EXAMINATION OF THE SURFACE FREE ENERGY AND ACID-BASE PROPERTIES OF CELLULOSE BY THE COLUMN WICKING TECHNIQUE AND THE CRITICAL PACKING HEIGHT/DENSITY

INTRODUCTIONThe wicking technique has been used to determine the surface energy components of solids[1-7]. Generally, thereare two wicking processes in practice, i.e. thin layer wicking and column wicking. A comparison of the twowicking techniques made by van Oss et al.[2], shows that column wicking has a problem of showing differentpacking density due to some kinds of powder materials, i.e. clay can not give good repacking reproducibility[2].But thin layer wicking has a problem in sample…     

A study of the practical limitations of principal components analysis and the labelling of unresolved HPLC peaks

Summary The method of iterative target transformation factor analysis (ITTFA) used in conjunction with second derivative peak finding has shown to be a practical method for the peak deconvolution and reconstruction of HPLC chromatograms and spectra. The second derivative method of peak finding is acceptable for resolutions above 0.5 for peaks of similar heights. Above 0.5 resolution the labelling gives correct results where the spectra are substantially different and also when reasonably similar. Below this value the peak labelling was still accurate where the spectra were different. Solvent effects on the spectra of the compounds studied are small and do not hinder the peak labelling process. Thus small “local” libraries are feasible. Presented at the 17th International Symposium on Chromatography, September 25–30, 1988. Vienna, Austria.     

Requirements and tests for HPLC apparatus and methods in pharmaceutical quality control

Summary One possible method has been demonstrated for pharmaceutical quality control which is not restricted to this field and fulfils and documents the prerequisites for reliable, accurate and precise HPLC analysis. This includes validation which shows that the method is able in principle to fulfil the requirements, the apparatus test which shows that the apparatus generally works correctly and precisely and the system suitability test which shows that the method provides accurate and precise results on this apparatus and with this column for the analysis in question when other non-equipment and non-method-induced errors are excluded.     

Measurement of elastin hydrolysis by reverse-phase HPLC with on-line post-colum derivatization

Summary Excessive breakdown of elastin, a structural protein, may be related to aortic disease and emphysema. Since L-valyl-L-proline occurs in high concentrations in elastin, a rapid and sensitive method using HPLC with post-column on-line derivatization was used to measure the dipeptide from swine aortic tissue, and the amount of elastin present was determined. Elastin was extracted by alkaline hydrolysis. After neutralization and filtration, the sample was injected onto a ODS-2 gel column, and the dipeptide was eluted by a linear gradient of 0 to 10% of 1-propanol in 50 mM heptafluorobutyrate, pH 3, at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. The eluent was reacted with fluorescamine at pH 8.6, and fluorescence was detected at an excitation wavelength of 395 nm and a 455 nm cutoff emission filter.Presented at the 17th International Symposium on Chromatography, September 25–30, 1988, Vienna, Austria.     

Synthetic tanning agents. Characterization,control of synthesis and assessment of correlations between product composition and taning properties by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography

Summary Gradient elution RP-HPLC has been applied to the separation of the constituents of synthetic tanning agents. Information obtained from the chromatographic results was used to assess the possibility of optimizing the conditions of synthesis, to find out the number of species formed and to make a start at correlating the composition of the tanning agents and their properties.     

Chromatographic investigations of furocoumarins fromHeracleum genus fruits

Summary Furocoumarins from extracts ofHeracleum genus fruits were separated using normal and reversed phase TLC and HPLC and isolated in the milligram scale using overloaded systems of column chromatography. Binary or ternary solvents containing a polar modifier (methanol, diisopropyl ether or acetonitrile) were used as the mobile phases. Preliminary report on this work was presented at the 47th International Congress of Pharmaceutical Sciences of F.I.P. in Amsterdam. The Netherlands, 30 August–5 September 1987.     

