Chip-based enantioselective open-tubular capillary electrochromatography using bovine serum albumin-gold nanoparticle conjugates as the stationary phase

Enantioseparation/Recognition based on nano techniques/materials

Enantiomers show different behaviors in interaction with the chiral environment. Due to their identical chemical structure and their wide application in various industries, such as agriculture, medicine, pesticide, food, and so forth, their separation is of great importance. Today, the term "nano" is frequently encountered in all fields. Technology and measuring devices are moving towards miniaturization, and the usage of nanomaterials in all sectors is expanding substantially. Given that scientists have recently attempted to apply miniaturized techniques known as nano-liquid chromatography/capillary-liquid chromatography, which were originally accomplished in 1988, as well as the widespread usage of nanomaterials for chiral resolution (back in 1989), this comprehensive study was developed. Searching the terms "nano" and "enantiomer separation" on scientific websites such as Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science yields articles that either use miniaturized instruments or apply nanomaterials as chiral selectors with a variety of chemical and electrochemical detection techniques, which are discussed in this article.

An overview of open tubular liquid chromatography with a focus on the coupling with mass spectrometry for the analysis of small molecules

Open tubular liquid chromatography (OT-LC) can provide superior chromatographic performance and more favorable mass spectrometry (MS) detection conditions. These features could provide enhanced sensitivity when coupled with electrospray ionization sources (ESI-) and lead to unprecedented detection capabilities if interfaced with a highly structural informative electron ionization (EI) source. In the past, the exploitation of OT columns in liquid chromatography evolved slowly. However, the recent instrumental developments in capillary/nanoLC-MS created new opportunities in developing and applying OT-LC-MS. Currently, the analytical advantages of OT-LC-MS are mainly exploited in the fields of proteomics and biosciences analysis. Nevertheless, under the right conditions, OT-LC-MS can also offer superior chromatographic performance and enhanced sensitivity in analyzing small molecules. This review will provide an overview of the latest developments in OT-LC-MS, focusing on the wide variety of employed separation mechanisms, innovative stationary phases, emerging column fabrication technologies, and new OT formats. In the same way, the OT-LC's opportunities and shortcomings coupled to both ESI and EI will be discussed, highlighting the complementary character of those two ionization modes to expand the LC's detection boundaries in the performance of targeted and untargeted studies.

Recent advances in microchip enantioseparation and analysis

This review summarizes recent developments (over the past decade) in the field of microfluidics-based solutions for enantiomeric separation and detection. The progress in various formats of microchip electrodriven separations, such as MCE, microchip electrochromatography, and multidimensional separation techniques, is discussed. Innovations covering chiral stationary phases, surface coatings, and modification strategies to improve resolution, as well as integration with detection systems, are reported. Finally, combinations with other microfluidic functional units are also presented and highlighted.

Rapid preparation and evaluation of chiral open-tubular columns supported with bovine serum album and zeolite imidazolate framework-8 for mini-capillary electrochromatography

In this work, a class of novel and eco-friendly open-tubular (OT) chiral column was presented for the first time by one step preparation with zeolite imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) and bovine serum album (BSA) based on electrostatic adsorption and adsorption affinity. This stationary phase materials combined the features of large surface areas and adsorption affinity of ZIF-8, and also the multiple chiral binding sites of BSA, which contributes to the π-interaction and hydrophobic interaction with the analytes. The separation performance of BSA@ZIF-8-OT chiral columns was evaluated with a miniaturized capillary electrochromatography and amperometric detection (mini-CEC-AD) system; in particular, nine groups of model molecules, including homologues, structural isomers, and chiral compounds, were baseline separated under the certain optimum conditions. The RSDs of run-to-run, day-to-day, column-to-column, and batch-to-batch reproducibility were less than 13.8 %. Furthermore, the prepared OT columns were successfully applied to fast analysis of ephedrine isomers in Chinese herb ephedra, and the LODs achieved 1.5-2.0 ng mL^-1 (S/N=3) by an electrophoretic stacking technique of moving chemical reaction boundary. This mini-CEC-AD system with BSA@ZIF-8-OT chiral columns provides a promising potential in pharmaceutical analysis due to its fast, sensitive, enantioselective, and low-cost characteristics.

