High-speed gradient parallel liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry with fully automated sample preparation for bioanalysis: 30 seconds per sample from plasma

In this work, a high-throughput and high-performance bioanalytical system is described that is capable of extracting and analyzing 1152 plasma samples within 10 hours. A Zymark track robot system interfaced with a Tecan Genesis liquid handler was used for simultaneous solid-phase extraction of four 96-well plates in a fully automated fashion. The extracted plasma samples were injected onto four parallel monolithic columns for separation via a four-injector autosampler. The use of monolithic columns allowed for fast and well-resolved separations at a considerably higher flow rate without generating significant column backpressure. This resulted in a total chromatographic run cycle time of 2 min on each 4.6 x 100 mm column using gradient elution. The effluent from the four columns was directed to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an indexed four-probe electrospray ionization source (Micromass MUX interface). Hence, sample extraction, separation, and detection were all performed in a four-channel parallel format that resulted in an overall throughput of about 30 s per sample from plasma. The performance of this system was evaluated by extracting and by analyzing twelve 96-well plates (1152) of human plasma samples spiked with oxazepam at different concentrations. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of analyte sensitivity (slope of calibration curve) across the four channels and across the 12 plates was 5.2 and 6.8%, respectively. An average extraction recovery of 77.6% with a RSD of 7.7% and an average matrix effect of 0.95 with a RSD of 5.2% were achieved using these generic extraction and separation conditions. The good separation efficiency provided by this system allowed for rapid method development of an assay quantifying the drug candidate and its close structural analog metabolite. The method was cross-validated with a conventional liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) assay.     

A sensitive spectrophotometric method for lead determination by flow injection analysis with on-line preconcentration

A new flow injection (FI) system for the determination of Pb(II) at trace level with a preconcentration step and spectrophotometric detection is proposed. It is based on preconcentration of lead ions on chitosan and dithizone-lead complex formation in aqueous medium (pH 9). The chemicals and FIA variables influencing the performance of the system were optimized and applied to the determination of lead in natural, well, and drinking water samples. It is a simple, highly sensitive, and low cost alternative methodology. The method provided a linear rage between 25 and 250 μg l⁻¹, a detection limit of 5.0 ng ml⁻¹ and a sample throughput of 15 h⁻¹. The obtained results of spiked samples are in good agreement between the proposed method and ICP-AES.     

Zur hochspannungselektrophoretischen Trennung anorganischer Ionen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Platinmetalle

Zusammenfassung Die hochspannungselektrophoretische Wanderung der Halogenokomplexe der Platinmetalle und weiterer anorganischer Ionen wird bei Anwendung von Polycarbonsäuren (Oxalsäure, Bernsteinsäure, Apfelsäure, Weinsäure und Zitronensäure) als Elektrolyt untersucht und der Einfluß des p_H-Werts und der Konzentration der Substanzen auf die Wanderung geprüft. Es wird festgestellt, daß die auf die abgestufte Komplexbildungstendenz der Polycarbonsäuren (Zitronensäure > Weinsäure Apfelsäure > Bernsteinsäure) rückführbaren Unterschiede der Wanderungsgeschwindigkeiten für die Trennung anorganischer Gemische gut einzusetzen sind. Für die Chlorokomplexe der Platinmetalle wird eine Abstufung der Beweglichkeiten in der Reihe Ir Pt Os > Rh > > Pd > Ru (> Rh) gefunden.

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The high voltage electrophoretic separation of inorganic ions with special consideration of the platinum metals

Summary The high voltage eleetrophoretic migration of the halogen complexes of the platinum metals and other inorganic ions was studied with the employment of the polycarboxylic acids (oxalic, succinic, malic, tartaric, citric) as electrolyte, and the influence of the p_H-value and the concentration of the substances on the migration investigated. It was found that the differences in the migration velocities, which may be traced back to the graded complex-forming tendency of the polycarboxylic acids (citric > tartaric malic > > succininic) can be used to good advantage in the separation of inorganic mixtures. With respect to the chlorocomplexes of the platinum metals, a decrease in the mobilities was discovered in the series Ir > Pt > Os > > Rh > Pd > Ru (>Rd).

