Chiral recognition by enantioselective liquid chromatography: Mechanisms and modern chiral stationary phases

An overview of the state-of-the-art in LC enantiomer separation is presented. This tutorial review is mainly focused on mechanisms of chiral recognition and enantiomer distinction of popular chiral selectors and corresponding chiral stationary phases including discussions of thermodynamics, additivity principle of binding increments, site-selective thermodynamics, extrathermodynamic approaches, methods employed for the investigation of dominating intermolecular interactions and complex structures such as spectroscopic methods (IR, NMR), X-ray diffraction and computational methods. Modern chiral stationary phases are discussed with particular focus on those that are commercially available and broadly used. It is attempted to provide the reader with vivid images of molecular recognition mechanisms of selected chiral selector–selectand pairs on basis of solid-state X-ray crystal structures and simulated computer models, respectively. Such snapshot images illustrated in this communication unfortunately cannot account for the molecular dynamics of the real world, but are supposed to be helpful for the understanding. The exploding number of papers about applications of various chiral stationary phases in numerous fields of enantiomer separations is not covered systematically.     

Analysis of amprolium by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

We present a fast liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method for the analysis of the coccidiostat amprolium in food samples. Tandem mass spectrometry in a triple quadrupole was used for quantitative purposes, and the information from multiple-stage mass spectrometry in an ion-trap mass analyzer contributed to fragmentation studies. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) in a Fused-Core™ column using isocratic elution (acetonitrile:formic acid/ammonium formate buffer pH 4, 50 mM (60:40)) successfully analyzed this compound in less than 3 min. The HILIC system was coupled to heated electrospray-MS/MS using highly selective-selected reaction monitoring (H-SRM) to improve sensitivity and selectivity for the analysis of amprolium, after a simple sample treatment based on an “extract and shoot” strategy. Accurate mass measurements were performed to identify the interfering compound responsible for causing matrix ion enhancement in the signal of amprolium. The addition of l-carnitine (the interfering compound) (1 μg L⁻¹) to standards and sample extracts allowed the use of the external calibration method for quantitative purposes. The LC–MS/MS (H-SRM) method showed good precision (relative standard deviation, RSD, lower than 13%), accuracy and linearity and allowed the determination of amprolium down to the ppb level (LODs between 0.1 and 0.6 μg kg⁻¹).     

Metabolic alterations in triptolide‐induced acute hepatotoxicity

Triptolide, a major active constitute of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F, is prescribed for the treatment of autoimmune diseases in China. One of its most severe adverse effects observed in the clinical use is hepatotoxicity, but the mechanism is still unknown. Therefore, the present study applied an LC/MS‐based metabolomic analysis to characterize the metabolomic changes in serum and liver induced by triptolide in mice. Mice were administered triptolide by gavage to establish the acute liver injury model, and serum biochemical and liver histological analyses were applied to assess the degree of toxicity. Multivariate data analyses were performed to investigate the metabolic alterations. Potential metabolites were identified using variable importance in the projection values and Student's t‐test. A total of 30 metabolites were observed that were significantly changed by triptolide treatment and the abundance of 29 metabolites was correlated with the severity of toxicity. Pathway analysis indicated that the mechanism of triptolide‐induced hepatotoxicity was related to alterations in multiple metabolic pathways, including glutathione metabolism, tricarboxylic acid cycle, purine metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, pyrimidine metabolism and amino acid metabolism. The current study provides new mechanistic insights into the metabolic alterations that lead to triptolide‐induced hepatotoxicity.     

Detection and identification of hydrophilic selenium compounds in selenium-rich yeast by size exclusion-microbore normal-phase HPLC with the on-line ICP-MS and electrospray Q-TOF-MS detection

Normal-phase HPLC and hydrophilic interaction HPLC (HILIC) were investigated for the separation of selenometabolites in a water extract of Se-rich yeast prior to their detection by ICP-MS and identification by electrospray MS/MS. The targeted fraction was a low-abundant fraction co-eluting with salt and sulfur analogues in size-exclusion chromatography which has so far been inaccessible to Se speciation studies. The optimization of the separation conditions resulted in the highest separation efficiency when HILIC was used and elution was carried out isocratically with a low concentration ammonium acetate buffer (1 mM ammonium acetate/10 mM acetic acid) in 80% acetonitrile. Out of 15 peaks observed with the Se-specific ICP-MS detection 12 was identified by electrospray Q-TOF MS/MS (2,3-dihydroxypropionyl (DHP)-Se-methylselenocysteine [M+H]⁺: 272, Se-methyl-γ-glutamyl-selenocysteinylglycine dioxide [M+H]⁺: 402, γ-glutamyl-Se-methylselenocysteine [M+H]⁺: 313; isomers of γ-glutamylselenocystathionine [M+H]⁺: 400; Se-methyl-selenoglutathione [M+H]⁺: 370, isomers of N-acetylselenocystathionine [M+H]⁺: 313, 2,3-DHP-selenohomolanthionine [M+H]⁺: 373, isomers of 2,3-DHP-selenocystathionine [M+H]⁺: 359, 2,3-DHP-selenolanthionine [M+H]⁺: 345 and selenohomolanthionine [M+H]⁺: 285).     

