Olefin metathesis in room temperature ionic liquids using imidazolium-tagged ruthenium complexes

New recyclable imidazolium-tagged ruthenium catalysts have been developed to perform olefin metathesis in room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs). High level of recyclability combined with a high reactivity were obtained in the ring-closing metathesis (RCM) of a variety of di- or tri-substituted and/or oxygen-containing dienes. Extremely low residual ruthenium levels were detected in the RCM products (average of 7.3 ppm per run). Several examples of olefin cross-metathesis (CM) have been also studied.     

Determination of the enantiomeric composition of chiral carboxylic acids using chiral derivatization and HPLC

Summary The enantiomers of chiral carboxylic acids were separated as their diastereomeric amides with (1R,2R)-(−)-1-(4-nitrophenyl)-2-amino-1,3-propanediol (“levobase”) and with “dextrobase” (the enantiomer of levobase) by high-performance liquid chromatography using a conventional C-18 column and various solvent systems containing acetonitrile, methanol, water, and phosphoric acid.     

LC Determination of 4-Bromoaniline in Green Algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii After Continuous-Flow Microextraction

In this study, the determination of 4-Bromoaniline (4-BA) in green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (C. reinhardtii) was investigated by applying continuous-flow microextraction (CFME) combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Continuous-flow microextraction was conducted in a homemade glass chamber, i.e. the sample solution flowed through a constant volume drop of solvent in the chamber at a constant flow rate. The effects of different factors on extraction efficiencies were also investigated and these factors included the kind of extraction solvent, solvent drop volume, sample flow rate, extraction time and addition amount of salt. Under the optimum extraction conditions (extraction solvent, carbon tetrachloride; solvent drop volume, 3.5 μL; sample flow rate, 1.0 mL min⁻¹; extraction time, 10 min; no addition of salt), the calibration plot was set up by plotting peak area against a series of 4-Bromoaniline concentrations (0.01–10 μg mL⁻¹) in aqueous solution. The correlation coefficient (r) was 0.9990. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.6 ng mL⁻¹. The precision of this method was obtained by successive five time analyses of 100-ng mL⁻¹ standard solution of 4-Bromoaniline, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 3.5%. The concentration factor was calculated by the ratio of peak area of the analyte obtained after and before extraction and found to be 10.6. 4-Bromoaniline residues in Chlamydomonas. reinhardtii cells and tap water samples were satisfactorily analyzed according to the method described above.     

Dominant Factors Affecting the Chromatographic Behaviour of Bile Acids

With the aim of optimizing the chromatographic process by avoiding any preliminary derivatizing step, we examined the chromatographic behaviour of a selected set of unconjugated bile acids looking at the dominant factors that affect the performances of three different stationary phases: RP-8, RP-18 and RP-18 Base Deactivated (RP-18-BD). Accordingly to its structural peculiarity, the RP-18-BD column combined with a specific mobile phase has proved to be the most suitable one, in enhancing both separation factor α and resolution R _S within the selected set of analytes. Pronounced changes in the chromatographic profiles by only slightly changing the mobile phase composition (pH, buffer concentration, percentage and kind of organic modifier) prompted us to achieve satisfactory results in the separation and resolution of the selected set of bile acids.Presented at: CE in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Industries: 7th symposium on the practical applications for the analysis of proteins, nucleotides and small molecules, Montreal, Canada, August 12–16, 2005.An erratum to this article can be found at     

Comparative study on separation of diastereomers by HPLC

Summary Reversed (RP-HPLC) and normal phase chromatographic (NP-HPLC) separations have been developed for diastereomers ofN-acyl-1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydo-β-carbolines which are acylated derivatives of simple natural β-carboline alkaloids. Separations of derivatives having different acyl moieties in theO,O-diacyl-tartaric acid ester subtituent differed remarkably. Little or no resolution in either NP-HPLC or RP-HPLC could be achieved with the diacetyl-tartrate derivative. Base-line separation by RP-HPLC but no separation by NP-HPLC was possible with the bulkier and more apolar dipivaloyl derivative. Retention order of the bis-benzoylated diastereomers was reversed and separation time increased dramatically by RP-HPLC. Good separation of the medium polarity, but rigid,N-camphanyl derivative by NP-HPLC has been achieved, whereas RP-HPLC could not be used for separation of these diastereomers. Separability of different diastereomers was highly dependent on polarity and rigidity of the derivatizingN-acyl moieties. Conformational analysis by molecular mechanics and comparison of the lowest energy conformational states of the diastereomers was applied to rationalise separation-retention behaviour of stereoisomers by RP-HPLC. Presented at Balaton Symposium '01 on High-Performance Separation Methods, Siófok, Hungary, September 2–4, 2001     

