Chromatographic characterization of silica-based reversed phases

Design of novel chromatographic stationary phases based on long-chain ionic liquid-derived carbon quantum dots, with embedded polar groups and imidazoles, for the separation of multiple compounds

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were synthesized from brominated 1-hexadecyl-3-vinylimidazolium and citric acid, and a mixed-mode chromatographic (MMC) stationary phase, which can be used in the RPLC/HILIC/IEC chromatographic modes with a good separation efficiency, was successfully synthesized by click-chemistry bonding to a sulfhydryl-modified silica surface. The successful synthesis of the chromatographic stationary phase was demonstrated by its characterization. The effects of organic phase ratio, column temperature and buffer salts on the column were investigated, established the van't Hoff equation, and verified the ion-exchange effect of the column by separating benzoic acid and phenolic compounds under different pH conditions. The reversed-phase performance of the column was characterized by Tanaka test. Compounds such as alkylbenzenes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and nucleosides can all be separated on the column in a short period of time. The reproducibility and stability of the columns were verified under the corresponding chromatographic conditions, and the results showed good reproducibility and stability of the columns. The chromatographic column was used to separate the base nucleosides in apples, and four base nucleosides were successfully isolated from apples.

Synthesis of octadecylamine-derived carbon dots and application in reversed phase/hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography

In order to make up for the deficiencies of traditional C18 column for separating strong polar compounds, combined with the good hydrophilicity of carbon dots (CDs), novel octadecylamine-derived CDs denoted as C18-CDs are designed, synthesized and applied in RPLC/HILIC mixed-mode chromatography with good separation performance towards both hydrophobic and hydrophilic compounds. C18-CDs are synthesized by simple one-step solvothermal method using octadecylamine and citric acid as carbon sources, and C18-CDs with proper polarity are collected through column chromatography purification. This C18-CDs decorated silica column showed good separation performance for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and alkylbenzenes under RPLC mode. Hydrophilic compounds including sulfonamides, nucleosides and nucleobases also achieved good resolution in HILIC mode. Hydrophobic and π-π stacking interactions play major retaining roles in RPLC, whereas hydrophilic partitioning and hydrogen bond interactions turn to the main retention interactions under HILIC mode. This C18-CDs/SiO₂ column was applied for the fast detection of chloramphenicol in milk without complex sample pretreatment process. Quantitative relationship between the peak area and the concentration of chloramphenicol was established with linear equation of A = 1677c + 173. Satisfactory spiked recoveries in the range of 94.1-109.0% were obtained. This work not only proposes a simple method for improving the polarity of C18 column through forming octadecane into CDs, but also provides novel CDs with certain hydrophobicity/hydrophily suitable for mixed-mode chromatography.

Octadecylimidazolium ionic liquids-functionalized carbon dots and their precursor co-immobilized silica as hydrophobic chromatographic stationary phase with enhanced shape selectivity

In this work, 1-vinyl-3-octadecylimidazolium bromide ionic liquids ([C₁₈VIm]Br) and their derived carbon dots (ImC₁₈CDs) were prepared, [C₁₈VIm]Br and ImC₁₈CDs were grafted on the silica to obtain Sil-ImC₁₈ and Sil-ImC₁₈CDs, respectively, and they were also co-grafted on silica which named Sil-ImC₁₈/CDs. Compared with Sil-ImC₁₈ and Sil-ImC₁₈CDs columns, Sil-ImC₁₈/CDs column exhibited enhanced selectivity for separation of tetracyclic/tricyclic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) isomers, and butylbenzene isomers in reversed-phase liquid chromatography, which may be due to the synergistic effect between ImC₁₈CDs and [C₁₈VIm]Br, the π-π interaction between imidazolium and analytes, etc. Meanwhile, the retention behavior of Sil-ImC₁₈/CDs was further evaluated and compared with the commercial C₁₈ column using different classes of analytes, including standard test mixtures of Tanaka, Engelhardt, SRM869b, SRM870. The results demonstrated that co-grafted column exhibited superior separation performance. And this column was applied to determine the contents of calycosin-7-glucoside, ononin, calycosin and formononetin in the extract of Radix Astragali, which were found that the concentration was 0.25 mg mL^-1, 0.15 mg mL^-1, 0.13 mg mL^-1 and 0.30 mg mL^-1, respectively.

