Mixed ligand monolithic columns for reversed-phase capillary electrochromatography via hydrophobic and π interactions

Analysis of small interfering RNA by capillary electrophoresis in hydroxyethylcellulose solutions

The analysis of small interfering RNA (siRNA) is important for gene function studies and drug developments. We employed CE to study the separation of siRNA ladder marker, which were ten double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) fragments ranged from 20 to 1000 bp, in solutions of hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) polymer with different concentrations and molecular weights (Mws). Migration mechanism of dsRNA during CE was studied by the mobility and resolution length (RL) plots. We found that the RL depended on not only the concentration of HEC, but also the Mw of HEC. For instance, RL of small dsRNA fragment was more influenced by concentration of high Mw HEC than large dsRNA fragment and RL of large dsRNA fragment was more influenced by concentration of low Mw HEC than small dsRNA fragment. In addition, we found electrophoretic evidence that the structure of dsRNA was more compact than dsDNA with the same length. In practice, we succeeded to separate the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase siRNA in the mixture of the siRNA ladder marker within 4 min.

Capillary and microchip electrophoretic analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous contaminants which can reach the environment and food in different ways. Because of their high toxicity, two international regulatory institutions, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the European Food Safety Authority, have classified PAHs as priority pollutants, generating an important demand for the detection and identification of PAHs. Thus, sensitive, fast, and cheap methods for the analysis of PAHs in environmental and food samples are urgently needed. Within this context, electrophoresis, in capillary or microchip format, displays attractive features. This review presents and critically discusses the published literature on the different approaches to capillary and microchip electrophoresis analysis of PAHs.

Recent advances in nonpolar and polar organic monoliths for HPLC and CEC

This article is aimed at providing a review of the progress made in the field over the period 2011 to present in order to expand in parts on two previous reviews (S. Karenga and Z. El Rassi, Electrophoresis, 2011, 32, 90-104; D. Gunasena and Z. El Rassi, Electrophoresis, 2012, 33, 251-261). In brief, this review article describes progress made in nonpolar and polar monoliths used in RP HPLC and CEC and in hydrophilic interaction LC/CEC, respectively. This article is by no means an exhaustive review of the literature; it is rather a survey of the recent progress made in the field with 69 references published on nonpolar and polar polymeric monoliths.

Recent developments in capillary and microchip electroseparations of peptides (2011-2013)

The review presents a comprehensive survey of recent developments and applications of capillary and microchip electroseparation methods (zone electrophoresis, ITP, IEF, affinity electrophoresis, EKC, and electrochromatography) for analysis, isolation, purification, and physicochemical and biochemical characterization of peptides. Advances in the investigation of electromigration properties of peptides, in the methodology of their analysis, including sample preseparation, preconcentration and derivatization, adsorption suppression and EOF control, as well as in detection of peptides, are presented. New developments in particular CE and CEC modes are reported and several types of their applications to peptide analysis are described: conventional qualitative and quantitative analysis, determination in complex (bio)matrices, monitoring of chemical and enzymatical reactions and physical changes, amino acid, sequence and chiral analysis, and peptide mapping of proteins. Some micropreparative peptide separations are shown and capabilities of CE and CEC techniques to provide relevant physicochemical characteristics of peptides are demonstrated.

Neutral, charged and stratified polar monoliths for hydrophilic interaction capillary electrochromatography

Novel polar monoliths were introduced for hydrophilic interaction capillary electrochromatography (HI-CEC). In one case, a neutral polar monolith resulted from the in situ polymerization of glyceryl methacrylate (GMM) and pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA) in a ternary porogenic solvent. GMM and PETA possess hydroxyl functional groups, which impart the monolith with hydrophilic interaction sites. This monolith is designated as hydroxy monolith. Although the hydroxy monolith is neutral and void of fixed charges on the surface, a relatively strong cathodal EOF was observed due to the electric double layer formed by the adsorption of ions from the mobile phase, producing a bulk mobile phase flow. The second monolith is charged and referred to as AP-monolith that possesses amine/amide functionalities on its surface, and was prepared by the in situ polymerization of N-(3-aminopropyl) methacrylamide hydrochloride (NAPM) and ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) in the presence of cyclohexanol, dodecanol and methanol as porogens. Over the pH range studied a strong anodal EOF was observed. The AP-monolith was further exploited in HI-CEC by modifying its surface with neutral mono- and oligosaccharides to produce a series of the so called sugar modified AP-monoliths (SMAP-monolith), which are considered as stratified hydrophilic monoliths possessing a sub-layer of polar amine/amide groups and a top layer of sugar (a polyhydroxy top layer). The SMAP-monoliths can be viewed as a blend of both the hydroxy monolith and the AP-monolith. The polarity of the various monoliths seems to follow the order: hydroxy monolith<AP-monolith<SMAP-monolith. The novel monoliths were characterized over a wide range of elution conditions with a variety of polar solutes including phenols, substituted phenols, nucleic acid bases, nucleosides and nucleotides.