Capillary electrochromatography with novel stationary phases. I. Preparation and characterization of octadecylsulfonated silica

Analysis of hydroquinone and some of its ethers by using capillary electrochromatography

Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) was used for the analysis of relevant compounds in cosmetic preparation. Hydroquinone (HQ) and some of its ethers (methyl-, dimethyl-, benzyl-, phenyl-, propyl-HQ derivatives) were analyzed by using an octadecylsilica (ODS) stationary phase packed in fused-silica capillary (100 microm I.D.; 30 cm and 21.5 cm total and effective lengths, respectively). 20 mM Ammonium acetate pH 6-acetonitrile (50-70%) were the mobile phases used for the experiments. The acetonitrile (ACN) content strongly influenced the resolution of the studied compounds as well as the efficiency and the retention factor. Baseline resolution for the studied analytes was achieved at both the lowest and the highest percentage of ACN, the last one providing the shortest analysis time. Mobile phase containing 70% of ACN was therefore used for the analysis of an extract of skin-toning cream declared to contain HQ. Good repeatability of both retention times, peak areas and peak areas ratio (Asample/Ainternational standard) was found. The calibration graphs were linear in the concentration range studied (5-90 microg/ml) with correlation coefficients between 0.9975 and 09991. The analysis of the cosmetic preparation revealed the presence of HQ (1.72%, w/w) and of two additional peaks (not identified).

Capillary electrochromatography using continuous-bed columns of sol-gel bonded silica particles with mixed-mode octadecyl and propylsulfonic acid functional groups

Continuous-bed columns containing sol-gel bonded 3 microm silica particles with mixed-mode octadecyl and propylsulfonic acid functional groups (ODS/SCX) were prepared by first packing the ODS/SCX particles into a fused-silica capillary, then filling the packed capillary with a siliceous sol-gel, curing the sol-gel, and finally drying the column with supercritical carbon dioxide. The performance of the sol-gel bonded ODS/SCX columns was evaluated for capillary electrochromatography using acetonitrile aqueous mobile phase containing phosphate buffer. The columns were mechanically strong and permeable. Both EOF velocity and current increased linearly with elevation of the applied electric field strength. The EOF velocity was high at low pH and nearly constant over a range of pH 2-9. Higher buffer concentration resulted in higher current and lower EOF velocity. The acetonitrile content had no significant effect on the EOF. Without thermosetting the column, no bubble formation was noticed with currents up to 2.5 microA. The minimum plate height of a 25/34 cm x 75 microm I.D. sol-gel bonded 3 microm ODS/SCX column was 5.7 microm (1.75 x 10(5) plates per meter) at an optimum EOF velocity of 0.92 mm s(-1). Mixtures of test aromatic compounds and aromatic hydrocarbon homologues gave symmetrical peaks when using a low pH mobile phase. The retention and elution order of aromatic compounds represented a typical reversed-phase separation mechanism similar to conventional ODS columns. The run-to-run and column-to-column retention factor reproducibility was better than 2.5% and 8.0% RSD, respectively.

Electrically driven microseparation methods for pesticides and metabolites: III. Capillary electrochromatography with novel silica-based stationary phases having a surface-bound surfactant moiety

A silica-based stationary phase with surface bound silylpropyl trialkylammonium functions was introduced and evaluated in the capillary electrochromatography of alkylbenzenes and pesticides. This stationary phase is referred to as octadecyldimethyl(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl) ammonium-silica (ODAS) and has quaternary amine functions that generate an anodic electroosmotic flow (EOF) and octadecyl functions that are responsible for solute retention by a reversed-phase chromatography mechanism. The ODAS stationary phase was characterized over a wide range of elution conditions in term of EOF and retention behavior of alkylbenzene homologous series. The ODAS stationary phase proved useful in the separation of pesticides as well as in the on-column preconcentration of dilute pesticide samples, thus permitting the detection of solution at 7 x 10(-7) M using a UV detector.