Open-tubular Capillary Electrochromatography with Janus Structured Au-Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Coating as Stationary Phase

A novel Au-Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles-based capillary column was fabricated by magnetic approach for open-tubular capillary electrochromatography (OT-CEC). The bifunctional dumbbell-like Janus Au-Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (Au-Fe₃O₄ NPs) were prepared through a hydrothermal synthesis strategy, and the morphology was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Multilayers Au-Fe₃O₄ NPs were easily coated onto the inner surface of silica capillary by an external magnetic field to generate an Au-Fe₃O₄ NPs-based column. Compared with a bare capillary, the modified surface exhibited more stable and suppressed electroosmotic mobility. The column showed good separation efficiency for neutral analytes in the OT-CEC separation mode, with theoretical plate numbers of up to 79705 per meter for naphthalene. The successful separation of dihydroxy benzene isomers and proteins demonstrated that the column exhibits a reasonable separation performance. The reproducibility of the Au-Fe₃O₄ NPs capillary was studied, with relative standard deviations (RSD) for day-to-day and column-to-column less than 1 and 1.75%, respectively.

Preparation of a thiols β-cyclodextrin/gold nanoparticles-coated open tubular column for capillary electrochromatography enantioseparations

Inspired by the distinct chemical and physical properties of nanoparticles, here a novel open-tubular capillary electrochromatography column was prepared by electrostatic assembly of poly(diallydimethylammonium chloride) onto the inner surface of a fused-silica capillary, followed by self-adsorption of negatively charged SH-β-cyclodextrin/gold nanoparticles. The formation of the SH-β-cyclodextrin/gold nanoparticles coated capillary was confirmed and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometry. The results of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometry studies indicated that SH-β-cyclodextrin/gold nanoparticles were successfully coated on the inner wall of the capillary column. The performance of the SH-β-cyclodextrin/gold nanoparticles coated capillary was validated by the analysis of six pairs of chiral drugs, namely zopiclone, carvedilol, salbutamol, terbutaline sulfate, phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride, and ibuprofen. Satisfactory enantioseparation results were achieved, confirming the use of gold nanoparticles as the support could enhance the phase ratio of the open-tubular capillary column. Additionally, the stability and reproducibility of the SH-β-cyclodextrin/gold nanoparticles coated capillary column were also investigated. Then, this proposed method was well validated with good linearity (≥0.999), recovery (90.0-93.5%) and repeatability, and was successfully used for enantioseparation of ibuprofen in spiked plasma samples, which indicated the new column's potential usage in biological analysis.

Enantiomeric Recognition and Separation by Chiral Nanoparticles

Chiral molecules are stereoselective with regard to specific biological functions. Enantiomers differ considerably in their physiological reactions with the human body. Safeguarding the quality and safety of drugs requires an efficient analytical platform by which to selectively probe chiral compounds to ensure the extraction of single enantiomers. Asymmetric synthesis is a mature approach to the production of single enantiomers; however, it is poorly suited to mass production and allows for only specific enantioselective reactions. Furthermore, it is too expensive and time-consuming for the evaluation of therapeutic drugs in the early stages of development. These limitations have prompted the development of surface-modified nanoparticles using amino acids, chiral organic ligands, or functional groups as chiral selectors applicable to a racemic mixture of chiral molecules. The fact that these combinations can be optimized in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and enantioselectivity makes them ideal for enantiomeric recognition and separation. In chiral resolution, molecules bond selectively to particle surfaces according to homochiral interactions, whereupon an enantiopure compound is extracted from the solution through a simple filtration process. In this review article, we discuss the fabrication of chiral nanoparticles and look at the ways their distinctive surface properties have been adopted in enantiomeric recognition and separation.

