Theoretical study of the separation mechanism of ionizable compounds in capillary electrochromatography

Hybrid silica monolithic column for capillary electrochromatography with enhanced cathodic electroosmotic flow

A hybrid silica monolithic stationary phase for RP CEC was prepared by in situ co-condensation of (3-mercaptopropyl)-trimethoxysilane (MPTMS), phenyltriethoxysilane (PTES), and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) via a sol-gel process. The thiol groups on the surface of the stationary phase were oxidized to sulfonic acids by peroxytrifluoroacetic acid. The introduced sulfonic acid moieties on the monoliths were characterized by a strong and relatively stable EOF in a broad pH range from 2.35 to 7.0 in CEC. Aromatic acids and neutral compounds can be simultaneously separated in this column under cathodic EOF. The CEC column exhibited a typical RP chromatographic mechanism for neutral compounds due to the introduced phenyl groups.

Polar stationary phases for capillary electrochromatography

This review article summarizes the variety of polar stationary phases that have been employed for capillary electrochromatographic separations. Compared with reversed-phase stationary phases, the polar alternatives provide a completely different retention selectivity towards polar and charged analytes. Different types of polar stationary phases are reviewed, including the possible retention mechanisms. Electrochromatographic separations of polar solutes, peptides, and basic pharmaceuticals on polar stationary phases are presented.

Electrochromatographic evaluation of a silica monolith capillary column for separation of basic pharmaceuticals

A silica-based monolithic capillary column was prepared via a sol-gel process. The continuous skeleton and large through-pore structure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The native silica monolith has been successfully employed in the electrochromatographic separation of beta-blockers and alkaloids extracted from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). Column efficiencies greater than 250 000 plates/m for capillary electrochromatography (CEC) separation of basic compounds were obtained. It was observed that retention of basic pharmaceuticals on the silica monolith was mainly contributed by a cation-exchange mechanism. Other retention mechanisms including reversed-phase and normal-phase mechanisms and electrophoresis of basic compounds also played a role in separation. A comparison of the differences between CEC and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) separation was also discussed.

Investigation of mixed-mode monolithic stationary phases for the analysis of charged amino acids and peptides by capillary electrochromatography

The potential of N,N-dimethylacrylamide-piperazine diacrylamide-based monolithic stationary phases bearing sulfonic acid groups for electroosmotic flow generation is investigated for the separation of positively charged amino acids and peptides. The capillary columns were used under electrochromatographic but also under purely chromatographic (nano-HPLC) conditions and the separations interpreted as the result of possible chromatographic and electrophoretic contributions. The stationary phases were found to be mechanically stable up to pressures of 190 bar and chemically stable towards a wide variety of organic and hydro-organic mobile phases. In order to investigate the retention mechanism, the salt concentration and the organic solvent content of the (hydro-)organic mobile phase were varied in a systematic manner, taking three aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tryptophan, histidine) as model analytes. The respective contributions of electrostatic and hydrophobic and/or hydrophilic interactions were further investigated by varying the charge density and the hydrophobicity of the standard stationary phase. The former was done by varying the amount of charged monomer (vinylsulfonic acid) added during synthesis, the latter by (partially) replacing the interactive monomer (N,N-dimethylacrylamide) by other more hydrophobic monomers. A mixed mode retention mechanism based primarily on electrostatic interactions modified in addition by "hydrophilic" ones seems most suited to interpret the behavior of the amino acids, which stands in contradistinction to the previously investigated case of the behavior of neutral analytes on similar stationary phases. Finally the separation of small peptides was investigated. While the separation of Gly-Phe and Gly-Val was not possible, the separation of Phe-Gly-Phe-Gly and Gly-Phe but also of the closely related Gly-His and Gly-Gly-His could be achieved.

Modeling of retention behavior in capillary electrochromatography from chromatographic and electrophoretic data

A phenomenological approach was presented to describe the retention behaviors of solutes in capillary electrochromatography (CEC). Equations for calculation of the retention time and actual chromatographic retention factor for ionic solutes, weak monoprotic acid and weak monoprotic base were derived, which can be described by two general expressions regardless the charge status of the solute. The general expressions enable calculation of the retention time and retention factor in CEC from chromatographic and electrophoretic data, which were experimentally verified with a variety of compounds and a variety of CEC modes. Based on this approach, the chromatographic retention and the electrophoretic migration in the CEC systems studied were found to be two independent processes. The validity of this approach was also discussed.

Enantiomer separation by strong anion-exchange capillary electrochromatography with dynamically modified sulfated beta-cyclodextrin

A novel mode of capillary electrochromatography (CEC) based on a dynamically modified stationary phase was presented for chiral separation. The capillary column was packed with strong anion-exchange (SAX) stationary phase packing; the sulfated beta-cyclodextrin (S-CD), which was added to the mobile phase, was dynamically adsorbed to the packing surface. Separation of enantiomers was achieved by their different abilities to form an inclusion complex with the adsorbed S-CD. The enantiomers of tryptophan, praziquantel, atropine, metoprolol, and verapamil were successfully separated in this system with a column efficiency of 36000-412000 plates/m. The resolution value obtained for atropine was as high as 11.23. The superiority of CEC with a dynamically modified stationary phase over that with a physically adsorbed stationary phase was demonstrated. The influence of ionic strength, S-CD concentration, and methanol content on separation was also studied.

Capillary electrochromatography with physically and dynamically absorbed stationary phases

Adsorption is always considered a troublesome effect in capillary electrophoresis (CE) and capillary electrochromatography (CEC). However, the adsorption effect can also be exploited to prepare or optimize the stationary phase in CEC. Compared with the chemical synthesis of new stationary phase materials for CEC, this method is simpler and more convenient. This review is focused on CEC with physically and dynamically adsorbed stationary phases. Separation of some acidic, basic and neutral solutes as well as enantiomers in CEC with dynamically adsorbed stationary phases are presented. The theory for the migration of charged solutes and the stationary phases currently used in CEC are also briefly reviewed.

Separation of acidic compounds by strong anion-exchange capillary electrochromatography

Separation of the acidic compounds in the ion-exchange capillary electrochromatography (IE-CEC) with strong anion-exchange packing as the stationary phase was studied. It was observed that the electroosmotic flow (EOF) in strong anion-exchange CEC moderately changed with increase of the eluent ionic strength and decrease of the eluent pH, but the acetonitrile concentration in the eluent had almost no effect on the EOF. The EOF in strong anion-exchange CEC with eluent of low pH value was much larger than that in RP-CEC with Spherisorb-ODS as the stationary phase. The retention of acidic compounds on the strong anion-exchange packing was relatively weak due to only partial ionization of them, and both chromatographic and electrophoretic processes contributed to separation. It was observed that the retention values of acidic compounds decreased with the increase of phosphate buffer and acetonitrile concentration in the eluent as well as the decrease of the applied voltage, and even the acidic compounds could elute before the void time. These factors also made an important contribution to the separation selectivity for tested acidic compounds, which could be separated rapidly with high column efficiency of more than 220000 plates/m under the optimized separation conditions.

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.