Approaches to enhancing the sensitivity of capillary electrophoresis methods for the determination of inorganic and small organic anions

Silica nanolayer coated capillary by hydrothermal sol-gel process for amines separation and detection of tyramine in food products

A hydrothermal sol–gel method for reproducible formation of silica nanolayer on the wall of silica capillaries was developed for electrochromatography. The formulation was optimized by observation of uniform gel formation on an optical microscope. The variables of the formulation include types of solvent, water-TEOS ratio, CTAB and urea contents, and mixing method. The procedure produced a coating of silica ca. 100 nm thick layer on the wall of the capillary. Surface morphology of the coating was characterized by SEM, contact angle and chemical composition by FT-IR spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. The coating reduced the electroosmotic mobility producing enhanced separation performance. Eight standard amines (including tyramine and benzhydrylamine, as an internal standard) were separated with peak resolution R_s ≥ 2 for all adjacent peaks and plate number N ≥ 3.0 × 10⁴ m^-1. Calibration was linear from 5 to 200 µg L^-1, with r² > 0.9985 and instrumental LOD of 4.9 μg L^-1. Five samples of food products were diluted and analyzed for the amines using the coated capillary and only tyramine was detected. Intra-day and inter-day precisions were less than 1.2%RSD. Percent recoveries of spiked tyramine in samples were 95 ± 3 to 106 ± 7% (n = 3).

A dual preconcentration method by combining micro matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction with field-enhanced sample injection and micelle to cyclodextrin stacking for sensitive analysis of neutral coumarins

A rapid, sensitive, environmental friendly dual preconcentration method by combining micro matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction with field-enhanced sample injection and micelle to cyclodextrin stacking has been developed for the determination of furocoumarins. Molecular sieve, KIT-6, was used as an adsorbent in micro matrix solid-phase dispersion process. The important parameters affecting off-line and online CE preconcentration efficiency were optimized. Under the optimal experimental conditions, all analytes showed good linearity (R² > 0.999). The LODs of notopterol, isoimperatorin, and imperatorin were 0.1 μg/mL, 1.2 mg/kg, and 1.0 mg/kg, respectively. Compared with the normal CE method, the enrichment times were up to 300. Moreover, Angelicae Dahuricae Radix was used as the mode of complex solid sample matrix to demonstrate the prospect of application of this methodology. The results showed the proposed strategy is promising for determining trace furocoumarins in complex matrix samples, which might be applied as a powerful and economic tool in monitoring illegal cosmetic adding.

Determination of amino acids by capillary and microchip electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection - Theory, instrumentation and applications

This review article summarises aspects of the determination of amino acids using capillary and chip electrophoresis in combination with contactless conductivity detection from their historical beginnings to the present time. Discussion is included of the theory of conductivity detection in electromigration techniques, the design of contactless conductivity cells for detection in capillaries and on microchips, including the use of computer programs for simulation of the conductivity response and the process of the electrophoretic separation of amino acids. Emphasis is placed on optimisation of the background electrolyte composition, chiral separation, multidimensional separation, stacking techniques and the use of multidetection systems. There is also a description of clinical applications, the determination of amino acids in foodstuffs, waters, soils and composts with emphasis on modern techniques of sample treatment, such as microdialysis, liquid membrane extraction and many other techniques.

Utilization of a Crown Ether/Amine-Type Rotaxane as a Probe for the Versatile Detection of Anions and Acids by Thin-Layer Chromatography

A crown ether/amine-type [2]rotaxane was synthesized and utilized as a probe for the detection of acids and anions. The addition of acids to the amine-type [2]rotaxane solution generated corresponding crown ether/ammonium-type [2]rotaxanes, which were purified by silica gel column chromatography as ammonium salts. The isolated yields of the [2]rotaxanes, possessing a variety of anions, depended on the acidity and polarity of the counter anions. The behaviours of the ammonium-type [2]rotaxanes on thin-layer chromatography (TLC) silica gel reflected the properties of the counter anions. The treatment of the amine-type [2]rotaxane with acids afforded the corresponding ammonium-type [2]rotaxanes bearing several different anions. The ammonium-type [2]rotaxanes behaved similarly to the purified [2]rotaxanes on the TLC silica gel. Furthermore, we succeeded in the analysis of anions using mixtures of the amine-type [2]rotaxane and salts in an appropriate solvent. We demonstrated the detection of anions by the combination of TLC and the utilization of the [2]rotaxane probe.

