Enantioseparation of Tartaric and Malic Acids in Wines by Ligand Exchange Capillary Electrophoresis Using Uncoated Fused Silica Capillary

Applications of electrophoresis for small enantiomeric drugs in real-world samples: Recent trends and future perspectives

Separation and identification of chiral molecules is a topic widely discussed in the literature and of fundamental importance, especially in the pharmaceutical and food fields, both from industrial and laboratory points of view. Several techniques are used to carry out these analyses, but high-performance liquid chromatography is often the "gold standard." The high costs of chiral columns, necessary for this technique, led researchers to look for an alternative, and capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a technique capable of overcoming some of the disadvantages of liquid chromatography, often providing comparable results in terms of sensitivity and robustness. We addressed this topic, already widely discussed in the literature, providing an overview of the last 6 years of the most frequent and recent applications of CE. To make the manuscript more effective, we decided to divide it into paragraphs that represent the main field of application, from enantioseparation in complex matrices (pharmacokinetic studies or toxicological dosage of drugs, analysis of environmental pollutants, and analyses of foods) to quality control analyses on pharmaceutical formulas. About these, which are the fields of most meaningful use, we mentioned some of the most innovative and performing methods, with a look to the future on the application of new materials used, such as chiral selectors, that can make these types of analyses accessible to all, reducing cost, time, and excessive use of toxic solvents.

Recent advances in the application of capillary electromigration methods for food analysis and Foodomics

This review work presents and discusses the main applications of capillary electromigration methods in food analysis and Foodomics. Papers that were published during the period February 2015-February 2017 are included following the previous review by Acunha et al. (Electrophoresis 2016, 37, 111-141). The paper shows the large variety of food related molecules that have been analyzed by CE including amino acids, biogenic amines, carbohydrates, chiral compounds, contaminants, DNAs, food additives, heterocyclic amines, lipids, peptides, pesticides, phenols, pigments, polyphenols, proteins, residues, toxins, vitamins, small organic and inorganic compounds, as well as other minor compounds. This work describes the last results on food quality and safety, nutritional value, storage, bioactivity, as well as uses of CE for monitoring food interactions and food processing including recent microchips developments and new applications of CE in Foodomics.

Chiral separation of short chain aliphatic hydroxycarboxylic acids on cinchonan carbamate-based weak chiral anion exchangers and zwitterionic chiral ion exchangers

Chiral short chain aliphatic hydrocarboxylic acids (HCAs) are common compounds being part of different biological processes. In order to control and understand these processes is of pivotal importance to determine the identity of the involved enantiomer or their enantiomeric ratio. In this study the capacity of quinine- and quinidine-derived chiral stationary phases to perform the enantioseparation of eight chiral HCAs (tartaric acid, isocitric acid, malic acid, glyceric acid, 2-hydroxyglutaric acid, 2-hydroxybutyric acid, lactic acid and 3-hydroxybutyric acid) was evaluated. MS-compatible conditions consisting of ACN/MeOH mixtures as eluents with formic acid, acetic acid and/or their ammonium salts as additives, temperatures between 10 and 25°C (except for -20°C for 3-hydroxybutyric acid) and a flow rate of 1.00mL/min yielded full baseline resolution for all studied HCAs. Elution order for the HCA enantiomers was determined revealing different behaviors between the studied compounds.