Separation of peptides by strong cation-exchange capillary electrochromatography

Separation of small peptides on ion-exchange capillary electrochromatography (IE-CEC) with strong cation-exchange packing (SCX) as stationary phase was investigated. It was observed that the number of theoretical plates for small peptides varied from 240000 to 460000/m, and the relative standard deviation for t0 and the migration time of peptides were less than 0.57% and 0.27%, respectively for ten consecutive runs. Unusually high column efficiency has been explained by the capillary electrophoretic stacking and chromatofocusing phenomena during the injection and separation of positively charged peptides. The sample buffer concentration had a marked effect on the column efficiency and peak area of the retained peptides. The influences of the buffer concentration and pH value as well as the applied voltage on the separation were investigated. It has been shown that the electrostatic interaction between the positively charged peptides and the SCX stationary phase played a very important role in IE-CEC, which provided the different separation selectivity from those in the capillary electrophoresis and reversed-phase liquid chromatography. A fast separation of ten peptides in less than 3.5 min on IE-CEC by adoption of the highly applied voltage was demonstrated.

Capillary electrochromatography using a strong cation-exchange column with a dynamically modified cationic surfactant

A novel mode of capillary electrochromatography (CEC), called dynamically modified strong cation-exchange CEC (DMSCX-CEC), is described in this paper. A column packed with a strong cation-exchange (SCX) packing material was dynamically modified with a long-chain quaternary ammonium salt, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), which was added to the mobile phase. CTAB ions were adsorbed onto the surface of the SCX packing material, and the resulting hydrophobic layer on this packing was used as the stationary phase. Using the dynamically modified SCX column, neutral solutes were separated with the CEC mode. The highest number of theoretical plates obtained was about 190,000/m, and the relative standard deviations (RSD's) for migration times and capacity factors of alkylbenzenes were less than 1.0% and 2.0% for five consecutive runs, respectively. The effects of CTAB and methanol concentrations and the pH value of the mobile phase on the electroosmotic flow and the separation mechanism were investigated. Excellent simultaneous separation of the basic and neutral solutes in DMSCX-CEC with a high-pH mobile phase was obtained. A mixture containing the acidic, basic, and neutral compounds was well separated in this mode with a low-pH mobile phase; however, peak tailing for basic compounds was observed in this mobile phase.

Selectivity in capillary electrokinetic separations

This review gives a survey of selectivity modes in capillary electrophoresis separations in pharmaceutical analysis and bioanalysis. Despite the high efficiencies of these separation techniques, good selectivity is required to allow quantitation or identification of a particular analyte. Selectivity in capillary electrophoresis is defined and described for different separation mechanisms, which are divided into two major areas: (i) capillary zone electrophoresis and (ii) electrokinetic chromatography. The first area describes aqueous (with or without organic modifiers) and nonaqueous modes. The second area discusses all capillary electrophoretic separation modes in which interaction with a (pseudo)stationary phase results in a change in migration rate of the analytes. These can be divided in micellar electrokinetic chromatography and capillary electrochromatography. The latter category can range from fully packed capillaries, via open-tubular coated capillaries to the addition of microparticles with multiple or single binding sites. Furthermore, an attempt is made to differentiate between methods in which molecular recognition plays a predominant role and methods in which the selectivity depends on overall differences in physicochemical properties between the analytes. The calculation of the resolution for the different separation modes and the requirements for qualitative and quantitative analysis are discussed. It is anticipated that selectivity tuning is easier in separation modes in which molecular recognition plays a role. However, sufficient attention needs to be paid to the efficiency of the system in that it not only affects resolution but also detectability of the analyte of interest.

Applications of capillary electrochromatography

Applications performed by capillary electrochromatography (CEC) in all its modes, namely packed column CEC (packed-CEC), open tubular CEC (OT-CEC) and pressure-assisted CEC (pseudo-CEC), and published by June 1999 are reviewed. The review is divided into (i) separation of neutral, acidic and basic analytes with the main goal of evaluating column and system performance, (ii) separation according to field of application and/or chemical class, and (iii) separation of chiral analytes.

