Electroosmotic flow assisted pseudophase to pseudophase microextraction for stacking in capillary zone electrophoresis

Chiral Separation Enhancement in Capillary Electrophoresis by Electrophoretic Mobility Differences without Electroosmosis

To improve separation efficiency and address the adverse effects of electro-osmosis, a coated capillary was used to shield the electroosmosis. A nanoflow pump was used to control the flow of the electrophoretic medium, thereby extending the time of the electrophoretic action. Furthermore, by using a coated capillary that is only 10 cm long as the separation column, the electric field strength could reach as high as 250 V/mm. These strategies strengthened the interaction between the enantiomers and the chiral selector, thus enhancing the resolution of enantiomers. As a result, complete separation of the amlodipine enantiomers could be achieved by halting the electrophoretic medium. Further extending the duration of flow stoppage can increase the resolution several-fold. The method established in this study exhibits excellent accuracy and precision. Despite experiencing a long period of flow stoppage, the relative standard deviations of both migration time and resolution remain less than 2%. This method not only remarkably enhanced the resolution of amlodipine enantiomers but also demonstrated broad applicability in separating other chiral enantiomers, particularly for those substances that are difficult to separate using conventional capillary electrophoresis.

Stacking in electrophoresis by electroosmotic flow-assisted admicelle to solvent microextraction

An in-line sample concentration method for capillary electrophoresis called admicelle to solvent microextraction was proposed. In this technique, analytes were trapped in the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide admicelles formed in situ on the negatively charged capillary surface. A solvent plug was then partially injected hydrodynamically to collapse the admicelles, which liberated and focused the analytes at the solvent front. Voltage was applied across the capillary, completing the stacking process. Various solvents, namely, methanol, ethanol, and acetonitrile, were investigated. The optimal solvent for solvent to admicelle microextraction was 30% acetonitrile in 24 mM sodium tetraborate (pH 9.2). Sample injection time and solvent to sample injection ratio were also optimised. For this demonstration, the optimum sample injection time and solvent to sample injection ratio were 320 s and 1:2, respectively. Using the optimum conditions, UV detection sensitivity was enhanced 132-176-fold for the model anions. The LOQ, %intra-/inter-day (n = 6/n = 12, 2 days) repeatability, and linearity (R2) of admicelle to solvent microextraction were 0.08-2 µg/mL, 1.9-3.9%, 2.8-4.9%, and 0.992, respectively. Admicelle to solvent microextraction was applied to the analysis of various fortified water samples, with good repeatability (%RSD = 0.5-3.6%), and no matrix interferences.

In-line sample concentration in capillary electrophoresis by cyclodextrin to admicelle microextraction

Cyclodextrins (CDs) as a pseudophase in pseudophase-to-pseudophase microextraction (P2ME) in capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) are proposed. In this P2ME mode called CD to admicelle ME, a long plug of dilute analyte solution prepared in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) at the critical micellar concentration was injected into the capillary. This formed CTAB admicelles at the interface between the solution and the negatively charged capillary surface, where the analytes were trapped. The injection of CD solution released the admicelles and the analytes from the capillary surface due to the formation of stable CD/CTAB inclusion complexes. The analytes are concentrated at the CD front during injection and voltage separation. Various neutral CDs were found to be effective for CD to admicelle ME. To implement this in-line sample concentration technique in CZE, CD concentration, sample injection time, and sample:CD solution injection ratio were optimized. The optimized conditions for five model anionic analytes, namely, 4-bromophenol, sulindac, sulfamethizole, 4-vinylbenzoic acid, and succinylsulfathiazole, were 20 mM α-CD in 20 mM sodium tetraborate (pH 9.2) solution, sample injection time of 370 s, and CD:sample injection ratio of 1:2. The sensitivity enhancement factors (SEFs) were between 112 and 168. The SEFs of sulindac and sulfamethizole in particular were similar to previously published off-line microextraction techniques, which are typically time-consuming. The calculated values of LOQ, intra-/inter-day (n = 6/n = 10, 3 days) repeatability, and linearity (R2) of CD to admicelle ME were 0.0125-0.05 µg/mL, 1.5-4.6%, 1.8-4.8%, and ≥0.999, respectively. Finally, the potential of CD to admicelle ME to the analysis of artificial urine samples was demonstrated.