Hydrophilic interaction vs ion pair liquid chromatography for the determination of streptomycin and dihydrostreptomycin residues in milk based on mass spectrometric detection

Streptomycin (STR) and dihydrostreptomycin (DHSTR) are two of the most common aminoglycoside antibiotics used in veterinary medicine. The physicochemical properties of both substances, make their determination challenging. In the present study the development of methods based on ion-pair chromatography (IPC) and on hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC), for the determination of the above mentioned aminoglycosides in the range of 100–1000 μg L⁻¹ is described. The two methods were validated according to EU requirements for residues in food. The recoveries for the IPC method were 69.3% and 56.5% of STR and DHSTR, respectively, and for HILIC method 85.5% and 72.3%, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision, studied at 100, 200 and 300 μg kg⁻¹ levels in milk samples, gave %RSD ≤ 13 for both methods. LOQs for the HILIC method were 14 μg kg⁻¹ for both analytes and for the IPC method were 109 and 31 μg kg⁻¹, for STR and DHSTR, respectively. The sensitivity of the HILIC method is 80 and 210 times greater than that of the ICP method, for STR and DHSTR, respectively.     

亲水作用液相色谱-串联质谱测定烟叶中马来酰肼及其糖苷

建立了一种基于亲水作用液相色谱-串联质谱的烟叶中马来酰肼及其糖苷的定量分析方法。方法采用乙腈-甲基叔丁基醚-水（7：10：13,体积比）超声波辅助提取烟叶中的马来酰肼及其糖苷,提取液经离心分相和溶剂置换后进行亲水作用液相色谱-串联质谱分析。马来酰肼及马来酰肼-O-β-D-葡萄糖苷的基质添加标准曲线的线性范围为5~150 mg/kg,相关系数（r²）为0.9971及0.9972,检出限分别为0.5 mg/kg和0.3 mg/kg,定量限分别为1.0 mg/kg和0.8 mg/kg。马来酰肼及马来酰肼-O-β-D-葡萄糖苷在10、40、80 mg/kg 3个加标水平下的回收率为83.1%~112.3%,在40 mg/kg加标水平下的日内重复性分别为2.7%和3.8%,日间重复性分别为8.3%和7.1%。应用该方法分析喷洒马来酰肼28天后烟叶中马来酰肼的分布情况,发现马来酰肼含量减少了80.8%,其中仅有7.6%转化成了马来酰肼糖苷,其他马来酰肼的去向有待进一步研究。     

亲水作用色谱固定相及其在中药分离中的应用

亲水作用色谱(HILIC)作为一种分离极性化合物的液相色谱模式,近年来越来越受到关注和重视。一方面是因为强极性化合物的分离问题引起了各个研究领域的重视,如药物分析、代谢组学、蛋白质组学等研究领域都不同程度地涉及强极性化合物的分离问题;另一方面是由于HILIC具有流动相组成简单、分离效率较高、与质谱兼容以及反压较低等优势。固定相是HILIC发展和应用的基础,本文主要从固定相分子结构的角度对HILIC固定相的结构特征、保留特性以及应用概况等进行了综述。对传统正相色谱固定相用于HILIC以及专门设计的HILIC固定相进行了介绍,评述了各自的优缺点和应用概况;对近年来HILIC固定相在中药分离中的应用进行了介绍;并对HILIC固定相的发展进行了展望。     

超高效亲水色谱-串联质谱法快速检测鸡肉及其制品中的利巴韦林及其代谢物的总残留量

建立了鸡肉及其制品中利巴韦林和磷酸化利巴韦林代谢物总残留量的亲水作用色谱-串联质谱分析方法(HILIC-MS/MS)。样品采用含1%(v/v)乙酸的乙腈超声提取,于37 ℃条件下以酸性磷酸酶酶解,正己烷除脂后用C₁₈与PSA填料分散固相萃取净化。采用酰胺基超高效亲水作用色谱柱,在乙腈和0.1%甲酸组成的梯度洗脱流动相中分离,在电喷雾正离子电离多反应监测模式下监测,结果表明,样品中利巴韦林残留量在1~200 μg/kg之间时,线性相关系数大于0.999,方法检出限(LOD, S/N≥3)为1 μg/kg,定量限(LOQ, S/N≥10)为5 μg/kg,在3个添加水平下的回收率为67.8%~112.7%,相对标准偏差为6.1%~13.6%。经测定多种实际样品,证明该方法简便、快速、准确,可以满足日常鸡肉及其制品中利巴韦林及其代谢物总残留量的分析要求。     

Simultaneous Determination of Metformin Hydrochloride, Cyanoguanidine and Melamine in Tablets by Mixed-Mode HILIC

A simple and specific hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) procedure for the quantification of metformin hydrochloride (MFH) and its impurities in bulk pharmaceuticals and finished dosage forms has been developed. The method is based on hydrophilic interaction of the analytes with silica. The influence of the weaker solvent, acetonitrile, pH and the nature and ionic strength of the buffer was studied. Linearity range and percent recoveries for MFH were 100–400 μg mL⁻¹ and 100.62%, respectively. Good validation data were obtained for all compounds. The method separates impurities cyanoguanidine (CGD), melamine (MLN) and other degradation products with a run time of less than 13 min. Degradation studies involved thermal stress, hydrolysis at various pHs and chemical and photolytic oxidation.     

Off-line comprehensive 2-dimensional hydrophilic interaction × reversed phase liquid chromatography analysis of procyanidins

The development of an off-line comprehensive 2-dimensional liquid chromatography (2-D-LC) method for the analysis of procyanidins is reported. In the first dimension, oligomeric procyanidins were separated according to molecular weight by hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC), while reversed phase LC was employed in the second dimension to separate oligomers based on hydrophobicity. Fluorescence, UV and electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) were employed for identification purposes. The combination of these orthogonal separation methods is shown to represent a significant improvement compared to 1-dimensional methods for the analysis of complex high molecular weight procyanidin fractions, by simultaneously providing isomeric and molecular weight information. The low correlation (r² < 0.2100) between the two LC modes afforded a practical peak capacity in excess of 2300 for the optimal off-line method. The applicability of the method is demonstrated for the analysis of phenolic extracts of apple and cocoa.