     

Zur hochspannungselektrophoretischen Trennung anorganischer Ionen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Platmmetalle

Zusammenfassung Die hochspannungselektrophoretische Wanderung der Halogenokomplexe der Platinmetalle und einer Reihe weiterer anorganischer Ionen wird mit Nitrilotriessigsäure und Äthylendiamintetraessigsäure als Elektrolyt in Abhängigkeit von verschiedenen Versuchsparametern (Elektrolytkonzentration,ph-Wert und Substanzmenge) untersucht. Die Wanderungsgeschwindigkeiten der verschiedenen Metallionen bzw.-komplexe zeigen charakteristische Abstufungen, die sich mit den für die hochspannungselektrophoretische Wanderung gültigen Gesetzmäßigkeiten erklären lassen. Beispielsweise beobachtet man eine Abnahme der Beweglichkeit bei Ersatz von Chlorid- durch Bromidionen (Masseneinfluß), Auswirkungen der vomph bzw. der Elektrolytkonzentration abhängigen unterschiedlichen Komplexierungen zwei- und dreiwertiger Ionen, Einflüsse der auf Hydrolyse zurückgehenden Änderungen der Ligandenzusammensetzung sowie Unterschiede der Wanderungsgeschwindigkeiten als Folge der Komplexierung mit NTE oder AeDTE.Durch die unter bestimmten Bedingungen erreichbare Abstufung der Beweglichkeiten können verschiedene Gemische, unter anderem auch die Chlorokomplexe der meisten Platinmetalle in der Reihenfolge Ir > Os Pt > Rh Pd > Ru (> Rh), getrennt werden. NTE ist dabei für Trennungen besser als AeDTE geeignet.

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The high tension electrophoretic separation of inorganic ions with special reference to the platinum metals. I

Summary The high tension electrophoretic migration of the halogeno complexes of the platinum metals and several other inorganic ions was investigated with nitrilotriacetic acid and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as electrolytes in relation to the various experimental parameters (electrolyte concentration,ph-value, and amount of substance). The migration velocities of the various metal ions or complexes exhibit characteristic gradations that may be explained on the basis of the regularities that are valid for the high tension electrophoretic migration. Instances are: a decrease was observed in the mobility when chloride was replaced by bromide ions (mass effect), influence of different complexing of di- and trivalent ions that are related to changes in theph or electrolyte concentration, or influences of the changes due to hydrolysis in the composition of the ligands or alterations in the migration rates resulting from complexing with nitrolotriacetic acid or EDTA.The gradation of the mobility obtained under certain conditions are employed as the basis of a procedure for separating various mixtures, including also the chloro complexes of most of the platinum metals in the succession Ir > Os Pt > Rh Pd > Ru (> Rh). It has been found that NTE is better for separations than EDTA.

     

Trans-cis octahedral interconversion pathway in diorganotin compounds

Using structural data from bis(bidentate)diorganotin compounds in the Cambridge Structural Database a potential pathway for trans-cis interconversion is envisaged with nondissociative Sn-donor bonds and retaining metal coordination number 6. C-Sn-C bond angles in the range 180-145° correspond to skewed trapezoid bipyramidal geometry for 6- and 5-membered O,O′ chelates; geometries that resemble the transition state of the trans-cis pathway starts forming at about C-Sn-C 134°. cis-Diorganotins explored in this work have C-Sn-C bond angles in the range 102-110°; it is the statistically favored configuration for diphenyltins. The proposed trans-cis conversion pathway is deduced from a series of geometries associated with decreasing the C-Sn-C bond angle and shows 2 weakly (secondary) bound chelating atoms lengthening their bonds until near the transition state and later strengthening; they end up cis to each other and opposite to the organic groups. Conversely, the other 2 (primary) donors shorten their bonds until the transition state is reached and later lengthen; they end up trans to each other. The entire transformation from trans to cis configuration occurs with relative rotation of 3 bonds.     

Analysis of organic pollutants in water at trace levels using fully automated solid-phase extraction coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary A method has been developed for the determination of trace levels of 32 pesticides, 19 explosives and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in water in three individual steps. Solid-phase enrichment (SPE) is coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a fully automated system. The organic pollutants are enriched on reusable cartridges packed with adsorbent materials: pesticides and explosives on a mixed bed of divinylbenzene-ethylvinylbenzene copolymers (LiChrolut EN^?) and perfluorinated polyethylene (PolyF^?), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on C₁₈-modified silica (Zorbax^? ODS1). Thermally assisted desorption (TAD) has been shown to increase the recovery of analytes significantly. As all enriched analytes are transferred to the detector, only fifty millilitres of sample is needed for each single on-line analysis, compared with at least a litre for conventional methods. The separation of the enriched organic analytes is performed on specialized HPLC columns based on reversed-phase materials. The limits of detection of the system employed were found to be below 100 ng L⁻¹. Use of fluorescence detection for the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons resulted in limits of detection in the upper pg L⁻¹ range. Thek values, number of theoretical plates, the recovery rates and the limits of detection of this method for fast screening of organic pollutants from three fifty-millilitre aqueous samples are described. Presented at the 21^st ISC held in Stuttgart, Germany, 15^th–20^th September, 1996     

Influence of temperature on the behaviour of small linear peptides in capillary electrochromatography