Purification of anionic fluorescent probes through precise fraction collection with a two-point detection system using multiple-stacking preparative capillary transient isotachophoresis

A novel combination of CE-based separation techniques was used for the precise fractionation of ionic compounds from impurities. The combination of on-capillary concentration and separation using transient isotachophoresis, with multiple injections and a two-point detection system provided higher efficiency, and accuracy at a microliter-scale injection volume, than when CE was individually used for purification. In this paper, we present successful applications of the CE fractionation techniques for the purification of fluorescein, fluorescein-4-isothiocyanate, two fluorescent metal ion probes, and a fluorescein-modified DNA aptamer. The purity of the isolated fluorescent probes ranged from 95 to 99%. Such high purity could not be achieved using chromatographic purification techniques. With relatively low dilution factors of 6-9, the purified probe solutions were practical for use as purified stock solutions. In addition, the fluorescein-modified DNA aptamer purified by our method was successfully used in a thrombin binding assay. The method developed was useful for the purification of anionic fluorescent reagents to be of ultratrace analytical grade for use with CE-LIF.

A three-dimensional printed electromembrane extraction device for capillary electrophoresis

A concentric electromembrane extraction preconcentration device was designed and fabricated using fused deposition modelling 3D printing. The device consisted of a hemispherical electrode sample vial printed from a filament of conductive polylactic acid (PLA), into which sat a smaller hemispherical 3D printed porous membrane acceptor vial. Application of voltage between a point-electrode placed in the center of 20 μL solution inside the acceptor vial and the electrode vial containing 1 mL of sample, enabled anion migration through the 3D printed porous material into the acceptor solution. Electromembrane extraction was proved using fluorescein for imaging of the extraction process, with preconcentration rates of 0.833 μM/sec at 120 V with close to 95% recovery. The performance of the fabricated porous 3D printed device was evaluated for the preconcentration of anions from water prior to capillary electrophoresis detection. Preconcentration factors ranging between 36-44 were obtained for chloride, nitrate, perchlorate and sulfate, while a lower performance was observed for weaker acids as fluoride and phosphate (3-4). The limit of detection (LOD) was determined to be 0.16 μM, 0.18 μM and 0.18 μM for NO₃^-, ClO₄^- and SO₄^2- respectively. The extraction and quantitation of ions from a soil slurry without filtration, namely NO₃^- and SO₄^2- content was determined to be 0.24 and 0.03 mmol/100 g of soil, respectively which are values in the range of those typically reported in soil samples.

Microfluidic Techniques for Analytes Concentration

Microfluidics has been undergoing fast development in the past two decades due to its promising applications in biotechnology, medicine, and chemistry. Towards these applications, enhancing concentration sensitivity and detection resolution are indispensable to meet the detection limits because of the dilute sample concentrations, ultra-small sample volumes and short detection lengths in microfluidic devices. A variety of microfluidic techniques for concentrating analytes have been developed. This article presents an overview of analyte concentration techniques in microfluidics. We focus on discussing the physical mechanism of each concentration technique with its representative advancements and applications. Finally, the article is concluded by highlighting and discussing advantages and disadvantages of the reviewed techniques.

