Separation of inorganic anions on reversed-phase C18 columns with a phosphomolybdate mobile phase

Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) is the most widely used chromatographic method. In addition to hydrophobic interactions, additional interactions such as electrostatic interactions may participate in the retention behaviour of an analyte. This makes it possible to use RP-HPLC for many types of analyte. We describe a simple method for separating inorganic anions on a C18 column, in which retention of inorganic anions is almost entirely due to electrostatic interactions. This leads to rapid separations as well as higher theoretical plate numbers. We used 2 mM phosphoric acid containing a low concentration of disodium molybdate as the mobile phase, which allows UV detection of non-UV-absorbing anions. With this method, we determined eight inorganic anions including several non-UV-absorbing anions photometrically at 220 nm. The detection limits of the examined eight inorganic anions calculated at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 were between 0.3 and 10 μM. The detector response was linear over three orders of magnitude of inorganic anion concentration. The proposed RP-HPLC/UV method was successfully applied to determine inorganic anions in some water samples.

Determination of the geographic origin of 52 honey samples based on the assessment of anionic content profiling with a new algorithm using monolithic column-based micellar nano-liquid chromatography

In the present study, a new micellar nano LC-UV was, for the first time, reported for the separation and determination of five anions (chloride, nitrite, bromide, sulfate and nitrate) in 52 honey samples. Based on this approach, a graphene oxide-based monolithic column was prepared and applied for the samples. Various amounts of hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (HTAB) in the mobile phase were used in order to optimize the separation conditions. The baseline separation was achieved using mobile phase with 25/75% (v/v) ACN/10 mM phosphate buffer at pH 3.4, while the amount of HTAB was optimized as 0.22 mM in the mobile phase. The whole method was validated and it leads to high sensitivity. The LOD values were found in the range of 0.02-0.22 µg/kg, while LOQ values were found in the range of 0.06-0.18 µg/kg. The method allowed to achieve sensitivity analyses of anionic content in 52 honey samples. All data were evaluated using a new algorithm for geographic origin discrimination. K-nearest neighbor algorithm (K-NN), cubic support vector classifier (K-DVS), and K-Mean cluster analysis were used for geographic origin discrimination of honeys. The accuracy of the whole model was calculated as 94.4% with the K-DVS method. The samples from five provinces were classified 100% correctly, while two of them were classified with one misclassification, with an accuracy of 89.9% and 83.3%, respectively. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The new platforms and advanced technologies are crucial for advanced food analysis. In this article, a novel methodology was attempted for the determination of geographic origin of 52 honey samples. In this sense, micellar nano LC technique with a homemade monolithic nano-column was, for the first time, applied for the anion analysis using a new algorithm.

Influencing the selectivity of grafted anion exchangers utilizing the solubility of the radical initiator during the graft process

A previously published radical graft-functionalization method for the synthesis of high performance anion exchangers was further investigated to control the capacity and selectivity of the exchangers. Using a hydrophobic radical initiator instead of a hydrophilic one diminished the influence of rivaling homopolymerization of monomer during the functionalization step. Instead of only generating monomer radicals in free solution the radicals are ideally generated on top of the PS/DVB surface. However, in both cases the selectivity factors of polarizable anions bromide and nitrate in relation to chloride increased strongly with increasing capacity of the exchanger. Higher exchanger capacities could lead to coelution of bromide and/or nitrate with other analytes such as sulfate or phosphate when using the eluent as proposed in this work. By variation of the organic solvent used for functionalization it was possible to remove both the rivaling homopolymerization and the strong influence of the capacity on the selectivity. With increasing solubility of the hydrophobic radical initiator in the organic solvent the influence of the homopolymerization and the influence on the selectivity factor of bromide and nitrate decreased. Additionally, a change of bromate selectivity factor could be observed. The bromate signal is shifted closer towards the chloride signal. However, with increasing solubility of the radical initiator in the organic solvent the observed capacity of the exchangers decreases linearly, resulting in higher amounts of monomer needed for functionalization.