Potential advantage of constant pressure versus constant flow gradient chromatography for the analysis of small molecules

The separation and identification of synthetic cathinones by portable low microflow liquid chromatography with dual capillary columns in series and dual wavelength ultraviolet detection

This study ascertained the viability of a portable liquid chromatograph, operating at low microliter per minute flow, for the analysis of seized drugs at remote sites as well as in laboratory settings. Synthetic cathinones were screened using dual capillary columns in series, C8 and biphenyl, with on-column ultraviolet detection at 255 and 275 nm. The relative retention times of the two columns in series and their peak area absorbance ratio were used to determine if the 16 synthetic cathinones investigated could be uniquely identified in these conditions. Based on these parameters all of the analytes could be distinguished. Representative mixtures of synthetic cathinones were used to determine the repeatability, linearity, and limits of detection of the method. This cost effective and green instrumentation has the potential to satisfy minimum international guidelines for the analysis of seized drugs.

Liquid chromatography above 20,000 PSI

Continued improvements in HPLC have led to faster and more efficient separations than previously possible. One important aspect of these improvements has been the increase in instrument operating pressure and the advent of ultrahigh pressure LC (UHPLC). Commercial instrumentation is now capable of up to ~20 kpsi, allowing fast and efficient separations with 5-15 cm columns packed with sub-2 μm particles. Home-built instruments have demonstrated the benefits of even further increases in instrument pressure. The focus of this review is on recent advancements and applications in liquid chromatography above 20 kpsi. We outline the theory and advantages of higher pressure and discuss instrument hardware and design capable of withstanding 20 kpsi or greater. We also overview column packing procedures and stationary phase considerations for HPLC above 20 kpsi, and lastly highlight a few recent applicatioob pressure instruments for the analysis of complex mixtures.

Migration and elution equations in gradient liquid chromatography

What is known in the literature as the fundamental equation for gradient elution (FEGE) was previously proven only for conventional gradient LC - uniform (the same at any distance from the inlet) static (fixed in time) solvent velocity (u_m) in a column of uniform and static internal structure, cross-section and thermodynamic properties. A published alternative to the FEGE - the general migration equation - is valid for any column-based linear chromatography (GC, LC, SFC etc.). It allows one to theoretically or numerically predict a solute migration time to any location along the column. Starting from that general equation, several migration equations in gradient LC under different operational conditions including non-uniform non-static u_m, Neue-Kuss retention model and others have been developed in this report. It has been shown that the conditions of validity of the FEGE can be expanded to include non-uniform u_m. On the other hand, the FEGE is not valid for other unconventional operations of LC including gradient LC with dynamic (changing in time) u_m. This implies that FEGE cannot be applied to, e.g., gradient LC operating at constant pressure where, due to the change in solvent composition, the solvent viscosity changes causing the change in u_m with time. Applications of newly developed equations to other unconventional operations of gradient LC were also considered. Several new time parameters of the mobile phase flow were identified, interpreted, and evaluated.

Development of a 45kpsi ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography instrument for gradient separations of peptides using long microcapillary columns and sub-2μm particles

Commercial chromatographic instrumentation for bottom-up proteomics is often inadequate to resolve the number of peptides in many samples. This has inspired a number of complex approaches to increase peak capacity, including various multidimensional approaches, and reliance on advancements in mass spectrometry. One-dimensional reversed phase separations are limited by the pressure capabilities of commercial instruments and prevent the realization of greater separation power in terms of speed and resolution inherent to smaller sorbents and ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography. Many applications with complex samples could benefit from the increased separation performance of long capillary columns packed with sub-2μm sorbents. Here, we introduce a system that operates at a constant pressure and is capable of separations at pressures up to 45kpsi. The system consists of a commercially available capillary liquid chromatography instrument, for sample management and gradient creation, and is modified with a storage loop and isolated pneumatic amplifier pump for elevated separation pressure. The system's performance is assessed with a complex peptide mixture and a range of microcapillary columns packed with sub-2μm C18 particles.