Functionalization using polymer or silane? A practical test method to characterize hydrophilic interaction chromatography phases in terms of their functionalization method

Herein, commercially available columns employed in hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) were characterized by determining their ability to selectively distinguish the minute structural differences between small molecules such as nucleosides and xanthines in complex sample matrices. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the data obtained from structurally similar analytes, and the results showed that HILIC columns could generally be classified into two groups: (i) silane-modified columns that were prepared from either native silica particles or silica particles modified with low-molecular-weight silanes and (ii) polymer-modified columns obtained from silica particles functionalized with organic polymers. These two groups could be further subdivided based on the functionalities attached to the respective stationary phases. These results were confirmed via cluster analysis by preparing a dendrogram using the morphology-based selectivity parameters associated with the respective columns. We were able to determine the selectivity of columns for the OH groups, i.e., α(OH) and the prevailing pH conditions (cation- and anion-exchanging natures) on the surface of the respective stationary phases; α(theobromine/theophylline) was employed to obtain a similar two-dimensional plot. This test scheme, in which five compounds were analyze for each column, was helpful for understanding the impact of factors such as the hydrophilicity, degree of hydration, acidity/basicity, or the weak ion-exchange nature of the respective stationary phases on the separation characteristics of new HILIC stationary phases. The selectivity of columns for the CH₂ group was also examined. The cation-exchange nature of the HILIC columns significantly influenced native silica columns and some polymer-modified columns. Herein, 45 commercially available HILIC columns were classified according to this method, and the results proved useful for understanding distinct separation characteristics of each HILIC column, enabling improved column selection.

Characterization and applications of reversed-phase column selectivity based on the hydrophobic-subtraction model

A total of 371 reversed-phase columns have now been characterized in terms of selectivity, based on five solute-column interactions (the hydrophobic-subtraction model). The present study illustrates the use of these data for interpreting peak-tailing and column stability. New insights are also provided concerning column selectivity as a function of ligand and silica type, and the selection of columns for orthogonal separations is re-examined. Some suggestions for the quality control of reversed-phase columns during manufacture are offered.

Stationary phase characterization and method development

The properties of stationary phases and their characterization methods are reviewed. New and significant developments have occurred in the last few years, and new methods for stationary phase characterization have become available. The characterization methods are discussed, and the differences between the different methods are pointed out. In addition, method development approaches are reviewed, with special emphasis on recent developments that employ multiple parameters in parallel. Also, the renewed interest of temperature as a tool in method development is surveyed.

Description and comparison of chromatographic tests and chemometric methods for packed column classification

The main tests developed in last 20 years to investigate the chromatographic behaviour and the stationary phase properties are described in this paper. These properties are the hydrophobicity, depending on the surface area and the bonding density, the number of accessible residual silanol groups having sometimes different acidity, which can interact with neutral solutes by hydrogen bonds or with the ionic form of basic compounds and the shape or steric selectivity, depending on both the functionality of the silanising agent and the bonding density. Two types of tests are performed, either based on key solutes having well defined properties such as phenol, caffeine, amitriptyline, benzylamine, acenaphtene, o-terphenyl, triphenylene, p-ethylaniline, carotenoid pigments, or on retention models (solvation parameter, hydrophobic subtraction) obtained from the analyses of numerous and varied compounds. Thus, the chromatographic properties are either related to selectivities or retention factors calculated from key solutes, or they are described by interaction coefficients provided by multilinear regression from retention models. Three types of comparison methods are used based on these data. First, simple plots allow the study of differences between the columns as regards to one or two properties. Columns located in the same area of the plot display close properties. Second, chemometric methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) or hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) can be performed to compare columns. In this case, all the studied properties are included in the comparison, done either by data projection to reduce the space in which the information is located (PCA) or by distance calculation and comparison for drawing a classification (HCA). Neighbouring columns are expected to provide identical chromatographic performances. These two chemometric methods can be used together, PCA before HCA. The third way is to calculate a discrimination factor from a reference column, through calculation methods based on the Pythagorean Theorem: the lower this factor, the closer the column properties. Following the presentation of the analytical conditions, the compounds and the data treatments used by the teams working in this field, the pertinence of the different selectivities, i.e. of the different probe solute couples or of the different interaction coefficients, are discussed as regards their discrimination capacity. The accuracy of chemometric treatments in the discrimination of stationary phases having different functionalities (octadecylsiloxane (ODS), cyano, fluorinated, phenyl, polar embedded group or "aqua" type) will be discussed, as well as their performances in the finer ODS discrimination. New two-dimensional plots, from data gained by different studies will be suggested, to improve the classification of stationary phases having different nature of bonded chains.

