Simple high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of all seven vitamin B6-related compounds

A simple, sensitive, isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the separation of all seven vitamin B₆-related compounds. The separation is accomplished using an ODS column and a mobile phase of 0.15 M sodium dihydrogenphosphate, adjusted to pH 2.5 with perchloric acid. The concentration of the compounds is determined with a fluorescence detector (excitation, 290 nm; emission, 389 nm). Isopyridoxal is used as an internal standard. The fluorescence intensity of pyridoxal-5′-phosphate is enhanced by post-column derivatization with sodium bisulfite. All seven compounds are separated in less than 20 min at a flow-rate of 1 ml/min. Applications of this method to yeast cell-free culture media, baker's yeast extract, egg and milk are presented.     

Validation of a screening method for the simultaneous identification of fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins (A,E, B<Subscript>1</Subscript>, B<Subscript>2</Subscript> and B<Subscript>6</Subscript>) in an aqueous micellar medium of hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride

Simultaneous determination of the fat-soluble vitamins A and E and the water-soluble vitamins B₁, B₂ and B₆ has been carried using a screening method from fluorescence contour graphs. These graphs show different colour zones in relation to the fluorescence intensity measured for the pair of excitation/emission wavelengths. The identification of the corresponding excitation/emission wavelength zones allows the detection of different vitamins in an aqueous medium regardless of the fat or water solubility of each vitamin, owing to the presence of a surfactant which forms micelles in water at the used concentration (over the critical micelle concentration). The micelles dissolve very water insoluble compounds, such as fat-soluble vitamins, inside the aggregates. This approach avoids the use of organic solvents in determining these vitamins and offers the possibility of analysing fat- and water-soluble vitamins simultaneously. The method has been validated in terms of detection limit, cut-off limit, sensitivity, number of false positives, number of false negatives and uncertainty range. The detection limit is about g L^–1. The screening method was applied to different samples such as pharmaceuticals, juices and isotonic drinks.     

Packed capillary column supercritical fluid chromatography of fat-soluble vitamins using liquid crystal polysiloxane coated particles

Summary Liquid crystal polysiloxane stationary phases were prepared by coating two different polymers on deactivated porous silica particles (10 m diameter, 80 Å pores). Deactivation of the silica particles before coating was necessary to prepare highly efficient and inert stationary phases for supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). Fat-soluble vitamins E, A, K₁, K₂, D₂, and D₃ were separated on these columns using neat supercritical CO₂ as mobile phase. The analyses were completed within 40 min at 70 °C. The results were compared to those obtained using a capillary column packed with less ordered liquid crystalm,m-cyanobiphenyl-substituted polysiloxane coated particles. Reduced shape selectivity was observed with this cyanobiphenyl phase. The response factors of vitamins A, E, K₁, K₂, D₂, and D₃ when using the flame ionization detector (FID) were determined to be very similar.     

Determination of vitamin B12 in multivitamin tablets by multimode high-performance liquid chromatography

Quantitative determination of vitamin B₁₂ in B-complex tablets was performed by using multimode high-performance liquid chromatography. The multivitamin tablets (B₁, B₆ and B₁₂) were sonicated for 30 min in methanol–water (50:50, v/v) and diluted to appropriated volume with the same solvent. The resulting solution was filtered and the filtrate was analysed on a phenylpropanolamine bonded silica column (15 cm×4.6 mm I.D., 5 μm). The optimized mobile phase was 30 mM phosphate buffer (pH 3.00) containing 6% (v/v) acetonitrile at a flow-rate of 1 ml min⁻¹ and the detection was measured at 361 nm. The calibration graph prepared using standards was linear from 0.05 to 0.25 μg. The determination limit was 25 ng, the relative standard deviation was 0.47% and recovery from tablet solution was 100%. An analysis was completed in 5 min. The new method is simple, rapid and precise.     

The Wittig Reaction in Industrial Practice

The effects of a scientific discovery on industrial practice are illustrated with reference to the Wittig reaction. The aim of utilizing the Wittig reaction of linking terpenoid building blocks to give vitamin A and carotenoids on an industrial scale prompted extensive research and development work of a synthetic and chemical engineering nature. The importance of the Wittig reaction and its variants in the synthesis of active compounds and fine chemicals in industrial research is demonstrated in the present article.     