Enantiomeric separation of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and isoprenaline by capillary electrophoresis using streptomycin-modified gold nanoparticles

Enantiomeric separations of the adrenergic compounds adrenaline, noradrenaline, and isoprenaline were studied. Electromigrative separations were performed in uncoated fused silica capillaries using streptomycin-modified gold nanoparticles (ST-AuNPs) as an additive to the background electrolyte. The ST-AuNPs are shown to serve as an effective chiral selector. The modified AuNPs were characterized in terms of size and zeta potential, and by IR and UV-vis spectra. The effects of ST-AuNP concentration, pH value, temperature, and separation voltage on the separations were systematically studied. Under optimized experimental conditions, racemic mixtures of the respective adrenergic drugs were baseline-separated within 7 min with a resolution of up to 7.5. The relative standard deviations of the resolution in inter-day and intra-day studies (n = 5) were generally <5%. Graphical abstract Schematic of the method for enantiomeric separations. (A): At low concentrations of streptavidinylated gold nanoparticles (ST-AuNPs), the better matching enantiomer is preferably "transported" by the ST-AuNPs; (B) ST-AuNP concentration increased to an optimal value; (C): The ST-AuNP concentration is too high; even poorly matching enantiomers will be transported simultaneously.

A protein-based mixed selector chiral monolithic stationary phase in capillary electrochromatography

A mixed selector CSP combines the enantioselectivities of both individual proteins, thus expanding their application range practically.

Enantioselective open-tubular capillary electrochromatography using a β-cyclodextrin–gold nanoparticles–polydopamine coating as a stationary phase

A novel β-cyclodextrin–gold nanoparticles–polydopamine modified open tubular column was prepared for the chiral separation of enantiomers in capillary electrochromatography.

Application of Chiral Ionic Liquid-Modified Gold Nanoparticles in the Chiral Recognition of Amino Acid Enantiomers

Two chiral ionic liquids (ILs), namely 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazole l-tartrate (EMIML-Tar) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazole l-lactate (EMIML-Lac), were used to modify gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for chiral recognition of amino acid enantiomers. Transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and capillary electrophoresis were used for the characterization of chiral IL-modified AuNPs. Meanwhile, the performance of l-tartaric acid and l-lactic acid as modifiers was investigated to make a comparison. The chiral recognition mechanism is further discussed.

Approaches for enantioselective resolution of pharmaceuticals by miniaturised separation techniques with new chiral phases based on nanoparticles and monolithis

This article discusses new developments in the preparation of nanoparticles and monoliths with emphasis upon their application as the stationary and pseudo-stationary phases for miniaturised liquid phase separation techniques, which have occurred in the last 10 years (from 2006 to the actuality). References included in this review represent current trends and state of the art in the application of these materials to the analysis, by EKC, CEC and miniaturised chromatography, of chiral compounds with environmental interest such as pharmaceuticals. Due to their extraordinary properties, columns prepared with these new chiral stationary or pseudo-stationary phases, based on materials such as gold nanoparticles, metal-organic frameworks, ordered mesoporous silicas, carbonaceous materials, polymeric-based and silica-based monoliths or molecularly imprinted materials, can usually show some improvements in the separation selectivity, column efficiency and chemical stability in comparison with conventional chiral columns available commercially.

Enantioseparations in open-tubular capillary electrochromatography: Recent advances and applications

This review highlights recent advances and applications in open-tubular capillary electrochromatography (OT-CEC) for enantioseparations during the last decade. Although extensive research has been conducted in the area of separations by use of CEC, and a big number of reviews have been published, there is not a review on exclusively the use of chiral stationary phases (CSPs) in OT-CEC for enantioseparations. Therefore, in this review, the design and synthesis of different CSPs are presented, and their potential applications in OT-CEC for enantioseparations are discussed. The different approaches to CSP development include chiral nanomaterials, porous layers, molecular imprinting, sol-gel technique, polyelectrolyte multilayer coating, polymeric coating and others.

