Relation between Chromatographic Resolution and Signal-to-Noise Ratio in Spectrophotometric HPLC Detection

Liquid phase detection in the miniature scale. Microfluidic and capillary scale measurement and separation systems. A tutorial review

Microfluidic and capillary devices are increasingly being used in analytical applications while their overall size keeps decreasing. Detection sensitivity for these microdevices gains more importance as device sizes and consequently, sample volumes, decrease. This paper reviews optical, electrochemical, electrical, and mass spectrometric detection methods that are applicable to capillary scale and microfluidic devices, with brief introduction to the principles in each case. Much of this is considered in the context of separations. We do consider theoretical aspects of separations by open tubular liquid chromatography, arguably the most potentially fertile area of separations that has been left fallow largely because of lack of scale-appropriate detection methods. We also examine the theoretical basis of zone electrophoretic separations. Optical detection methods discussed include UV/Vis absorbance, fluorescence, chemiluminescence and refractometry. Amperometry is essentially the only electrochemical detection method used in microsystems. Suppressed conductance and especially contactless conductivity (admittance) detection are in wide use for the detection of ionic analytes. Microfluidic devices, integrated to various mass spectrometers, including ESI-MS, APCI-MS, and MALDI-MS are discussed. We consider the advantages and disadvantages of each detection method and compare the best reported limits of detection in as uniform a format as the available information allows. While this review pays more attention to recent developments, our primary focus has been on the novelty and ingenuity of the approach, regardless of when it was first proposed, as long as it can be potentially relevant to miniature platforms.

Thin layer chromatography coupled with surface enhanced Raman scattering for rapid separation and on-site detection of multi-components

The separation and detection of multi-component mixtures has always been a challenging task. Traditional detection methods often suffer from complex operation, high cost, and low sensitivity. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique is a high sensitivity, powerful and rapid detection tool, which can realize the specific detection of single substance components, but it must solve the problem that multi-component mixtures cannot be accurately determined. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) technology, as a high-throughput separation technology, uses chromatographic plate as the stationary phase, and could select different developing phases for separation experiments. The advantages of TLC technology in short distance and rapid separation are widely used in protein, dye and biomedical fields. However, TLC technology has limitations in detection ability and difficulty in obtaining ideal signal intensity. The combination of TLC technology and SERS technology made the operation procedure simple and the sample size small, which can achieve rapid on-site separation and quantitative detection of mixtures. Due to the rapid development of TLC-SERS technology, it has been widely used in the investigation of various complex systems. This paper reviews the application of TLC-SERS technology in food science, environmental pollution and biomedicine.

Characterisation of catechins and their oxidised derivatives in Ceylon tea using multi-dimensional liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry

Tea is a complex food matrix comprising of many structurally diverse compounds, of which catechins and their oxidised derivatives are of particular interest due to their nutritional functionality. However, these catechins and derivatives exist in various isomeric forms with few or no pure standards available, rendering their analysis challenging. A method combining multi-dimensional liquid chromatography (MDLC) and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) was developed for the characterisation of these compounds using Ceylon tea as a model. Based on a Plackett-Burman (PB) design, flow rate and initial methanol percentage were identified as the most significant factors (p < 0.05) affecting chromatogram coverage and resolution (Rs) for comprehensive two-dimensional LC (LCxLC) and heart-cutting two-dimensional LC (LC-LC) respectively. Central composite design (CCD) was then applied using these parameters for method optimisation and to identify second-order relationships between screened parameters. The optimised LCxLC (flow rate: 2.18 mL/min and initial methanol percentage: 28.0%) and LC-LC (flow rate: 0.86 mL/min and initial methanol percentage for different cuts: A- 10.0%; B- 15.8%; and C- 18.7%) methods were applied to the analysis of Ceylon tea samples from seven regions of Sri Lanka and demonstrated an improved separation of co-eluting isomeric compounds. Finally, with the mass spectral information from HRMS, a total of 31 compounds (eight monomers, 17 dimers, five trimers and one tetramer) were detected and putatively identified in Ceylon tea.