Chromatographic classification and comparison of commercially available reversed-phase liquid chromatographic columns containing phenyl moieties using principal component analysis

Twenty-one commercially available phenyl type RPLC packing materials have been characterized in terms of their surface coverage, hydrophobic selectivity, shape selectivity, hydrogen bonding capacity, ion exchange capacity at pH 2.7 and 7.6 and aromatic selectivity (i.e. pi-pi interaction). The phases have been compared to their corresponding C-alkyl phases, three pentafluorophenyl phases and a series of experimental phenyl phases of known bonding chemistry. Principal component analysis has been used to provide a graphical comparison of the differences and similarities between the phases. The phase's aromatic selectivity was found to be dependent on the length of the alkyl spacer between the silicon atom and the phenyl ring.

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography column testing and classification: Physicochemical interpretation based on a wide set of stationary phases

The high number of stationary phases commercially available for liquid chromatography makes the choice of the analyst a real headache. In order to provide a tool to carry out this choice on objective basis, the present work proposes interpretations of the column classifications obtained, thanks to a previously described testing procedure. The meaning of principal components was attributed to crossing over information carried by loading plots and groups revealed by hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) on the corresponding score plots. At high solvent ratio, the retention seemed to be governed by enthalpy, whereas at low solvent ratio, entropic phenomena were predominating. Finally, the behavior of known families of RPLC columns was studied giving rise either to homogeneous groups like polar embedded grafts columns or to scattered families like Aqua type columns.

Enhanced Performance Test Mix for High-Throughput LC/MS Analysis of Pharmaceutical Compounds

LC/MS is being used for the routine analysis of small molecules in both the discovery and development stages within the pharmaceutical industry. In drug discovery, LC/MS is relied upon to confirm the identity and assess the purity of chemical entities. To ensure the quality of LC/MS analysis, it is important that the LC/MS system is operating within defined performance criteria. Performance monitoring of the system with a standard compound mix offers many advantages over other alternatives, since it monitors the LC/MS system as an integrated unit under the same working conditions as those used for the analysis of samples. It is also a convenient approach, because the test mix can be injected as part of the automated sequence. Use of a test mix for similar purposes has been described previously (Tang, L.; Fitch, W. L.; Alexander, M. S.; Dolan, J. W. Anal. Chem. 2000, 72, 5211-5218). To monitor the performance of ArQule's LC/MS operation (with UV and ELS detection) in greater detail, a set of eight compounds was selected from a collection of 137 commercially available "druglike" compounds. The compounds are generally stable and compliant with the rule-of-five criteria. This enhanced mix has a balanced selection of pKa values and covers the typical range of hydrophobicity and molecular masses of pharmaceutical compounds. Moreover, the selected compounds can generally be ionized using ESI and APCI modes with positive and negative polarity. The test mix can be used under formic acid or ammonium hydroxide conditions and with methanol or acetonitrile as an organic modifier. Performance monitoring with the enhanced mix is demonstrated with respect to ionization and mass measurement, as well as changes in gradient profile, flow rate, buffer pH, and ionic strength.

