Effect of an open tube in series with a packed capillary column on liquid chromatographic performance. The influence of particle diameter, temperature, and system pressure

Optimization for speed and sensitivity in capillary high performance liquid chromatography. The importance of column diameter in online monitoring of serotonin by microdialysis

The speed of a separation defines the best time resolution possible in online measurements using chromatography. The desired time resolution multiplied by the flow rate of the stream of analyte being sampled defines the maximum volume of sample per injection. The best concentration sensitivity in chromatography is obtained by injecting the largest volume of sample that is consistent with achieving a satisfactory separation, and thus measurement accuracy. Taking these facts together, it is easy to understand that separation speed and concentration sensitivity are linked in this type of measurement. To address the problem of how to achieve the best sensitivity and shortest measurement time simultaneously, we have combined recent approaches to the optimization of the separation itself with an analysis of method sensitivity. This analysis leads to the column diameter becoming an important parameter in the optimization process. We use these ideas in one particular problem presented by online microdialysis sampling/liquid chromatography/electrochemical detection for measuring concentrations of serotonin in the dialysate. In this case the problem becomes the optimization of conditions to yield maximum signal for a given sample volume under the highest speed conditions with a certain required number of theoretical plates. It turns out that the observed concentration sensitivity at an electrochemical detector can be regulated by temperature, particle size, injection volume/column diameter, and void time. The theory was successfully used for optimization of neurotransmitter serotonin measurement by capillary HPLC when sampling from a microdialysis flow stream. The final conditions are: 150 μm i.d., 3.1cm long columns with 1.7 μm particle diameter working at a flow rate of 12 μL/min, an injection volume of 500 nL, and a temperature of 343 K. The retention time for serotonin is 22.7s, the analysis time is about 36 s (which allows for determination of 3-methoxytyramine), and the sampling time is about 0.8 min with a perfusion flow rate of 0.6 μL/min.

Capillary ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography with elevated temperature for sub-one minute separations of basal serotonin in submicroliter brain microdialysate samples

Improving the time resolution in microdialysis coupled to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) requires that the volume of the separation system be decreased. A low-volume separation permits smaller microdialysate volumes to be injected without suffering a sensitivity loss from dilution. Thus, improved time resolution can be achieved with offline analysis simply by decreasing the separations system volume. For online (near real-time) analysis, there is a further requirement. The separation speed must be at least as fast as the sampling time. Here, the combined use of high column pressures and temperatures, sub-2-μm stationary phase particles, capillary columns, and sensitive, low dead-volume detection resulted in a retention time for the neurotransmitter serotonin of less than 1 min in a 500 nL dialysate sample volume. Two sensitive detectors, photoluminescence following electron transfer (PFET) and electrochemical, were used for the detection of subnanomolar concentrations of serotonin in brain microdialysate samples. The general principles developed are applicable to a wide range of separations with the additional advantages of increases in sample throughput and decreases in mobile phase usage.

Electroosmotic sampling. Application to determination of ectopeptidase activity in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures

We hypothesize that peptide-containing solutions pulled through tissue should reveal the presence and activity of peptidases in the tissue. Using the natural zeta-potential in the organotypic hippocampal slice culture (OHSC), physiological fluids can be pulled through the tissue with an electric field. The hydrolysis of the peptides present in the fluid drawn through the tissue can be determined using capillary HPLC with electrochemical detection of the biuret complexes of the peptides following a postcolumn reaction. We have characterized this new sampling method by measuring the flow rate, examining the use of internal standards, and examining cell death caused by sampling. The sampling flow rate ranges from 60 to 150 nL/min with a 150 microm (ID) sampling capillary with an electric field (at the tip of the capillary) from 30 to 60 V/cm. Cell death can be negligible with controlled sampling conditions. Using this sampling approach, we have electroosmotically pulled Leu-enkephalin through OHSCs to identify ectopeptidase activity in the CA3 region. These studies show that a bestatin-sensitive aminopeptidase may be critical for the hydrolysis of exogenous Leu-enkephalin, a neuropeptide present in the CA3 region of OHSCs.