Spherical molecularly imprinted polymer particles: a promising tool for molecular recognition in capillary electrokinetic separations

Spherical molecularly imprinted polymer particles obtained via precipitation polymerization, were introduced as a pseudostationary phase in capillary electrophoresis (CE) to study molecular recognition. Analyses were performed via a partial filling technique using (+)-ephedrine-imprinted microspheres (100-200 nm) which were polymerized from methacrylic acid and 1,1,1-Tris(hydroxymethyl)propanetrimethacrylate using acetonitrile as the solvent. The influence of pH and the modifier content on the separation was investigated. A 0.1% w/v suspension in an aqueous 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 2.5 with 40% acetonitrile) was hydrodynamically injected into the CE system (80% of the effective capillary length) and led to full baseline separation of racemic ephedrine within 10 min.     

Interlaboratory reproducibility of mobility parameters in capillary electrophoresis for substance identification in systematic toxicological analysis

An interlaboratory pilot study was performed to determine the reproducibility of mobility parameters in capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). The study was performed by an intended small number of laboratories (three) that used different brands of instruments (two). The effective mobility was corrected using standards by a method that was recently introduced to obtain a more reproducible migration parameter. A test set of 20 acidic test compounds and 5 reference compounds were analyzed during five days in each laboratory using CZE and MEKC. Buffers used consisted of 90 mM borate set at pH 8.4 (CZE) and 20 mM phosphate, 50 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate set at pH 7.5 (MEKC). Analyses were carried out using fused-silica capillaries at an electric field strength of either 52.6 kV/m or 37.5 kV/m. The interlaboratory reproducibility (mean RSD) of the effective mobility was 3.0% for CZE and 6.7% for MEKC. After applying the correction method, these values became 3.0% for CZE and 3.3% for MEKC, which is adequate for systematic toxicological analysis (STA) applications. A significant improvement of reproducibility for the calculated corrected effective mobility mu(eff)c was observed when variations are high. Therefore, it is recommended to use the correction method in interlaboratory situations, especially when instruments and capillaries from different manufacturers are used.     

An overview on the standardization of chromatographic methods for screening analysis in toxicology by means of retention indices and secondary standards

Summary A review is presented on the methods of standardization of HPLC data as used in systematic toxicological analysis. In straight-phase HPLC, the best results were obtained with a series of selected drugs as retention standards. In reversed-phase HPLC, various retention index systems were introduced. However, these systems alone cannot compensate large differences in selectivities of nominally identical, but commercially different reversed-phase column packings. Much better results were achieved with selected drugs as retention index markers. The practical applicability of such a standardized HPLC system is demonstrated.Part I see [1]Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Dr. Marika Geldmacher-von Mallinckrodt in recognition of her pioneering contributions in clinical and forensic toxicology     

Radioreceptor assay — a tool for the bioanalysis of drugs

Radioreceptor assays can be developed for every class of drugs whose pharmacological action is mediated by a drug-receptor interaction. They provide a measure for biological activity which can be related to pharmacological effect.     

Rapid analysis of simple carbohydrates by means of vapour-programmed thin-layer chromatography and densitometry and using a new spotting device

A rapid method is described for the separation of common naturally occurring mono- and disaccharides by means of vapour-programmed thin-layer chromatography; the development time is 3 h, and quantitation is obtained by in situ reflectance spectrometry. A new spotting apparatus with syringes in the horizontal position has been developed, which allows perfectly reproducible sample delivery in the microlitre range. The coefficient of variation for the total procedure is about 4–8 %. The total analysis time is 5 hours.