Application of pH-sensitive magnetic nanoparticles microgel as a sorbent for the preconcentration of phenoxy acid herbicides in water samples

Introducing new sorbents is an interesting and debatable issue in the field of sample preparation. In this study, for the first time, a pH-sensitive magnetic nanoparticles microgel, Fe3O4-SiO2-oly(4-vinylpyridine), was introduced as a new sorbent. The operating mechanism of this sorbent is based on changing the pH value of the sample and consequently the structure of this pH-sensitive microgel is changed. So that, at pH 6.0 the microgel was ready to accept and load the analytes (partial swelling), and when the pH was increased to 8.0, the microgel was closed and analytes were trapped inside the sorbent (deswelling). At pH 2.0 the microgel was opened and the analytes were released from the microgel (swelling). As the adsorption and desorption mechanism is based on changing the pH and only aqueous medium is used as the effluent solvent, this method is introduced as a green extraction method. The use of this microgel resulted in excellent figures of merit. The limits of quantitation and detection for herbicides were obtained within the range of 10-30 and 3-10 ng mL(-1), respectively. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to determine the concentration of phenoxy acid herbicides as hazardous materials in water samples.

Approaches to enhancing the sensitivity of carbohydrate separations in capillary electrophoresis

Electrophoresis in both capillaries (CE) and microchips (ME) is an extremely powerful liquid phase-separation technique that is indispensable for the separation of carbohydrates. It is capable of separating both small mono- and disaccharides, through to more complex oligo- and polysaccharides, with high resolution, but as with all CE and ME separations, the detection limits are often inferior to those that can be achieved with liquid chromatographic methods. One avenue to address this is to use an on-line concentration strategy. Various approaches have been developed over the past 20 years, and this chapter will highlight their application to improve the sensitivity of carbohydrate separations in both CE and ME.

Review of recent developments of on-line sample stacking techniques and their application in capillary electrophoresis

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) has become one of the most useful tools in separation science because of its high separation efficiency, low cost, versatility, ease of sample preparation and automation. However, some limitations of CE, such as poor concentration sensitivity due to its lower sample loading and shorter optical path length, limits its further applications in separation science. In order to solve this problem, various on-line sample preconcentration techniques such as transient isotachophoresis preconcentration, field-enhanced sample stacking, micelle to solvent stacking, micelle collapse, dynamic pH junction, sweeping, solid phase extraction, single drop microextraction and liquid phase microextraction have been combined with CE. Recent developments, applications and some variants together with different combinations of these techniques integrating in CE are reviewed here and our discussions will be confined to the past three years (2008–2011).

A rapid sample screening method for authenticity control of whiskey using capillary electrophoresis with online preconcentration

The present study aimed to develop a methodology using capillary electrophoresis for the determination of sinapaldehyde, syringaldehyde, coniferaldehyde, and vanillin in whiskey samples. The main objective was to obtain a screening method to differentiate authentic samples from seized samples suspected of being false using the phenolic aldehydes as chemical markers. The optimized background electrolyte was composed of 20 mmol L(-1) sodium tetraborate with 10% MeOH at pH 9.3. The study examined two kinds of sample stacking, using a long-end injection mode: normal sample stacking (NSM) and sample stacking with matrix removal (SWMR). In SWMR, the optimized injection time of the samples was 42 s (SWMR42); at this time, no matrix effects were observed. Values of r were >0.99 for the both methods. The LOD and LOQ were better than 100 and 330 mg mL(-1) for NSM and better than 22 and 73 mg L(-1) for SWMR. The CE-UV reliability in the aldehyde analysis in the real sample was compared statistically with LC-MS/MS methodology, and no significant differences were found, with a 95% confidence interval between the methodologies.