Fast sample preparation involving MASE and coupled column normal phase liquid chromatography for the rapid trace analysis of dioxins in air-dust samples from fire catastrophe emissions

A new approach has been developed and tested for the urgent analysis of dioxins in samples of air-dust filters originating from catastrophe emissions. The procedure consists of a fast extraction of the sample with microwave solvent extraction (MASE) and acetone as solvent followed by a fast cleanup of the extract with normal phase coupled column liquid chromatography (LC/LC).

The multi-dimensional LC/LC system employs a 50 mm×4.6 mm i.d. column packed with 3 μm silica and a 150 mm×4.6 mm i.d. column packed with 5 μm PYE as the first and second analytical column, respectively. Iso-hexane is used on both columns to perform cleanup and dichloromethane to perform efficient back-flush elution of the compounds from the second column. The obtained polarity-based separation in the first dimension and molecular-structure based separation in the second dimension provides a fast and powerful cleanup.

Validation was done by analysing samples of homemade RIVM air-dust with aged residues (n=8, spiking level about 15 pg mg⁻¹ per compound) of dioxins/furans and samples of reference Urban Dust SRM 1649a (n=4) with both the new approach and the existing conventional procedure and were instrumentally analyzed with capillary gas chromatography and high resolution mass spectrometric detection (GC/HRMS).

In comparison to the existing conventional procedure, the new approach reduces sample processing from several days to several hours per sample.

As regards the aged-residue air-dust samples, the new method shows a good accuracy, precision and high selectivity providing a performance in good agreement with the existing procedure. In SRM air-dust, the concentration of a few compounds obtained by the new method was below (10–50%) the certified value.     

Correlation between hydrophobicity of amino acids and retention data in reversed-phase liquid chromatography with micellar eluents

Summary Hydrophobic character is usually expressed in terms of the partition coefficient in 1-octanol-water (log P_o/w). However, measurement of this coefficient is often problematic. Retention in micellar liquid chromatography is mainly due to hydrophobic interactions and can also be used as an index of hydrophobicity. A hydrophobicity scale was established with retention data foro-phthalaldehyde (OPA)-N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) amino acid derivatives, using the glycine derivative as reference. Since the OPA-NAC derivatives only differ in the nature of R₁ in the amino acid (R₁CH (COOH)NH₂), in the absence of electrostatic interactions the hydrophobic character of the substituent was responsible for retention. Linear relationships were obtained between log of the ratiok′ of amino acid derivatives:k′ of the glycine derivative for a given mobile phase, and logP _o/w for the R₁ substituent. Good correlations were also found for phenylthiohydantoin amino acid derivatives.     

Separation of structural isomers using cyclodextrin-polymers coated on silica beads

Summary Several -cyclodextrin (CD)-bonded stationary phases for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were prepared, based on silica beads coated with a poly(alkylamine), [poly(ethyleneimine)(PEI)]. In order to obtain stationary phases with a high content of CD and maximum accessibility of the CD cavity, the functionalization was carried out after the coating, using the mono-tosyl derivative of CD as the intermediate. The ability of these supports to separate ortho, meta and para isomers of some disubstituted benzene derivatives was examined. The contribution of the amino groups of the polymer and of the CD cavity to the separation process is discussed. The resolution is mainly based on the difference in the stability of the complexes of the various isomers with CD. The influence of the amount of CD on the height of the theoretical plate is also studied.     

Optimisation and validation of an automated solid phase extraction technique coupled on-line to enzyme-based biosensor detection for the determination of phenolic compounds in surface water samples

Summary A fully integrated screening system for phenolic compounds was developed incorporating on-line solid phase extraction, fractionation and biosensor detection. Two different types of biosensors, solid graphite and carbon paste electrodes incorporating the enzyme tyrosinase, were compared and used in the screening system. Interfacing of the solid phase extraction and fractionation with the biosensor detection was given special attention since the biosensors were not compatible with the organic modifier used for desorption of phenols from the solid phase extraction step. The system was validated with conventional analytical techniques. Surface water samples from the Ebro river were spiked with 1,10, and 25g L^–1 of catechol, phenol,p-cresol, respectively. Three out of seven samples were spiked and the correct samples were identified, containing phenols equivalent to the spiked concentrations.