Recent advances in the development and application of microemulsion EKC

Separation and determination of phenolic compounds using novel deep eutectic solvent-in-water microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography

BACKGROUND

Microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) is a mode of capillary electrophoresis with a wide range of applications in which microemulsion is utilized as background electrolyte to achieve the separation of analytes. Microemulsions are composed of oil droplets, aqueous buffer, surfactant, and co-surfactant. Currently, conventional organic reagents act as the most commonly used oil phase in microemulsions, which are unfriendly to the environment. Recently, deep eutectic solvent (DES) has become a new type of eco-friendly solvent due to its non-toxicity. Therefore, it is of great value to establish a new MEEKC method by replacing conventional organic reagents as the oil phase with DES.

RESULTS

The novel DES/W MEEKC method was established for phenolic compounds in Senecio scandens samples. Single-factor experiments and response surface methodology were performed to systematically optimize the crucial parameters for the method, including the type and content of the oil phase, surfactant content, concentration of borax buffer, and pH of the background solution. Under the optimized conditions, satisfactory regression curves were established for all standard analytes with correlation coefficients ≥0.9990. The method featured high sensitivity and favorable accuracy, with the instrumental detection limit in the range of 0.22-1.04 μg/mL, and intraday and interday precision for migration time expressed as relative standard deviations of 0.18-0.82% and 1.25-2.50%, respectively. The DES/W MEEKC method was successfully applied to Senecio scandens with good recoveries of 87.72-106.99%. In conclusion, the newly established DES/W MEEKC method is highly efficient, green and environmentally friendly.

SIGNIFICANCE

DES is considered a green and efficient solvent. The DES/W MEEKC method is highly efficient and environmentally friendly. Actually, the method provides a novel and effective analytical tool for the simultaneous separation and determination of multiple phenolic compounds, especially in complex plant matrices. In the future, the DES/W MEEKC method still has the prospect of being widely used in the separation of other complex phytochemicals.

Dual-opposite injection capillary electrophoresis: Principles and misconceptions

Dual-opposite injection capillary electrophoresis (DOI-CE) is a separation technique that utilizes both ends of the capillary for sample introduction. The electroosmotic flow (EOF) is suppressed to allow all ions to reach the detector quickly. Depending on the individual electrophoretic mobilities of the analytes of interest and the effective length that each analyte travels to the detection window, the elution order of analytes in a DOI-CE separation can vary widely. This review discusses the principles, applications, and limitations of dual-opposite injection capillary electrophoresis. Common misconceptions regarding DOI-CE are clarified.

Microemulsion Electrokinetic Chromatography

Microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) is a special mode of capillary electrophoresis employing a microemulsion as carrier electrolyte. Analytes may partition between the aqueous phase of the microemulsion and its oil droplets which act as a pseudostationary phase. The technique is well suited for the separation of neutral species, in which case charged oil droplets (obtained by addition of an anionic or cationic surfactant) are present. A single set of separation parameters may be sufficient for separation of a wide range of analytes belonging to quite different chemical classes. Fine-tuning of resolution and analysis time may be achieved by addition of organic solvents, by changes in the nature of the surfactants (and cosurfactants) used to stabilize the microemulsion, or by various additives that may undergo some additional interactions with the analytes. Besides the separation of neutral analytes (which may be the most important application area of MEEKC), it can also be employed for cationic and/or anionic species. In this chapter, MEEKC conditions are summarized that have proven their reliability for routine analysis. Furthermore, the mechanisms encountered in MEEKC allow an efficient on-capillary preconcentration of analytes, so that the problem of poor concentration sensitivity of ultraviolet absorbance detection is circumvented.

Advanced CE for chiral analysis of drugs, metabolites, and biomarkers in biological samples

An analysis of recent trends indicates that CE can show real advantages over chromatographic methods in ultratrace enantioselective determination of biologically active compounds in complex biological matrices. It is due to high separation efficiency and many applicable in-capillary electromigration effects in CE (countercurrent migration, stacking effects) enhancing significantly (enantio)separability and enabling effective sample preparation (preconcentration, purification, analyte derivatization). Other possible on-line combinations of CE, such as column coupled CE-CE techniques and implementation of nonelectrophoretic techniques (extraction, membrane filtration, flow injection) into CE, offer additional approaches for highly effective sample preparation and separation. CE matured to a highly flexible and compatible technique enabling its hyphenation with powerful detection systems allowing extremely sensitive detection (e.g. LIF) and/or structural characterization of analytes (e.g. MS). Within the last decade, more as well as less conventional analytical on-line approaches have been effectively utilized in this field and their practical potentialities are demonstrated on many new application examples in this article. Here, three basic areas of (enantioselective) drug bioanalysis are highlighted and supported by a brief theoretical description of each individual approach in a compact review structure (to create integrated view on the topic), including (i) progressive enantioseparation approaches and new enantioselective agents, (ii) in-capillary sample preparation (preconcentration, purification, derivatization), and (iii) detection possibilities related to enhanced sensitivity and structural characterization.