Cadmium colloids from non-aqueous solvents

Cadmium colloids have been prepared by Chemical Liquid Deposition (CLD). The metal is evaporated to yield atoms which are solvated at liquid nitrogen temperature, and upon warming, stable liquid colloids are formed with particle size ranging between 25–100 Å. Zeta potentials were calculated according to the conversion of Hunter and the Hückel equation, for ethanol and dimethyl sulphoxide. UV/VIS measurement of most of the black colloids showed absorption band around 280 nm. For comparison, we prepared CdS colloid with size 400–625 Å. The colloids are stable to oxidation in air and/or oxygen bubbling. The synthesis of colloids and films from Cd with acetone, 2-butanone, ethanol, 2-propanol, 2-methoxyethanol, DMF and DMSO is reported. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) allows us to determine particle size.     

Preparation of trout liver microsomes for iron speciation in P-450 enzymes by AE–FPLC with ICP–(ORS)MS detection

Cytochromes P-450 are members of a superfamily of hemoproteins involved in the oxidative metabolism of various physiological and xenobiotic compounds in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The multiplicity of this group of enzymes has been widely studied by chromatographic techniques, mainly high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Because these enzymes are membrane-bound proteins, sample preparation for chromatographic separation of P-450 enzymes requires a solubilization step. The sample-preparation procedures are critical, because detergents affect not only the efficiency of protein solubilization but also their further chromatographic resolution. Trout liver microsomes have been taken here as a model sample to investigate iron speciation in cytochrome P-450. Trouts were treated intraperitoneally with -naphthoflavone, a potent inducer of some P-450 enzymes, and a microsomal suspension containing 7.4±0.1 nmol mL^–1 P-450 enzymes was obtained by ultracentrifugation. Lubrol PX was selected as detergent for solubilization, resulting in about 90% solubilization recovery. The solubilized cytochromes P-450 were further separated by AE–FPLC, with UV detection, or coupled to ICP–MS with an octapole reaction system, ICP–(ORS)MS (monitoring Fe signals at masses 54, 56, and 57). A sampling procedure and chromatographic conditions are developed and were successfully applied to iron speciation in trout liver P-450 enzymes. ICP–(ORS)MS detection of P-450 enzymes is Fe-specific and so will give accurate information on the prosthetic group of the protein, which can constitute an advantageous alternative to classical methods for detection of these hemoproteins.     

HPLC Analysis of Cotinine in Urine After SPE with a Cholesterol-Modified Adsorbent

A one-step solid-phase extraction procedure, based on a new silica gel adsorbent modified with cholesterol groups, has been investigated for measurement of cotinine in urine. Cotinine is the main metabolite of nicotine in the human body and is analyzed as a biomarker for assessment of direct or passive exposure to tobacco smoke. New cholesterol-modified adsorbents have been obtained by chemical modification of silica gel of different porosity with cholesterol ligands. Although recovery by this extraction procedure were optimum over a relatively broad range of sample pH (3.1–8.0), analytical conditions such as sample loading, washing and elution conditions, concentration of cotinine to be extracted, and the type of adsorbent used for extraction were found to affect the efficiency of the procedure and had to be controlled for optimum recovery. When these conditions were controlled, recovery of cotinine from spiked human urine was reproducible and depended on compound ionization. Quantitative analysis of cotinine was performed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. Presented at: Conference of the Hyphenation of Liquid Chromatography–Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and Related Topics, Tuebingen, Germany, March 25–29, 2006.     

Retention of ionizable compounds on HPLC. Modelling retention for neutral and ionizable compounds by linear solvation energy relationships

Summary A global LSER model that relates HPLC retention to mobile phase composition and pH is tested for a varied group of solutes, both neutral and ionizable, in a polymeric column and methanol-water mobile phases. It is compared to the local LSER model developed only for a given mobile phase, i.e., a fixed organic modifier content, and to the global LSER model set only for neutral solutes. The global LSER model for neutral and ionizable solutes requires a few supplementary parameters over the other models tested, but it accounts for retention under any experimental conditions for a given column and methanol-water mobile phases, describing properly the interactions established in the HPLC system (hydrophobicity, hydrogen-bond acidity and basicity, dipolarity/polarizability…). This paper is number 13 of a series with the same general title: “Retention of Ionizable Compounds on HPLC” published in various journals.     

Color Displays with Gel-Glass Dispersed Liquid Crystals

Liquid crystal microdroplets trapped into silica gel-glasses by sol-gel processes may be used for display applications. Gel-glass dispersed liquid crystals (GDLC) are switched between opaque and transparent states by applying external AC-voltage signals; no polarizers are required. The feasibility of applying these materials to colored displays has been explored. A comparative study of different dyes for GDLC color displays, which were either embedded in the sol-gel matrix or dissolved in the liquid crystal microdroplets is presented.