Layer-by-layer self-assembly of polydopamine/gold nanoparticle/thiol coating as the stationary phase for open tubular capillary electrochromatography

Much attention has been paid to utilizing polydopamine (PDA) as the stationary phase in open-tubular capillary electrochromatography (OT-CEC) owing to its diverse properties, such as strong adhesion to various surfaces, latent reactivity toward amine and thiol groups and metal ion chelating/redox activities. In this study, a novel open-tubular capillary column coated with polydopamine/gold nanoparticles/thiols (PDA/Au NPs/thiols) has been fabricated based on the multiple properties of PDA for the first time. The capillary inner surface was firstly functionalized with a layer of PDA/Au NPs using the strong adhesive and metal ion redox properties of PDA. Thiols were then introduced and covalently reacted with the hybrid coating based on the Michael addition reaction of PDA and thiols and also Au-S bonds. Moreover, benefitting from the porosity of PDA, layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly was further applied to increase the amounts of stationary phase (Au NPs and thiols), which can significantly enhance the separation effectiveness and stability of the coated column. The formation of the PDA/Au NP/thiol coating in the capillary was confirmed and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS) and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy). Then the separation effectiveness of the PDA/Au NP/thiol@capillary was verified by the separation of alkylbenzenes, which can achieve baseline separation easily with high column efficiency. In addition, the column showed long lifetime and good stability. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for intra-day and inter-day repeatability of the PDA/Au NP/thiol@capillary were lower than 5%. Therefore, the layer-by-layer self-assembly of PDA/Au NPs/thiols on the capillary inner-surface could be an effective capillary modification strategy.

Gold nanomaterials based pseudostationary phases in capillary electrophoresis: a brand-new attempt at chondroitin sulfate isomers separation

In this work, a CE method with bare gold nanorods (GNRs) based pseudostationary phase was developed and applied for the separation of chondroitin sulfate (CS) isomers, CS, and dermatan sulfate (DS). The separation efficiency was investigated by varying the experimental parameters such as concentration and pH of the BGE, separation voltage, internal diameter of capillary, different size, and morphology of gold nanomaterials. Results showed that different size and morphology of gold nanomaterials had different effects on the separation of CS and DS. The best separation of CS and DS was achieved in the BGE composed of aqueous 150 mmol/L (mM) ethylenediamine + 20 mM sodium dihydrogen phosphate + 30% v/v GNRs, pH 4.5, at the separation voltage of -10 kV. Capillary was 59.2 cm in length (effective length 49 cm), 50 μm id capillary thermostated at 25°C. CE with bare GNRs used as pseudostationary phase was shown to be a suitable technique for the separation of CS and DS mixtures with wider peaks. RSD of migration time and peak area of CS and DS were 0.13, 0.14 and 0.86, 1.07%, respectively.

Enantiomer separation of propranolol and tryptophan using bovine serum albumin functionalized silica nanoparticles as adsorbents

The immobilization of popular chiral selectors on the surface of nanomaterials to prepare new chiral adsorbents for preparative chiral separation is a research hotspot in separation science nowadays.

Chiral imprinting in molten gallium

The question of the possibility of imprinting chirality in molten metals was addressed in the current paper. By optical rotation and CD measurements we have shown that chirality was indeed imprinted in molten Ga.

Enantiomeric separation by microchip electrophoresis using bovine serum albumin conjugated magnetic core-shell Fe3 O4 @Au nanocomposites as stationary phase

In this work, a novel enantioselective MCE was developed employing BSA-conjugated Fe3 O4 @Au nanoparticles (Fe3 O4 @Au NPs) as stationary phase. Fe3 O4 @Au NPs with high magnetic responsively, excellent solubility, and high dispersibility in water were prepared through a sonochemical synthesis strategy. BSA was then immobilized onto the Fe3 O4 @Au NPs surfaces through the well-developed interaction between Au NPs and amine groups of BSA to form Fe3 O4 @Au NPs-BSA conjugates, which were then locally packed into PDMS microchannels with the help of magnets. The resultant Fe3 O4 @Au NPs-BSA conjugates not only have the magnetism of Fe3 O4 NPs that make them easily manipulated by an external magnetic field, but also have the larger surface and excellent biocompatibility of Au shell, which can incorporate much more biomolecules and well maintain their biological activity. In addition, the successful BSA decorations endowed Fe3 O4 @Au NPs-BSA conjugates with pH-tunable water solubility related to the pI of BSA (pI 4.7) and led to enhanced stability against high ionic strength. Compared with the native PDMS microchannel, the modified surfaces exhibited more stable and suppressed electroosmotic mobility, and less nonspecific adsorption toward analytes. Successful separation of chiral amino acids (tryptophan and threonine) and ofloxacin enantiomers demonstrate that the constructed MCE columns own ideal enantioselectivity. The results are expected to open up a new possibility for high-throughput screening of enantiomers with protein targets as well as a new application of magnetic NPs.