The influence of temperature, T, on the retention times, peak widths, peak symmetry coefficients and theoretical plate numbers of two small linear peptides, [Met5]enkephalin and [Leu5]enkephalin, has been studied with capillary electrochromatography (CEC) capillary columns of 100 microm I.D. and 250 mm packed length with a total length of 335 mm, containing 3 microm Hypersil n-octadecyl bonded silica. With increasing column temperature from 15 to 60 degrees C, the electroosmotic flow (EOF) and the column efficiencies increased, whereas the retention coefficients (Kcec) of both peptides decreased. A linear relationship was found between the EOF value and the square root of the temperature over this temperature range, with a linear regression correlation of 0.998. Non linear Van 't Hoff plots (In Kcec versus 1/T) were observed for these peptides between 15 and 60 degrees C, suggesting that a phase-transition occurred with the n-octadecyl chains bonded on the silica surface, affecting the CEC retention behaviour of these peptides. In CEC systems, the Kcec values of peptides incorporate contributions from both electrophoretic migration and chromatographic retention. Positive and negative Kcec values can, in principle, thus arise with these charged analytes. However, the Kcec values of the enkephalin peptides under all temperature conditions studied were positive with an eluent composed of water-50 mM NH4OAc/AcOH, pH 5.2-acetonitrile (5:2:3, v/v) and therefore the chromatographic component dominates the retention process with these small peptides under these conditions.     

Synthesis and structures of monomeric magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium amides involving the N,N-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)(trimethylsilyl)amido ligand

An extended family of aryl-substituted alkaline earth metal silylamides M{N(2,4,6-Me3C6H2)(SiMe3)}donor(n) was prepared using alkane elimination (Mg), salt elimination (Ca, Sr, Ba), and direct metalation (Sr, Ba). Three different donors, THF, TMEDA (TMEDA = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine), and PMDTA (PMDTA = N,N,N',N',N'-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine) were employed to study their influence on the coordination chemistry of the target compounds, producing monomeric species with the composition M{N(2,4,6-Me3C6H2)(SiMe3)}2(THF)2 (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba), M{N(2,4,6-Me3C6H2)(SiMe3)}2TMEDA (M = Ca, Ba), and M{N(2,4,6-Me3C6H2)(SiMe3)}2PMDTA (M = Sr, Ba). For the heavier metal analogues, varying degrees of agostic interactions are completing the coordination sphere of the metals. Compounds were characterized using IR and NMR spectroscopy in addition to X-ray crystallography.     

The formyloxyl radical: electrophilicity,C–H bond activation and anti-Markovnikov selectivity in the oxidation of aliphatic alkenes

In the past the formyloxyl radical, HC(O)O˙, had only been rarely experimentally observed, and those studies were theoretical-spectroscopic in the context of electronic structure. The absence of a convenient method for the preparation of the formyloxyl radical has precluded investigations into its reactivity towards organic substrates. Very recently, we discovered that HC(O)O˙ is formed in the anodic electrochemical oxidation of formic acid/lithium formate. Using a [Co^IIIW₁₂O₄₀]⁵⁻ polyanion catalyst, this led to the formation of phenyl formate from benzene. Here, we present our studies into the reactivity of electrochemically in situ generated HC(O)O˙ with organic substrates. Reactions with benzene and a selection of substituted derivatives showed that HC(O)O˙ is mildly electrophilic according to both experimentally and computationally derived Hammett linear free energy relationships. The reactions of HC(O)O˙ with terminal alkenes significantly favor anti-Markovnikov oxidations yielding the corresponding aldehyde as the major product as well as further oxidation products. Analysis of plausible reaction pathways using 1-hexene as a representative substrate favored the likelihood of hydrogen abstraction from the allylic C–H bond forming a hexallyl radical followed by strongly preferred further attack of a second HC(O)O˙ radical at the C1 position. Further oxidation products are surmised to be mostly a result of two consecutive addition reactions of HC(O)O˙ to the C C double bond. An outer-sphere electron transfer between the formyloxyl radical donor and the [Co^IIIW₁₂O₄₀]⁵⁻ polyanion acceptor forming a donor–acceptor [D⁺–A⁻] complex is proposed to induce the observed anti-Markovnikov selectivity. Finally, the overall reactivity of HC(O)O˙ towards hydrogen abstraction was evaluated using additional substrates. Alkanes were only slightly reactive, while the reactions of alkylarenes showed that aromatic substitution on the ring competes with C–H bond activation at the benzylic position. C–H bonds with bond dissociation energies (BDE) ≤ 85 kcal mol⁻¹ are easily attacked by HC(O)O˙ and reactivity appears to be significant for C–H bonds with a BDE of up to 90 kcal mol⁻¹. In summary, this research identifies the reactivity of HC(O)O˙ towards radical electrophilic substitution of arenes, anti-Markovnikov type oxidation of terminal alkenes, and indirectly defines the activity of HC(O)O˙ towards C–H bond activation.

The formyloxyl radical, formed electrochemically, is electrophilic, yields anti-Markovnikov oxidation products from alkenes, and is effective for C–H bond activation.