Purification of compounds from Lignum Dalbergia Odorifera using two-dimensional preparative chromatography with Click oligo (ethylene glycol) and C18 column

Purification of compounds from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) is an important task for understanding the chemical composition of TCMs. However, it is difficult to obtain compounds with high enough purity for identification by NMR due to the complexity of TCMs in chemical composition. In this study, a two‐dimensional purification method based on a Click oligo (ethylene glycol) column and a C18 column was developed to realize an orthogonal separation in preparative level for purifying compounds efficiently. The first dimensional preparation was performed on a Click oligo (ethylene glycol) column to simplify the sample into the fractions with good separation repeatability. On the first dimension, 7.2 g sample was separated into 11 fractions with a recovery of 86% within 6 h. A C18 column was taken as the second dimension to realize the high‐performance separation and rapid preparation from the fractions collected from the first dimension. Eight compounds in fraction 6 and 2 compounds in fraction 8 were isolated and identified after optimizing the separation and collection parameters. This method is a high‐efficient and orthogonal preparation method to improve the separation of a complex sample and increase the purity of the compounds, which benefits from the application of novel materials in the preparation and purification.     

Selective separation of structure-related alkaloids in Rhizoma coptidis with "click" binaphthyl stationary phase and their structural elucidation with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

It is a new task to separate structure-related compounds into a fraction according to their structural characteristics in a complex traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). This method makes separation of the components of the sample simple and structural elucidation easy. In this study, selective separation of alkaloids in Rhizoma coptidis was realized on a "click" binaphthyl column possessing a planar conjugate structure. Three kinds of alkaloids, aporphine, tetrahydroprotoberberine and protoberberine in Rhizoma coptidis showed better retention than other compounds by virtue of π-π interactions with the stationary phase. Moreover, the "click" binaphthyl column could distinguish the aporphine and tetrahydroprotoberberine alkaloids possessing two benzene rings from the protoberberine alkaloids possessing three benzene rings. After separating on the "click" binaphthyl column, the fractions containing the alkaloids were collected and then analyzed with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Totally, 23 alkaloids were identified, and among these alkaloids, three tetrahydroprotoberberine, two aporphine and seven protoberberine alkaloids were first found in Rhizoma coptidis. These newly found alkaloids are minor compounds, and they are always neglected without eliminating the interference of compounds in large amounts by pre-separation on the "click" binaphthyl column. The typical fragmentation pathways of each class of alkaloids were summarized to illustrate their structures. In the MS(2) spectrum, the loss of a molecule of dimethylamine ((CH(3))(2)NH) was observed as the characteristic loss of aporphine alkaloids. All the tetrahydroprotoberberine alkaloids would undergo the Retro-Diels-Alder (RDA) fragmentation reaction in the MS(2) fragmentation. For protoberberine alkaloids, different characteristic fragmentations were observed with different skeleton structures.     

Highly selective separation of aminoglycoside antibiotics on a zwitterionic Click TE‐Cys column

Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography has emerged as a valuable alternative approach to ion‐pair chromatography for the separation of aminoglycoside antibiotics in recent years. However, the resolution of structurally related aminoglycosides is a great challenge owing to the limited selectivity. In this work, a cysteine‐based zwitterionic stationary phase (named Click TE‐Cys) was utilized and compared with five commonly used hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography columns. Click TE‐Cys displayed much better selectivity for structurally similar aminoglycosides. The retention behaviors of aminoglycosides were investigated in detail, revealing that low pH (2.7 or 3.0) and high buffer concentration (≥50 mM) were preferable for achieving good peak shape and selectivity. Effective resolution of ten aminoglycosides including spectinomycin, dihydrostreptomycin, streptomycin, gentamicin C1, gentamicin C2/C2a, gentamicin C1a, kanamycin, paromonycin, tobramycin, and neomycin was realized at optimized conditions. Additionally, spectinomycin and its related impurities were successfully resolved. The results indicated the great potential of the Click TE‐Cys column in the separation of aminoglycoside mixtures and related impurities.     

Recent development in capillary ion chromatography technology

This review summarizes the development of capillary ion chromatography (CIC) over approximately the last 5 years. It mainly focuses on the technologic aspects of several key components associated with CIC, including micropump, microscale electrodialytic eluent generator, microscale suppressor and the detector.      

Characterization of the surface properties of Mg/Al oxides by the solvation parameter model

The oxides of different Mg/Al ratios (Mg/Al = 0, 0.1, 5, 10 and infinity) were prepared, and the characterization of these oxides was attempted by estimating characteristic interaction parameters based on the solvation parameter model. The magnitudes of the regression coefficients varied with the increase of Mg/Al ratio. For the oxide of Mg/Al = 0.1 and Al2O3, the contribution of these characteristic interactions for solutes' retention was similar to that of the common silica, and the dipolarity/polarizability (pi*), the solute hydrogen bond donating (alpha2(H)) and accepting (beta2(H)) abilities played an important role. Yet, the retention behavior at a higher Mg/Al ratio (Mg/Al = 5, 10 and MgO) drastically changes, and V(i)/100 (the intrinsic molar volume), pi*, alpha2(H) and beta2(H) all favored the solutes retention. By comparison of the regression coefficients on various normal-phase (NP) and reversed-phase (RP) columns, a new model was developed to correlate the solute retention factors on Mg/Al = 5, 10 and MgO columns with the data of NP and RP columns.     