Electrically driven microseparation methods for pesticides and metabolites. II: on-line and off-line preconcentration of urea herbicides in capillary electrochromatography

Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) was introduced to the separation of nine important urea herbicides using octadecyl-silica (ODS) capillary columns that were specially designed to allow the realization of a relatively strong electroosmotic flow (EOF) and, in turn, fast separations. The ODS stationary phase was intentionally prepared to have a low surface coverage in octadecyl ligands in order to ensure a strong EOF. This ODS stationary phase of low surface coverage exhibited the usual reversed-phase chromatographic behavior as was manifested by the linearity of plots of log kappa versus the percent organic modifier in the mobile phase. The nature of the organic modifier of the mobile phase influenced the order of elution as well as the separation efficiency of the nine urea herbicides. Mobile phases containing acetonitrile yielded higher separation efficiency (by a factor of 1.5) than methanol-containing mobile phases. This was attributed to the higher mass transfer resistances of the solute in and out of the pores in the presence of the more viscous methanol-containing mobile phases. Due to the relatively strong affinity of the urea herbicides to the ODS stationary phase, on-line preconcentration consisting of prolonged injections allowed the determination of 10(-5) M urea herbicide samples using a UV detector without sacrificing separation efficiency. This was further decreased to 10(-7) M when the prolonged injection was preceded by the injection of a plug of water. The plug of water (the more retentive mobile phase) brought about an enhanced accumulation of the dilute samples into a narrow band at the inlet of the CEC column. When this on-column sample enrichment approach was combined with an off-line sample preconcentration step, which consisted of a solid-phase extraction process, ultra dilute samples of 10(-10) M (0.1 ppb) could be detected.

Capillary electrochromatography with novel stationary phases: II. Studies of the retention behavior of nucleosides and bases on capillaries packed with octadecyl-sulfonated-silica microparticles

An octadecyl-sulfonated silica (ODSS) stationary phase specially designed for performing capillary electrochromatography (CEC) at relatively strong electroosmotic flow (EOF) proved useful for the separations of some nucleosides and bases. The ODSS stationary phase is composed of a hydrophilic, negatively charged sublayer to which a nonpolar top layer containing octadecyl ligands is covalently attached. The charged sublayer contains sulfonic acid groups which ensure a relatively strong EOF. Due to the presence of permanently charged sulfonic acid groups in the sublayer, the hydrophilic nature of the sublayer and the hydrophobic character of the top octadecyl layer, retention and selectivity of charged and relatively polar nucleosides and bases on the ODSS stationary phase are based on electrostatic interaction, hydrophilic interaction, and reversed-phase mechanisms. This yielded for the ODSS stationary phase a unique selectivity towards the nucleosides and bases, thus allowing their rapid separation. To gain insight into the chromatographic behavior of nucleosides and bases on the ODSS stationary phase, the results were compared to those obtained on an octadecyl-silica (ODS) capillary under otherwise the same elution conditions. Due to the difference in the nature of the organic layers on the surface of the ODSS and ODS stationary phases, the elution order on both stationary phases differed significantly, and the ODSS capillary proved more suitable for the separation of the nucleosides and bases than the ODS capillary.

Capillary electrochromatography of derivatized mono- and oligosaccharides

An octadecyl-silica (ODS) stationary phase with light surface coverage of octadecyl ligands was introduced for capillary electrochromatography (CEC) at moderate electroosmotic flow (EOF) velocity. The ODS stationary phase was intentionally produced with light surface coverage in order to ensure a moderate EOF velocity across the packed capillary column, thus allowing relatively rapid analysis time. Despite the fact that the stationary phase leaves 75% of the surface silanols unreacted, fused-silica capillary columns packed with this ODS stationary phase exhibited reversed-phase behavior toward neutral alkylbenzene homologous solutes using hydroorganic eluents. Closely related p-nitrophenylglycosides including some p-nitrophenyl-monosaccharides and p-nitrophenyl-maltooligosaccharides were readily separated on the ODS capillary column within a relatively short analysis time. Also, alpha- and beta-anomers of some p-nitrophenyl-monosaccharides were readily separated in the presence of a small amount of borate buffer in the hydroorganic eluent.