Development and validation of high-performance liquid chromatography method for the simultaneous monitoring of pantoprazole sodium sesquihydrate and domperidone maleate in plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic study

A sensitive, inexpensive high-performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet detection (HPLC–UV) method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous monitoring of pantoprazole sodium sesquihydrate (PSS) and domperidone maleate (DM) in rabbit plasma on a C18 column with UV detection at 285 nm. Box–Behnken design was used with 3 independent variables, namely, flow rate (X1), mobile phase composition (X2), and phosphate buffer pH (X3), which were used to design mathematical models. Response surface design was applied to optimize the dependent variables, i.e., retention time (Y1 and Y2) and percentage recoveries (Y3 and Y4) of PSS and DM. The method was sensitive and reproducible over 1.562 to 25 μg/mL. The effect of the quadratic outcome of flow rate, mobile phase composition, and buffer pH on retention time (p ˂ 0.001) and percentage recoveries of PSS and DM (p = 0.0016) were significant. The regression values obtained from analytical curve of PSS and DM were 0.999 and 0.9994, respectively. The percentage recoveries of PSS and DM were ranged from 94.5 to 100.41% and 94.77 to 100.31%, respectively. The developed method was applied for studying the pharmacokinetics of PSS and DM. The Cmax of test and reference formulations were 48.06 ± 0.347 μg/mL and 46.31 ± 0.398 μg/mL for PSS, and 15.11 ± 1.608 μg/mL and 12.06 ± 1.234 μg/mL for DM, respectively.

Attenuation Coefficients of Tubular Conduits for Liquid Phase Absorbance Measurement: Shot Noise Limited Optimum Path Length

We trace the history of liquid core waveguides (LCWs, also called liquid core optical fibers) and the role Teflon AF (TAF) has played in their development. We show that, in any shot noise limited situation, the optimum signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) occurs at a path length of 1/α_a{ln[1 + 2(α_a/α_b)]}, approximately 2/α_b under most conditions, α_a and α_b being the light attenuation coefficient due to the analyte and the background, respectively. The analysis shows that LCW length should be selected depending on the applicable α_b value. An overly long LCW may exhibit a lower signal-to-noise ratio. Water-filled TAF-clad fused-silica (FS) tubes show the lowest attenuation across the wavelength range. Nevertheless, except at λ ≥ 600 nm, the observed α_b values far exceed those reported for pure water: it appears that both impurities in the water and waveguide losses are involved. In examining the attenuation in various water-filled tubes, we find that the transmission of air-surrounded FS tubes is second only to TAF-clad FS tubes and is better than that of TAF tubes or externally mirrored FS tubes. Surprisingly, except for a window centered at ∼250 nm, light transmission in a water-filled poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) tube is worse than in poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) tubing. Light transmission in PTFE tubes improves with increasing wall thickness.

Rational design of mixtures for chromatographic peak tracking applications via multivariate selectivity

Chromatographic characterization and parameterization studies targeting many solutes require the judicious choice of operating conditions to minimize analysis time without compromising the accuracy of the results. To minimize analysis time, solutes are often grouped into a small number of mixtures; however, this increases the risk of peak overlap. While multivariate curve resolution methods are often able to resolve analyte signals based on their spectral qualities, these methods require that the chromatographically overlapped compounds have dissimilar spectra. In this work, a strategy for grouping compounds into sample mixtures containing solutes with distinct spectral and, optionally, with distinct chromatographic properties, in order to ensure successful solute resolution either chromatographically or with curve resolution methods is proposed. We name this strategy rational design of mixtures (RDM). RDM utilizes multivariate selectivity as a metric for making decisions regarding group membership (i.e., whether to add a particular solute to a particular sample). A group of 97 solutes was used to demonstrate this strategy. Utilizing both estimated chromatographic properties and measured spectra to group these 97 analytes, only 12 groups were required to avoid a situation where two or more solutes in the same group could not be resolved either chromatographically (i.e., they have significantly different retention times) or spectrally (i.e., spectra are different enough to enable resolution by curve resolution methods). When only spectral properties were utilized (i.e., the chromatographic properties are unknown ahead of time) the number of groups required to avoid unresolvable overlaps increased to 20. The grouping strategy developed here will improve the time and instrument efficiency of studies that aim to obtain retention data for solutes as a function of operating conditions, whether for method development or determination of the chromatographic parameters of solutes of interest (e.g., k_w).