Development and application of a sol-gel immunosorbent-based method for the determination of isoproturon in surface water

An immunosorbent was fabricated by encapsulation of monoclonal anti-isoproturon antibodies in sol-gel matrix. The immunosorbent-based loading, rinsing and eluting processes were optimized. Based on these optimizations, the sol-gel immunosorbent (SG-IS) selectively extracted isoproturon from an artificial mixture of 68 pesticides. In addition to this high selectivity, the SG-IS proved to be reusable. The SG-IS was combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) to determine isoproturon in surface water, and the linear range was up to 2.2 microg/l with correlation coefficient higher than 0.99 and relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 5% (n=8). The limit of quantitation (LOQ) for 25-ml surface water sample was 5 ng/l.     

TEMPO/HCl/NaNO2 catalyst: a transition-metal-free approach to efficient aerobic oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes and ketones under mild conditions

Hydrochloric acid, a very inexpensive and readily available inorganic acid, has been found to cooperate exquisitely with NaNO(2)/TEMPO in catalyzing the molecular-oxygen-driven oxidation of a broad range of alcohol substrates to the corresponding aldehydes and ketones. This transition-metal-free catalytic oxidative conversion is novel and represents an interesting alternative route to the corresponding carbonyl compounds to the metal-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of alcohols. The reaction is highly selective with respect to the desired product when carried out at room temperature in air at atmospheric pressure. Notably, the use of very inexpensive NaNO(2) and HCl in combination with TEMPO for this highly selective aerobic oxidation of alcohols in air at ambient temperature makes the reaction operationally and economically very attractive. The results of mechanistic studies, performed with the aid of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), are presented and discussed. TEMPO, TEMPOH, and TEMPO(+) were observed in the redox cycle by means of ESI-MS. On the basis of these observations, a mechanism is proposed that may provide an insight into the newly developed aerobic alcohol oxidation.     

Polar-copolymerized approach based on horizontal polymerization on silica surface for preparation of polar-modified stationary phases

A new approach for preparation of polar-modified reversed-phase liquid chromatography stationary phases was developed by using horizontal polymerization technique on silica surface, which was defined as “polar-copolymerized” approach. Based on this new approach, a representative polar-copolymerized stationary phase composed of mixed n-octadecyl and chloropropyl (C18–C3Cl) was synthesized. The resulting stationary phase named C18HCE was characterized with elemental analysis and solid phase ¹³C and ²⁹Si NMR, which proved the chemistry of polar-copolymerized stationary phases. Chromatographic evaluation and application of the C18HCE were also investigated. The results of preliminary chromatographic evaluation demonstrated that the C18HCE stationary phase exhibited 100% aqueous mobile phase compatibility, low silanol activity. In addition, the application results demonstrated that the C18HCE had superior separation performance in alkaloids separation at acidic conditions compared to some commercial stationary phases.     

Systematic screening and characterization of tertiary and quaternary alkaloids from corydalis yanhusuoW.T. Wang using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) is an effective technique for analysis of complex samples with offering rapid, efficient separation in combination with accurate mass measurement and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). This paper exploits this technique to identify the alkaloids in corydalis yanhusuo, an important antalgic Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The mass spectral fragmentation behavior of one tertiary alkaloid and two quaternary alkaloids was studied in detail. Low-abundance product ions of tertiary and quaternary alkaloids were investigated and compared between each other. Sixteen alkaloids were screened out by using a systematic screening method developed in our laboratory; structures of eight therein were identified by characteristic UV absorption spectrum and positive ion mode of Q-TOF-MS/MS; and two of them were discovered for the first time in corydalis yanhusuo to our knowledge. This research demonstrates the potential of UPLC-Q-TOF-MS in structural characterization and identification of components in traditional Chinese herbal medicines.     

高效液相色谱-串联质谱法分析姜黄中微量的姜黄素类化合物

建立了同时检测中药姜黄中3种微量的姜黄素类化合物的高效液相色谱-电喷雾串联质谱分析方法。姜黄根茎经乙醇超声提取后,无需其他处理可直接进样分析。以Microsorb C18色谱柱(250 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm)分离,乙腈和0.1%甲酸水梯度洗脱,在多反应监测模式(MRM)下对目标成分进行定性分析。利用质谱碎裂规律,分别对每个目标成分同时监测8个母离子/特征子离子对的反应过程,首次从姜黄中发现了3个微量的姜黄素类化合物成分。一次性完成了目标成分的同时定性,方法的检出限为0.2 μg/L。结果表明,该方法具有简便、快速、准确、灵敏度高的优点,适用于中药复杂体系中姜黄素类化合物的分析检测。