Quantitative analysis of specific target DNA oligomers using a DNA-immobilized packed-column system

Although a DNA-immobilized packed-column (DNA-packed column), which relies on sequence-dependent interactions of target DNA or mRNA (in the mobile phase) with DNA probes (on the silica particle) in a continuous flow process, could be considered as an alternative platform for quantitative analysis of specific DNA to DNA chip methodology, the performance in practice has not been satisfactory. In this study, we set up a more efficient quantitative analysis system based on a DNA-packed column by employing a temperature-gradient strategy and DMSO-containing mobile phase. Using a temperature-gradient strategy based on T(m) values of probe/target DNA hybridizations and DMSO (5%)-containing mobile phase, we succeeded in the quantitative analysis of a specific complementary target distinguishable from non-complementary DNA oligomers or other similar DNA samples. In addition, two different target DNA oligomers even with similar T(m) values were separated and detected quantitatively by using a packed column carrying two different DNA probes.

Recent advances in enhancing the sensitivity of electrophoresis and electrochromatography in capillaries and microchips (2008-2010)

Capillary electrophoresis has been alive for over two decades now; yet, its sensitivity is still regarded as being inferior to that of more traditional methods of separation such as HPLC. As such, it is unsurprising that overcoming this issue still generates much scientific interest. This review continues to update this series of reviews, first published in Electrophoresis in 2007, with an update published in 2009 and covers material published through to June 2010. It includes developments in the fields of stacking, covering all methods from field-amplified sample stacking and large volume sample stacking, through to ITP, dynamic pH junction and sweeping. Attention is also given to on-line or in-line extraction methods that have been used for electrophoresis.

Basic principles of electrolyte chemistry for microfluidic electrokinetics. Part II: Coupling between ion mobility, electrolysis, and acid-base equilibria

We present elements of electrolyte dynamics and electrochemistry relevant to microfluidic electrokinetics experiments. In Part I of this two-paper series, we presented a review and introduction to the fundamentals of acid-base chemistry. Here, we first summarize the coupling between acid-base equilibrium chemistry and electrophoretic mobilities of electrolytes, at both infinite and finite dilution. We then discuss the effects of electrode reactions on microfluidic electrokinetic experiments and derive a model for pH changes in microchip reservoirs during typical direct-current electrokinetic experiments. We present a model for the potential drop in typical microchip electrophoresis device. The latter includes finite element simulation to estimate the relative effects of channel and reservoir dimensions. Finally, we summarize effects of electrode and electrolyte characteristics on potential drop in microfluidic devices. As a whole, the discussions highlight the importance of the coupling between electromigration and electrophoresis, acid-base equilibria, and electrochemical reactions.

On-line sample stacking of peptides in capillary electrophoresis for the study of prebiotic reactions between alpha,alpha-dialkylated amino acids and amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides

The reaction between alpha,alpha-dialkylated amino acids and amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides is slow leading to low concentrations of products (peptides). The detection by capillary electrophoresis of the analytes contained in such samples is therefore a challenging issue. In this work, on-line sample pre-concentration methods based on field-amplified sample stacking have been implemented and compared. Because of the high ionic strength present in the sample matrix, samples were diluted with an organic solvent prior to analysis to decrease the sample conductivity. Different modes of sample injection (field amplified sample injection (FASI), hydrodynamic normal sample stacking (NSS) or large volume sample stacking (LVSS)) were compared. Pre-concentration factors of 20 for FASI, about 30-40 for NSS and 60 for LVSS were obtained for the analysis of (l,l) dipeptide of valine in a large excess of isovaline and 0.2M of ionic strength. For LVSS application and resolution optimisation, a new non-covalent coating based on the partial modification of the capillary surface was used to tune the electroosmotic flow magnitude and to pump the sample matrix out of the capillary. This on-line sample pre-concentration step allowed confirming that oligopeptides including alpha,alpha-dialkylated amino acids are formed during the reaction between alpha,alpha-dialkylated amino acids and N-carboxyanhydride amino acids.