A multicommuted fluorescence-based sensing system for simultaneous determination of Vitamins B2 and B6

A multicommuted flow-through optosensor based on the direct fluorescence measurements of Vitamins B₂ and B₆ using a non-polar sorbent (C₁₈ silica gel) as solid sensing zone (to accomplish the separation and subsequent preconcentration/detection of the target analytes) have been developed. The proposed flow system was controlled by Java-written home-made software and designed using three-way solenoid valves for independent automated manipulation of sample and carrier solutions. The native fluorescence signal was simultaneously monitored at two pairs of excitation/emission wavelengths (450/519 and 294/395 for B₂ and B₆, respectively). The separation of the analytes was performed in the detection flow cell, using the differences in the sorption/elution process on the solid support between the two vitamins, due to their different polarity. Using an optimised sampling time, the analytical signal showed linearity in the range 0.01-0.4 and 0.15-3 μg ml⁻¹ with detection limits of 0.003 and 0.045 μg ml⁻¹ for B₂ and B₆, respectively, obtaining R.S.D. (%) values better than 2% for both analytes. The proposed methodology was applied to different pharmaceutical preparations, obtaining remarkably good results with recoveries ranging from 96 to 107.5%.     

Differentiation of Detection of Ascorbic Acid and Dehydroascorbic Acid Using Hydrodynamic Amperometry and Anodic Stripping Voltammetry on Modified Aluminum Electrodes

An electroanalytical strategy for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid (AA) and dehydroascorbic acid (DHA), is described. A palladized Al electrode is used for hydrodynamic amperometry of AA. While the decrease of anodic stripping voltammetry current of the K₂UO₂[Fe(CN)₆]‐Pd/Al electrode prepared in the presence of DHA was the principal of the DHA determination. The calibration graph for both methods was linear over the concentration range 1–50 μM. The detection limit was found to be 0.5 μM. Some fresh fruit juices and vegetables of trace level of AA and DHA were analyzed as the typical example of application.     

Evaluation of the performance of single‐walled carbon nanohorns in capillary electrophoresis

This paper describes for the first time the use of single‐walled carbon nanohorns (SWNHs) as pseudostationary and stationary phases for EKC and CEC, respectively, taking advantage of their characteristic features, such as conical‐end termination, formation of spherical assemblies dahlia‐flower like superstructure and easy functionalization. The use of SWNHs as pseudostationary phase for EKC required the study of their dispersion in different surfactants as well as their compatibility with the electrophoretic system. The carboxylation and subsequent immobilization of carboxylated SWNHs in fused‐silica capillary to obtain useful, reproducible and stable stationary phases for CEC has also been investigated, with promising results. The electrophoretic separations obtained for water‐soluble vitamins in both modalities (EKC and CEC) have been systematically compared with those obtained with single‐walled carbon nanotubes.     

Simultaneous separation and analysis of water- and fat-soluble vitamins on multi-modal reversed-phase weak anion exchange material by HPLC-UV

Several methods for the separation of vitamins on HPLC columns were already validated in the last 20 years. However, most of the techniques focus on separating either fat- or water-soluble vitamins and only few methods are intended to separate lipophilic and hydrophilic vitamins simultaneously. A mixed-mode reversed-phase weak anion exchange (RP-WAX) stationary phase was developed in our laboratory in order to address such mixture of analytes with different chemical characteristics, which are difficult to separate on standard columns. The high versatility in usage of the RP-WAX chromatographic material allowed a baseline separation of ten vitamins within a single run, seven water-soluble and three fat-soluble, using three different chromatographic modes: some positively charged vitamins are eluted in ion exclusion and ion repulsion modes whereas the negatively charged molecules are eluted in the ion exchange mechanism. The non-charged molecules are eluted in a classical reversed-phase mode, regarding their polarities. The method was validated for the vitamin analysis in tablets, evaluating selectivity, robustness, linearity, accuracy, and precision. The validated method was finally employed for the analysis of the vitamin content of some commercially available supplement tablets.