame generated in the combustion process. Sample was pressed into a pellet and placed on a disc paper in the holder and 50 μl of 50% m/v ammonium nitrate solution was added. The influence of the absorption solution (diluted and concentrated nitric acid or water) on the recoveries for Cu and Zn was evaluated. About 3 s of microwave irradiation was necessary to start the combustion. The combustion process was evaluated in relation to the influence of sample mass on the ignition time, combustion time and maximum operation pressure. Bovine liver, milk powder and oyster tissue certified reference materials were used to evaluate the accuracy of the procedure for determination of copper and zinc. Good agreement for zinc (96% to 103%) was obtained from bovine liver certified reference material when microwave combustion and microwave combustion followed by reflux were used to sample decomposition, even if water was used for absorption of analyte. For copper, the combustion followed by reflux of 5 min allows an agreement from 96% to 100%. Similar results were obtained for oyster tissue samples. However, for milk powder good agreement close to 100% was obtained only if 4 mol l^− 1 HNO₃ was used with a reflux step. Results from the proposed procedure were also compared to those from conventionally used procedures for biological samples decomposition, such as wet digestion in open vessels and microwave-assisted digestion in closed vessels. The advantages of this procedure include the complete sample decomposition in less time than other procedures and the acid consumption was always lower than 2%. Another advantage is the low residual carbon content, less of 1.4% without reflux and less than 0.3% with the reflux step and the possibility of use of diluted acid as absorbing solution. Moreover, the new holder allows an effective protection of the vessel cap to burnt high masses.     

A microchip device to enhance free flow electrophoresis using controllable pinched sample injections

Micro free flow electrophoresis (µFFE) is a valuable technique capable of high throughput rapid microscale electrophoretic separation along with mild operating conditions. However, the stream flow separation nature of free flow electrophoresis affects its separation performance with additional stream broadening due to sample stream deflection. To reduce stream broadening and enhance separation performance of µFFE, we presented a simple microfluidic device that enables injection bandwidth control. A pinched injection was formed in the reported µFFE system using operating buffer at sample flow rate ratio (r) setting. Initial bandwidth at the entrance of separation chamber can be shrunk from 800 to 30 µm when r increased from 1 to 256. Stream broadening at the exit of separation chamber can be reduced by about 96% when r increased from 4 to 128, according to both theoretical and experimental results. Moreover, the separation resolution for a dye mixture was enhanced by a factor of 4 when r increased from 16 to 128, which corresponded to an 80% reduction in sample initial bandwidth. Furthermore, a similar enhancement on amino acids separation was obtained by using injection control in the reported µFFE device and readily integrated into online/offline sample preparation and/or downstream analysis procedures.     

Lab-on-valve in the miniaturization of analytical systems and sample processing for metal analysis

In the past decade, the lab-on-valve (LOV) system, as the third-generation of the flow-injection analysis technique, has exhibited powerful capability in instrument miniaturization and on-line sample pretreatment.This review presents and discusses the state of the art in the progress of the LOV system in the determination of metal species in two parts:

•

miniaturization of analytical instrumentations; and,

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sample-processing front-ends.

As a miniaturized analytical set-up, LOV incorporates detection techniques for the determination of metal species (e.g., spectrophotometry, electrochemical detection and atomic spectrometry). However, coupling LOV sample pretreatment with atomic or mass spectrometric detectors provides high-sensitivity determination or speciation of metal species.We also discuss future perspectives of the LOV system in metal determination and/or speciation.     

用于提取外周血DNA微流控样品预处理芯片的研制

基于固相萃取原理和微电子机械系统(Micro-Electro-Mechanical System, MEMS)技术研制了一种多孔氧化硅微流控样品预处理芯片, 并利用具有大比表面积的多孔氧化硅作为提取DNA的固相载体, 从而大大提高了DNA的提取产率. 分析了影响DNA提取产率的因素, 改进了芯片制备工艺和DNA提取实验方案, 成功地提取了小鼠外周血DNA, 提取产率为24 ng/(μL全血), 达到商用试剂盒水平. 同时以该DNA作为PCR扩增模板, 扩增效果良好.     