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A strategy for rational mixture design for chromatographic experiments is described.

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Multivariate selectivity is used to optimize mixture compositions.

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UV spectral information is used to distinguish overlapped chromatographic peaks.

An electrooxidative technique to fast fabricate copper phosphate electrodes capable of integrating high performance liquid chromatography for the label-free detection of fish freshness

A simple and fast one-step electrooxidative method has been developed to monolithically produce a copper phosphate (Cu₃(PO₄)₂) compound on a disposable copper tape, which can be integrated with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the estimation of fish freshness. The Cu₃(PO₄)₂ compound of flake-like nanostructures was formed by applying a first anodic peak potential at the copper tape for 10 min in a 1 M sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH₂PO₄) (pH 5.0) solution. The Cu₃(PO₄)₂ electrodes can detect the oxidative reaction of histidine and histamine in 20 mM NaH₂PO₄ solutions with pH 5.0-8.5. When integrating the electrodes with a flow injection system, the linear range and the calculated detection limit of histamine were respectively 2.5-250 ppm and 0.15 ppm. The electrodes integrated to HPLC can specifically detect the histamine concentrations in fish samples in the pH 7.5 NaH₂PO₄ solution, achieving an accuracy rate of 95.3% and a recovery rate of 101.1%.

G-index: A new metric to describe dynamic refractive index effects in HPLC absorbance detection

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a solvent gradient and absorbance detection is one of the most widely used methods in analytical chemistry. The observed absorbance baseline is affected by the changes in the refractive index (RI) of the mobile phase. Near the limited of detection, this complicates peak quantitation. The general aspects of these RI-induced apparent absorbance effects are discussed. Two different detectors with fundamentally different optics and flow cell concepts, a variable-wavelength detector equipped with a conventional flow cell and a diode-array detector equipped with a liquid core waveguide flow cell, are compared with respect to their RI behavior. A simple method to separate static - partly unavoidable - RI effects from dynamic RI effects is presented. It is shown that the dynamic RI behavior of an absorbance detector can be well described using a single, relatively easy-to-determine metric called the G-index. The G-index is typically in the order of a few seconds and its sign depends on the optical flow cell concept.

Ni@Au nanoparticles for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy based ultrasensitive magnetic immunoassay on aflatoxin B1

A facile approach for the fabrication of Ni@Au magnetic nanoparticles was developed as the immune substrates for the competitive magnetic immunoassay. The approach was used for quasi-quantitatively detection on the trace residue of AFB₁in foods.

Micromachined Fused Silica Liquid Core Waveguide Capillary Flow Cell

A planar, chip-based flow cell for UV-vis absorbance detection in HPLC is presented. The device features a microfabricated free-standing liquid core waveguide (LCW) capillary detection tube of long path length that is based on total internal reflection. We report on the linearity and calibration slope characteristics of lithographically produced LCWs with different interior/exterior geometries. 3D ray tracing was indispensable in modeling behavior in the more demanding geometries: multipath behavior may be intrinsic to these waveguides with consequent nonlinearity. Fortunately, nonlinearity in lithographically easy-to-produce waveguide geometries (such as with a flat, concave exterior and a round interior) is not as detrimental as might be initially expected. Experimental performance is predictably affected by the attainable surface quality of the LCW and efficient and reproducible coupling of the input light into the LCW.

Highly flexible UV-vis radiation sources and novel detection schemes for spectrophotometric HPLC detection

The concept and performance of the first multiwavelength deep UV light-emitting-diode-based high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) absorbance detector are presented. In single-wavelength mode and with optical reference, the limit of detection (LOD) is comparable to conventional state-of-the-art HPLC absorbance detectors. In multiwavelength mode--at present up to eight wavelengths without optical reference--the LOD is about 10 times higher than in single-wavelength mode. Multiplexing and demultiplexing methods are used to separate chromatographic signals in multiwavelength mode and keeps the detector configuration simple and yet flexible. Depending on the operation mode, stray light is either totally negligible or controlled electronically and digitally.