Preparation of a mixed-mode hydrophilic interaction/anion-exchange polymeric monolithic stationary phase for capillary liquid chromatography of polar analytes

Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry variants for metabolomics research

Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) variants currently represent the best tools to tackle the challenges of complexity and lack of comprehensive coverage of the metabolome. UHPLC offers flexible and efficient separation coupled with high-sensitivity detection via HRMS, allowing for the detection and identification of a broad range of metabolites. Here we discuss current common strategies for UHPLC-HRMS-based metabolomics, with a focus on expanding metabolome coverage.

Ionic liquid-based zwitterionic organic polymer monolithic column for capillary hydrophilic interaction chromatography

A novel ionic liquid-based zwitterionic organic polymer monolithic column was developed, by copolymerization in a quaternary porogenic solvent, for capillary hydrophilic interaction chromatography.

Dipyridyl-immobilized ionic liquid type hybrid silica monolith for hydrophilic interaction electrochromatography

A pyridinium-based immobilized ionic liquid type multifunctional hybrid silica monolith was prepared by the in situ polymerization of 3-chloropropyl-silica matrix and 4,4'-dipyridyl for hydrophilic interaction CEC. The obtained hybrid monolith possessed of high stable skeletal microstructures with obviously hydrophilic retention mechanism under ACN content >50% in the mobile phase. Strong and stable anodic EOF could be observed under a broad pH range from pH 3.0 to 9.0. Due to the immobilized dipyridyl groups bonded to the silica matrix surface, the resulting hydrophilic hybrid monolith possessed multiple separation interactions including hydrogen bond, π-π, and anion exchange. Excellent separations of various polar analytes including electroneutral phenols, charged acid nucleotides, and basic analytes were successfully achieved. The highest column efficiencies up to 120,000, 164,000, and 106,000 plates/m were obtained for nucleotides, nucleic acid bases, and nucleosides and nicotines, respectively. These results demonstrated that the dipyridyl-immobilized ionic liquid functionalized hybrid monolith possessed highly mechanical stability and good chromatographic performance for hydrophilic interaction electrochromatography.

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.

Preparation and characterization of hybrid-silica monolithic column with mixed-mode of hydrophilic and strong anion-exchange interactions for pressurized capillary electrochromatography

A novel organic-silica hybrid monolithic stationary phase with a mixed-mode of hydrophilic and strong anion-exchange interactions (HI-SAX) was prepared with a modified "one-pot" process of functional monomers and alkoxysilanes. Using a hydrosoluble initiator 2,2'-azobis(2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (AIBA), the homogeneous prepolymerization system of this hybrid monolith was successfully obtained by a simple operation. The polycondensation of alkoxysilanes (tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) and vinyl-trimethoxysilane (VTMS)) and the in situ copolymerization of a quaternary ammonium group-containing acrylic monomer ([2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl] trimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate (AETA)) on the precondensed siloxanes were achieved. The morphologies of the hybrid-silica monolithic matrixes were observed by SEM, and the performances of the organic-silica hybrid monolithic columns were investigated by pressurized capillary electrochromatography. The mechanical stability and reproducibility of the obtained hybrid monolithic column preformed acceptable. Both hydrophilic interaction chromatography mechanism and strong anion-exchanged interaction were investigated. A mixed mode of HI-SAX was obtained for the analysis of nucleotides with a good resolution, and the separation of polar and basic nucleic acid bases and nucleosides was also achieved without peak tailing.

Organic monoliths for hydrophilic interaction electrochromatography/chromatography and immunoaffinity chromatography

This article is aimed at providing a review of the progress made over the past decade in the preparation of polar monoliths for hydrophilic interaction LC (HILIC)/capillary electrochromatography (HI-CEC) and in the design of immuno-monoliths for immunoaffinity chromatography that are based on some of the polar monolith precursors used in HILIC/HI-CEC. In addition, this review article discusses some of the applications of polar monoliths by HILIC and HI-CEC, and the applications of immuno-monoliths. 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 83 references published in the past decade on the topics of HILIC and immunoaffinity chromatography monoliths.

Sulfoalkylbetaine-based monolithic column with mixed-mode of hydrophilic interaction and strong anion-exchange stationary phase for capillary electrochromatography

A novel monolithic stationary phase with mixed mode of hydrophilic and strong anion exchange (SAX) interactions based on in situ copolymerization of pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA), N,N-dimethyl-N-methacryloxyethyl N-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium betaine (DMMSA) and a selected quaternary amine acrylic monomer was designed as a multifunctional separation column for CEC. Although the zwitterionic functionalities of DMMSA and hydroxy groups of PETA on the surface of the monolithic stationary phase functioned as the hydrophilic interaction (HI) sites, the quaternary amine acrylic monomer was introduced to control the magnitude of the EOF and provide the SAX sites at the same time. Three different quaternary amine acrylic monomers were tested to achieve maximum EOF velocity and highest plate count. The fabrication of the zwitterionic monolith (designated as HI and SAX stationary phase) was carried out when [2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium methylsulfate was used as the quaternary amine acrylic monomer. The separation mechanism of the monolithic column was discussed in detail. For charged analytes, a mixed mode of HI and SAX was observed by studying the influence of mobile phase pH and salt concentration on their retentions on the poly(PETA-co-DMMSA-co-[2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium methylsulfate) monolithic column. The optimized monolith showed good separation performance for a range of polar analytes including nucleotides, nucleic acid bases and nucleosides, phenols, estrogens and small peptides. The column efficiencies greater than 192 000 theoretical plates/m for estriol and 135 000 theoretical plates/m for charged cytidine were obtained.