Modelling retention in liquid chromatography of polyphenolic acids

Improved pyrogallol autoxidation method: a reliable and cheap superoxide-scavenging assay suitable for all antioxidants

The original pyrogallol (1,2,3-trihydroxybenzene) method, which was developed specifically for superoxide dismutase, is now widely used for measuring superoxide-scavenging of other antioxidants. However, the strong pH effect has been ignored. In this study, the influencing factors have been systematically investigated for the first time, and a number of experiments have proved that the pH is of major importance. As major antioxidants contain carboxylic acid, ester, or lactone groups, pH 8.2 should be modified to physiological pH 7.4. The improved procedure is as follows. A pyrogallol solution (in 1 M HCl) is thoroughly mixed with pH 7.4 Tris-HCl buffer; A(325 nm) is measured every 30 s for 5 min at 37 °C. As the ΔA(325 nm, control) value reflects the initial concentration of substrate (•)O(2)(-), it should be well controlled to guarantee the accuracy of the method. The improved pyrogallol method is a reliable and cheap superoxide-scavenging assay suitable for all types of antioxidants.

Application of a modified linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) model to retention on a butylimidazolium-based column for high performance liquid chromatography

Previously, a new HPLC stationary phase based on n-butylimidazolium bromide was investigated using a linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) to systematically evaluate the intermolecular interactions between 32 test solutes and the stationary phase. The results and further comparisons with conventional reversed phase systems revealed that retention properties are similar to phenyl phases in both methanol/water and acetonitrile/water mixtures. In this work, the LSER model is extended by including the degree of ionization molecular descriptor, D, which takes into account the pK(a) of ionizable analytes and the pH of the mobile phase. The D molecular descriptor has been further divided into D(+) and D(-) components that separately account for the ionization of basic and acidic solutes, respectively. This is the first study where the ionization terms for weakly acidic solutes and weakly basic solutes have been separated. LSER results obtained with the expanded solute set with and without the inclusion of the D(+) and D(-) solute descriptors were compared. The improved correlation and standard error obtained for the expanded test set in the presence and absence of the D(+) and D(-) descriptors (R(2): 0.987 vs 0.846; SE: 0.051 vs 0.163 for 60% MeOH) support inclusion of these additional terms. Further, the coefficients obtained from the multiple linear regression for the expanded test set with the D(+) and D(-) descriptors were more consistent with the coefficients obtained when the test set included just neutral analytes. In addition, the expanded LSER model did a better job of predicting elution order for the ionizable analytes. This work provides further supporting evidence for the multimodal nature of the butylimidazolium stationary phase.

Analysis of phenolic acids in fruits by HPLC with monolithic columns

Reversed-phase HPLC was optimised for simultaneous determination of several derivatives of benzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids (so-called phenolic acids) in plums using a commercially available monolithic column. Mobile phase pH and concentration of organic modifier (methanol and acetonitrile) were tested in order to obtain the best resolution. Satisfactory separation was achieved in gradient mode with a mobile phase consisting of 50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 2.2 (solvent A) and acetonitrile (solvent B). The limits of detection for a UV detector ranged between 0.098 and 2.04 microg/mL for vanillic acid and p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, respectively. The developed method was used for monitoring the content of polyphenolic acids in plums during their ripening process. The presence of these constituents was confirmed by checking their MS spectra.

Structure-retention and mobile phase-retention relationships for reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography of several hydroxythioxanthone derivatives in binary acetonitrile-water mixtures

The reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) behavior of some newly synthesized hydroxythioxanthone derivatives using binary acetonitrile-water mixtures as mobile phase has been examined. First, the variation in the retention time of each molecule as a function of mobile phase properties was studied by Kamlet-Taft solvatochromic equations. Then, the influences of molecular structure of the hydroxythioxanthone derivatives on their retention time in various mobile phase mixtures were investigated by quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) analysis. Finally, a unified model containing both the molecular structure parameters and mobile phase properties was developed to describe the chromatographic behavior of the systems studied. Among the solvent properties, polarity/polarizability parameter (pi*) and hydrogen-bond basicity (beta), and among the solute properties, the most positive local charge (MPC), the sum of positive charges on hydrogen atoms contributing in hydrogen bonding (SPCH) and lipophilicity index (logP) were identified as controlling factors in the RP-HPLC behavior of hydroxythioxanthone derivatives in actonitrile-water binary solvents.

Retention of ionisable compounds on high-performance liquid chromatography XVII

The use of methanol-aqueous buffer mobile phases in HPLC is a common election when performing chromatographic separations of ionisable analytes. The addition of methanol to the aqueous buffer to prepare such a mobile phase changes the buffer capacity and the pH of the solution. In the present work, the variation of these buffer properties is studied for acetic acid-acetate, phosphoric acid-dihydrogenphosphate-hydrogenphosphate, citric acid-dihydrogencitrate-hydrogencitrate-citrate, and ammonium-ammonia buffers. It is well established that the pH change of the buffers depends on the initial concentration and aqueous pH of the buffer, on the percentage of methanol added, and on the particular buffer used. The proposed equations allow the pH estimation of methanol-water buffered mobile phases up to 80% in volume of organic modifier from initial aqueous buffer pH and buffer concentration (before adding methanol) between 0.001 and 0.01 mol L(-1). From both the estimated pH values of the mobile phase and the estimated pKa of the ionisable analytes, it is possible to predict the degree of ionisation of the analytes and therefore, the interpretation of acid-base analytes behaviour in a particular methanol-water buffered mobile phase.

Models and objective functions for the optimisation of selectivity in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Interpretive methodologies are the most efficient tools for finding the optimal conditions in chromatography. These methodologies are supported by models or algorithms able to infer the system behaviour upon changes in the experimental factors. Once the models are built with data obtained from sets of carefully designed experiments, molecular modelling or other approaches, they can be applied to predict the performance of new conditions. The different elements involved in these methodologies, for both isocratic and gradient elution, are given. Special attention is devoted to the description of retention, owing to its major impact on the prediction of chromatographic resolution. Several models considering the main factors affecting retention (i.e. organic modifiers, pH and temperature), and procedures that enhance the predictions, are presented. Both the existence of skewed peaks and the effect of elution conditions on peak profiles are considered. Finally, the assessment of resolution, as well as other secondary aims that affect the practical suitability of the optimal conditions, is discussed.

Retention of ionisable compounds on high-performance liquid chromatography

In agreement with our previous studies and those of other authors, it is shown that much better fits of retention time as a function of pH are obtained for acid-base analytes when pH is measured in the mobile phase, than when pH is measured in the aqueous buffer when buffers of different nature are used. However, in some instances it may be more practical to measure the pH in the aqueous buffer before addition of the organic modifier. Thus, an open methodology is presented that allows prediction of chromatographic retention of acid-base analytes from the pH measured in the aqueous buffer. The model presented estimates the pH of the buffer and the pKa of the analyte in a particular acetonitrile/water mobile phase from the pH and pKa values in water. The retention of the analyte can be easily estimated, at a buffer pH close to the solute pKa, from these values and from the retentions of the pure acidic and basic forms of the analyte. Since in many instances, the analyte pKa values in water are not known, the methodology has been also tested by using Internet software, at reach of many chemists, which calculates analyte pKa values from chemical structure. The approach is successfully tested for some pharmaceutical drugs.