Recent advances in the methodology, optimisation and application of MEEKC

MEEKC is an electrodriven separation technique. Oil-in-water microemulsions (MEs) and to a lesser extent water-in-oil MEs have been used in MEEKC as BGEs to achieve separation of a diverse range of solutes. The more common (oil-in-water) MEs are composed of nanometre-sized droplets of oil suspended in an aqueous buffer. Interfacial tension between the oil and aqueous phase is reduced close to zero by the presence of a surfactant and a co-surfactant. MEEKC is capable of providing fast and efficient separations for a wide range of acidic, basic and neutral, water-soluble and -insoluble compounds. This review details the advances in MEEKC-based separations from the period 2006 to 2008. Areas covered include online sample concentration, chiral separation, suppressed electroosmosis MEEKC, MEEKC-MS, and the use of MEEKC in predicting migration behaviour and solute characteristics. A fundamental introduction to MEEKC, along with the presentation and discussion of recent applications is also included.

On-line concentration of neutral analytes by complexation and acetonitrile sweeping in nonionic microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography with direct ultraviolet detection

To separate and detect neutral solutes in nonionic microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC), a novel method was developed, combining complex formation and acetonitrile (ACN) sweeping. In this report, dynamic borate complexation and on-line sweeping occurred simultaneously during a run. The operating parameters which affected the performance of analyte sweeping in nonionic MEEKC were examined in terms of borate complexation, ACN content, Brij-35 concentration and sample plug length. In addition, the validation of the method included tests of the limit of detection, reproducibility and sensitivity enhancement. 60-110-Fold of magnitude improvement in detection sensitivity for model compounds (ginsenoside Rf, ginsenoside Rb2, ginsenoside Re) using Brij-35 microemulsion was demonstrated. Furthermore, the method was applied to the determination of glucosides in the plant extract.

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.

Capillary separation: micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), a separation mode of capillary electrophoresis (CE), has enabled the separation of electrically neutral analytes. MEKC can be performed by adding an ionic micelle to the running solution of CE without modifying the instrument. Its separation principle is based on the differential migration of the ionic micelles and the bulk running buffer under electrophoresis conditions and on the interaction between the analyte and the micelle. Hence, MEKC's separation principle is similar to that of chromatography. MEKC is a useful technique particularly for the separation of small molecules, both neutral and charged, and yields high-efficiency separation in a short time with minimum amounts of sample and reagents. To improve the concentration sensitivity of detection, several on-line sample preconcentration techniques such as sweeping have been developed.

Capillary electrophoresis-based methods for the determination of lipids--a review

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a high-resolution technique for the separation of complex biological and chemical mixtures. CE continues to emerge as a powerful tool in the determination of lipids. Here we review the analytical potential of CE for the determination of a wide range of lipids. The different classes of lipids are introduced, and the different modes of CE and optimization methods for the separation of lipids are described. The advantages and disadvantages of the different modes of CE compared to traditional methods like gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC) in the determination of lipids are discussed. Finally, the potential of CE in the determination of lipids in the future is illustrated.

Separation of corticosteroids by microemulsion EKC with diethylL-tartrate as the oil phase

A novel microemulsion based on a mixture of diethyl L-tartrate (DET) and SDS was developed for the microemulsion EKC (MEEKC) determination of structurally related steroids. The system consisted of 0.5% w/w DET, 1.7% w/w SDS, 1.2% w/w 1-butanol, 89.6% w/w phosphate buffer (40 mM, pH 7.0), and 7% w/w ACN. With an applied voltage of +10 kV, a baseline separation of aldosterone (A), cortisone acetate (CA), dexamethasone (D), hydrocortisone (H), hydrocortisone acetate (HA), prednisolone (P), prednisolone acetate (PA), prednisone (Ps), triamcinolone (T), and triamcinolone acetonide (TA) could be achieved. Under the optimized conditions, the reproducibility of the retention time (n = 4) for most of the compounds was less than +/-0.8% with the exception of A, Ps, and T. The average number of theoretical plates was 18 800 plates/m. The results were compared with those achieved by the modified micellar EKC (MEKC). MEEKC showed obvious advantages over MEKC for the separation of highly hydrophobic substances. To further evaluate the system, we tested the MEEKC method by analyzing corticosteroids in a spiked urine sample.

Use of nanoparticles in capillary and microchip electrochromatography

Applications of nanoparticles are of rising interest in separation science, due to their favorable surface-to-volume ratio as well as their applicability in miniaturization. A stationary phase with large surface area in combination with an electroosmotic flow-driven system has great potential in a highly efficient separation system. This review covers the use of various nanoparticles as stationary or pseudostationary phase in capillary and microchip electrochromatography. The use of nanoparticles in pseudostationary phase capillary electrochromatography and open-tubular capillary electrochromatography are thoroughly discussed. The stationary and pseudostationary phases that are described include polymer nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, silica nanoparticles, fullerenes and carbon nanotubes.