Comparison of off- and in-line solid-phase extraction for enhancing sensitivity in capillary electrophoresis using ochratoxin as a model compound

This paper proposes and compares two approaches based on off- and in-line solid-phase extraction (SPE), intended to enhance sensitivity in capillary electrophoresis with ultraviolet detection (CE-UV) using as a model the determination of ochratoxin A (OA) in river water samples. In the off-line SPE mode, the reversed-phase sorbent (octadecilsylane, C(18)) selectively retains the target analyte (OA) and allows large volumes of the sample (70 mL) to be introduced and subsequently eluted in a small volume (0.1 mL) of an appropriate solution. In the in-line SPE mode, a custom-made microcartridge is inserted near the inlet of the capillary, which is filled with the same C(18) sorbent. This solid phase selectively retains OA present in a sample volume as low as approximately 640 microL for subsequent elution with ca. 135 nL of an appropriate eluent. The limit of detection (LOD) obtained with the in-line SPE method was 1 ng L(-1), which is 3 orders of magnitude lower than that obtained with CE-UV and roughly 1 order lower than that provided by the off-line SPE-CE-UV method.

Pressure and electrokinetic injections for on-line sample stacking neutral analytes in microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography with salt-containing matrixes

An on-line technique for pressure and electrokinetic injections of long sample plugs with simultaneous stacking of neutral analytes (notoginsenoside R(1), ginsenoside Rg(1), ginsenoside Rf, ginsenoside Rh(1), ginsenoside Rd, ginsenoside Rg3) in microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography is presented. The effects of salt concentration, sample plug length, organic modification of the sample matrix, oil phase and SDS concentration on stacking efficiency were examined in order to optimize the two injection methods. In microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography, the effect of the type of oil and SDS content on stacking mechanism is often sophisticated. This study had demonstrated that the oil type and SDS content in microemulsion indeed markedly altered the affinity of microemulsion with analytes. Finally, in comparison with the electrokinetic injection method, the most apparent disadvantages of the pressure injection method were the relatively high LOD and poor reproducibility.

Measurement of region-specific nitrate levels of the posterior chamber of the rat eye using low-flow push-pull perfusion

The determination of the presence of nitric oxide metabolites in the rat vitreous cavity in a regioselective manner is complicated by the size and shape of the eye as well as the diffusivity of the molecule and its metabolites. In this work, in vivo low-flow push-pull perfusion sampling was utilized with a rapid capillary electrophoretic assay to monitor levels of the major NO metabolite, nitrate, at the vitreoretinal interface (VRI) of normal and aged rat models. The sampling probe tips were placed in three different positions in the posterior chamber through a 29-gauge guide needle. Sampling was performed along the VRI over the optic nerve head and regions peripheral to the optic nerve head. Additionally, samples were collected from the middle vitreous region to compare to VRI sampling. A significant (P < 0.05) difference in the perfusate nitrate concentration was observed in each location, which may be due to the source of NO production or the clearance mechanism of the molecule from the vitreous cavity. Infusion of L-NAME with physiological saline led to a significant decrease (35%) in the observed nitrate level. LFPPP was then utilized to observe nitrate levels after an average of 4.5 months of aging. A 3-fold increase in the mean level of nitrate over the optic nerve head was observed in mature animals compared to younger control animals. Precise measurement of NO metabolites along the VRI may provide insights into the function of NO in maintaining homeostatic conditions and the molecular changes at the diseased retina.

Temperature gradient focusing in a PDMS/glass hybrid microfluidic chip

This paper reports the application of temperature gradient focusing (TGF) in a PDMS/glass hybrid microfluidic chip. With TGF, by the combination of a temperature gradient along a microchannel, an applied electric field, and a buffer with a temperature-dependent ionic strength, analytes are focused by balancing their electrophoretic velocities against the bulk velocity of the buffer containing the analytes. In this work, Oregon Green 488 carboxylic acid was concentrated approximately 30 times as high as the initial concentration in 45 s at moderate electric strength of 70 V/cm and a temperature gradient of 55 degrees C across the PDMS/glass hybrid microfluidic chip with a 1 cm long capillary.