A new procedure for bovine milk digestion in a focused microwave oven: gradual sample addition to pre-heated acid

Milk samples can be efficiently digested using a focused microwave oven, however the conventional procedure of addition of concentrated acids to the liquid sample leads to digestates with elevated acidity and residual carbon concentrations. In this work a focused microwave oven was applied for acid digestion of bovine milk samples using a conventional and an alternative procedure based on gradual sample addition to hot and concentrated acids. A two-level 2³ full factorial design experiment with eight runs was carried out to evaluate the optimum experimental conditions for reducing both the residual carbon and the final acidity of digestates. The three studied parameters were: temperature of the digestion medium for sample addition, addition of sulfuric acid before the sample or during the first step, and number of aliquots of the sample gradually added. The best conditions were attained by adding small aliquots of milk (ten-fold a volume of 0.5 ml added during 5.0 min) to a digestion mixture containing 3.0 ml nitric acid plus 1.0 ml sulfuric acid heated at 105 °C. It was demonstrated that the digestion efficiency of the alternative procedure was better than the conventional procedure, i.e. 98 and 80%, respectively. The alternative procedure was applied for determination of Ba, Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Na, P, and Zn in whole and non-fat bovine milk. The accuracy was proved using two certified reference materials (whole and non-fat milk powder).     

On the influence of the solute sample size on temperature-programmed retention indices

The effect of the solute sample size on the measurement of temperature-programmed retention indices (I_TP) has been studied on glass capillary columns with different stationary phases, film thicknesses, and temperature programs. The sample capacity of a solute is little affected by the parameters of temperature program, i. e. initial temperature and heating rate. However, it has been found that in a temperature programmed run, allowable sample sizes for high I_TP values are lower than for low I_TP values. About 10 ng of each compound is recommended as the sample size for accurate measurement of I_TP values on commonly used capillary columns.     

Estimation of sample processing uncertainty for chlorpyrifos residue in cucumber

Sample processing is a very important component of uncertainty in analytical results. In order to have reliable results, the laboratory sample should be properly processed to obtain statistically homogenous matrix—before the representative test portions are withdrawn for analysis. The use of ¹⁴C-labeled compound is preferable because the analyte can be quantified without cleanup. The method is based on surface treatment of cucumber with ¹⁴C-chlorpyrifos, determination of ¹⁴C-chlorpyrifos activity in the replicate test portions of different size, and determination of the uncertainty of sample processing.     

Membrane protein and peptide sample handling for MS analysis using a structured MALDI target

Different sample handling methods for hydrophobic proteins and peptides were evaluated in association with the utilization of a structured matrix-assisted laser/desorption ionization (MALDI) target for increased sensitivity. The fluorinated organic solvent hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) was used for the solubilization of both the full-length protein bacteriorhodopsin (BR) and a cyanogen bromide digest thereof, and compared to the performance of the non-ionic detergents octyl--d-glucopyranoside (OG), dodecyl--d-maltoside (DM), and Triton X-100. A concentrating effect was seen when using the structured MALDI plate for BR dissolved in all the different detergents, of which OG generated the best-quality spectra for the full-length integral membrane protein as well as for the hydrophobic peptides. However, the uneven analyte distribution obtained with the detergent preparations required selective and thus time-consuming acquisition of spectra. When instead HFIP was used as sample solvent, a tenfold increase in sensitivity was achieved for full-length BR. Addition of acids to the HFIP-solubilized sample, or to the MALDI matrix solution, improved the signals for a few of the peptides, while degrading the spectra of others. Consequently, the addition of acid could be used as a complementary sample preparation method for hydrophobic peptides. On-target washing to remove contaminants (e.g., salt) was performed, and a recrystallization protocol for signal improvement specifically suited for hydrophobic peptides is described. Results from digestion and solubilization in different micro centrifuge tubes were examined to determine the influence of different materials on the possible sample loss due to wall adhesion. Studies of sample solution storage times suggest immediate analysis after solubilization to obtain best results.     

Development of a novel stirrerliquid/solid microextraction method for the separation and enrichment of trace levels of active compounds in traditional Chinese medicine

A novel stirrer‐liquid/solid microextraction method was developed for the separation and enrichment of trace levels of curcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin, and demethoxycurcumin in Rhizoma Curcumae Longae, Radix Curcumae, and Rhizoma Curcumae before their analysis by high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. In the proposed approach, a magnetic stirrer was immersed in decanol to coat its surface completely with decanol, which was used as an extraction platform. The stirrer coated with decanol is not only a power to agitate the sample solution to constantly update the sample on the stirrer surface but also it can adsorb and extract the target analytes. Some effective parameters, including suitable superficial area of stirrer, extraction solvent, sample phase pH, NaCl concentration, stirring rate, extraction time, sample phase volume, were analyzed and selected. Under the optimal conditions, the linearities are 0.0044–2.20 μg/mL, detection limits are 0.3–0.6 ng/mL, and the extraction content per unit length and enrichment factors of the target analytes are 6.24–9.71/mm and 589–917, respectively. Also, the stirrer‐liquid/solid microextraction mechanism for the extraction and enrichment of the target analytes was analyzed and expounded. The results showed that stirrer‐liquid/solid microextraction is a simple, rapid sample pretreatment approach with a high enrichment factor.