Microfluidic electrophoretic mobility shift assays for quantitative biochemical analysis

Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) play an important role in analytical chemistry, quantitative bioscience, and point-of-care diagnostics. Emerging microfluidic lab-on-a-chip technologies bring high throughput and multiplexed analysis to affinity-based electrophoretic separations, greatly advancing the performance of traditional EMSAs. This review elaborates on the relevant theoretical basis for EMSAs, surveys microfluidic-based EMSA applications in molecular conformation analyses, immunoassays, affinity assays and genomics, and outlines challenges and potential future improvements needed from this powerful assay.

A versatile polydopamine platform for facile preparation of protein stationary phase for chip-based open tubular capillary electrochromatography enantioseparation

A novel, simple, and economical method for the preparation of chiral stationary phases for chip-based enantioselective open tubular capillary electrochromatography (OT-CEC) using polydopamine (PDA) coating as an adhesive layer was reported for the first time. After the poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluidic chip was filled with dopamine (DA) solution, PDA film was gradually formed and deposited on the inner wall of microchannel as permanent coating via the oxidation of DA by the oxygen dissolved in the solution. Due to possessing plentiful catechol and amine functional groups, PDA coating can serve as a versatile multifunctional platform for further secondary reactions, leading to tailoring of the coatings for protein bioconjugation by the thiols and amines via Michael addition or Schiff base reactions. Bovine serum albumin (BSA), acting as a target protein, was then stably and homogeneously immobilized in the PDA-coated PDMS microchannel to fabricate a novel protein stationary phase. Compared with the native PDMS microchannels, the modified surfaces exhibited much better wettability, more stable and enhanced electroosmotic mobility, and less nonspecific adsorption. The water contact angle and electroosmotic flow of PDA/BSA-coated PDMS substrate were measured to be 44° and 2.83×10(-4)cm(2)V(-1)s(-1), compared to those of 112° and 2.10×10(-4)cm(2)V(-1)s(-1) from the untreated one, respectively. Under a mild condition, d- and l-tryptophan were efficiently separated with a resolution of 1.68 within 130s utilizing a separation length of 37mm coupled with in-column amperometric detection on the PDA/BSA-coated PDMS microchips. This present versatile platform, facile conjugation of biomolecules onto microchip surfaces via mussel adhesive protein inspired coatings, may offer new processing strategies to prepare a biomimetic surface design on microfluidic chips, which is promising in high-throughput and complex biological analysis.

Microfluidic Paper-Based Analytical Devices (μPADs) and Micro Total Analysis Systems (μTAS): Development, Applications and Future Trends

Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices and micro total analysis systems are relatively new group of analytical tools, capable of analyzing complex biochemical samples containing macromolecules, proteins, nucleic acids, toxins, cells or pathogens. Within one analytical run, fluidic manipulations like transportation, sorting, mixing or separation are available. Recently, microfluidic devices are a subject of extensive research, mostly for fast and non-expensive biochemical analysis but also for screening of medical samples and forensic diagnostics. They are used for neurotransmitter detection, cancer diagnosis and treatment, cell and tissue culture growth and amplification, drug discovery and determination, detection and identification of microorganisms. This review summarizes development history, basic fabrication methods, applications and also future development trends for production of such devices.

Fabrication of high-quality microfluidic solid-phase chromatography columns

Here we report a low-pressure bead packing technique for the robust integration of high-performance chromatography columns in poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfluidic devices made by multilayer soft lithography (MSL). A novel column geometry featuring micrometer-sized bypass channels along the entire length of the separation channel is used to achieve rapid packing of multiple high-quality bead bed columns in parallel with near-perfect yield. Pulse tests show that these microfluidic columns achieve exceptional reproducibility and efficiency, with measured plate counts of 1,650,000/m ± 7%, corresponding to a reduced plate height of h = 0.12 ± 7%. The combination of high-performance chromatography columns and valve-based microfluidics offers new opportunities for the integration of sample processing with preparative and analytical separations for biology and chemistry.