Effect of reference conditions on flow rate, modifier fraction and retention in supercritical fluid chromatography

When using compressible mobile phases such as fluidic CO2, the density, the volumetric flow rates and volumetric fractions are pressure dependent. The pressure and temperature definition of these volumetric parameters (referred to as the reference conditions) may alter between systems, manufacturers and operating conditions. A supercritical fluid chromatography system was modified to operate in two modes with different definition of the eluent delivery parameters, referred to as fixed and variable mode. For the variable mode, the volumetric parameters are defined with reference to the pump operating pressure and actual pump head temperature. These conditions may vary when, e.g. changing the column length, permeability, flow rate, etc. and are thus variable reference conditions. For the fixed mode, the reference conditions were set at 150bar and 30°C, resulting in a mass flow rate and mass fraction of modifier definition which is independent of the operation conditions. For the variable mode, the mass flow rate of carbon dioxide increases with system pump operating pressure, decreasing the fraction of modifier. Comparing the void times and retention factor shows that the deviation between the two modes is almost independent of modifier percentage, but depends on the operating pressure. Recalculating the set volumetric fraction of modifier to the mass fraction results in the same retention behaviour for both modes. This shows that retention in SFC can be best modelled using the mass fraction of modifier. The fixed mode also simplifies method scaling as it only requires matching average column pressure.

Volume based vs. time based chromatograms: reproducibility of data for gradient separations under high and low pressure conditions

A critical aspect in fast gradient separations carried out under constant pressure, in the very high pressure liquid chromatography (VHPLC) mode is that time-based chromatograms may not yield highly reproducible separations. A proposed solution to improve the reproducibility of these separations involves plotting the chromatograms as functions of the volume eluted vs. UV absorbance instead of time vs. UV. To study the consequences of using the volume-based rather than the time-based chromatograms, separations were first performed under low pressures that do not generate significant amounts of heat and for which the variations of the eluent density along the columns are negligible. Secondly, they were performed under very high pressures that do generate heat and measurable variations of the local retention factor and eluent density along the column. Comparison of the results provides estimates of the improvements obtained when volume based chromatograms are used in gradient analyses. Using a column packed with fully porous particles, four different types of methods and several sets for each method were used to perform the gradient elution runs: two sets of constant flow rate operations, four sets of constant pressure operations, two sets of constant pressure operations with programmed flow rate, and one set using the constant heat loss approach. The differences between time-based and volume-based chromatograms are demonstrated by using eight replicates of early, middle, and last eluting peaks. The results show that volume-based chromatograms improve the retention time reproducibility of the four constant pressure methods by a factor of 3.7 on average. If the column is not thermally conditioned prior to performing a long series of separations, flow controlled methods (constant flow rate, programmed constant pressure, and constant wall heat approaches) are more precise. If one gradient run is used to bring the column to a relatively stable temperature, constant pressure separations have a factor of 3 times better reproducibility of retention times with respect to constant flow rate gradient separations.

Constant pressure mode extended simple gradient liquid chromatography system for micro and nanocolumns

Performing gradient liquid chromatography at constant pressure instead of constant flow rate has serious potential for shortening the analysis time and increasing the productivity of HPLC instruments that use gradient methods. However, in the constant pressure mode the decreasing column permeability during a long period of time negatively affects the repeatability of retention time. Thus a volume-based approach, in which the detector signal is plotted as a function of retention volume, must be taken into consideration. Traditional HPLC equipment, however, requires quite complex hardware and software modifications in order to work at constant pressure and in the volume-based mode. In this short communication, a low cost and easily feasible pressure-controlled extension of the previously described simple gradient liquid chromatography platform is proposed. A test mixture of four nitro esters was separated by 10-60% (v/v) acetone/water gradient and a high repeatability of retention volumes at 20MPa (RSD less than 0.45%) was realized. Separations were also performed at different values of pressure (20, 25, and 31MPa), and only small variations of the retention volumes (up to 0.8%) were observed. In this particular case, the gain in the analysis speed of 7% compared to the constant flow mode was realized at a constant pressure.