Selectivity in reversed-phase separations

The selectivity difference between 15 different stationary phases was measured using a large number of analytes at 2 or 3 different pH values (3, 7 and 10) with acetonitrile and methanol as the mobile phase modifiers. The packings discussed include standard C(8) and C(18) packings, packings with embedded polar groups, a phenyl packing, a pentafluoro-phenyl packing, an adamantylethyl packing and others. The major selectivity differences observed are discussed in detail. Specific effects such as pi-pi interactions on phenyl packings or hydrogen-bond interactions on phases with embedded polar groups are confirmed.

A simple subcritical chromatographic test for an extended ODS high performance liquid chromatography column classification

This paper describes a new test designed in subcritical fluid chromatography (SFC) to compare the commercial C18 stationary phase properties. This test provides, from a single analysis of carotenoid pigments, the absolute hydrophobicity, the silanol activity and the steric separation factor of the ODS stationary phases. Both the choice of the analytical conditions and the validation of the information obtained from the chromatographic measurements are detailed. Correlations of the carotenoid test results with results obtained from other tests (Tanaka, Engelhard, Sander and Wise) performed both in SFC and HPLC are discussed. Two separation factors, calculated from the retention of carotenoid pigments used as probe, allowed to draw a first classification diagram. Columns, which present identical chromatographic behaviors are located in the same area on this diagram. This location can be related to the stationary phase properties: endcapping treatments, bonding density, linkage functionality, specific area or silica pore diameter. From the first classification, eight groups of columns are distinguished. One group of polymer coated silica, three groups of polymeric octadecyl phases, depending on the pore size and the endcapping treatment, and four groups of monomeric stationary phases. An additional classification of the four monomeric groups allows the comparison of these stationary phases inside each group by using the total hydrophobicity. One hundred and twenty-nine columns were analysed by this simple and rapid test, which allows a comparison of columns with the aim of helping along their choice in HPLC.

Synthesis and characterization of a novel resorcinarene-based stationary phase bearing polar headgroups for use in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A novel silica-bonded stationary phase containing a functionalized resorcinarene selector was prepared by a straightforward synthesis. The complete modification of all resorcinic hydroxyl groups was achieved by reaction with isopropyl isocyanate. The derivatized resorcinarene selector was subsequently immobilized via the four alkenyl chains containing a terminal double bond by a free radical-induced reaction on mercaptopropyl-functionalized silica. A comprehensive characterization of the resulting bonded stationary phase was carried out by solid state NMR, IR and elemental analysis. The resulting selector is defined as a "polar headed" reversed phase since the highly ordered polar carbamate groups of the new stationary phase are located, compared to conventional polar embedded stationary phases, at a greater distance from the silica surface. Thus a new concept is introduced in the field of polar modified reversed-phase HPLC. The properties of the novel stationary phase are demonstrated by comparison with commercially available reversed phases.

An evaluation of the robustness of the Tanaka characterization protocol for reversed-phase liquid chromatography columns

The robustness of the popular 'Tanaka' LC column characterization protocol has been evaluated by the statistical tools of reduced factorial design, multiple linear regression and principal component analysis. These have shown that in order to obtain reliable and reproducible results, it is especially important to control the methanol content, the temperature and, in the case of the total ion-exchange capacity test (alphaB/P pH 7.6), the pH of the mobile phase. In particular, the hydrophobicity tests (kPB and alphaCH2) are sensitive to small changes in methanol content. Provided that the operating parameters for the Tanaka column characterization protocol are controlled within the following experimental limits, i.e. methanol content +/-0.5% v/v, temperature +/-3degreesC, pH +/-0.10 and buffer concentration +/-2.0 mM, it is feasible to distinguish between RP materials that possess selectivity differences larger than their batch-to-batch reproducibility. These experimental requirements can be easily met by current LC instrumentation. Hence, the validity of the Tanaka testing protocol for characterizing columns has been verified.

Chromatographic classification and comparison of commercially available reversed-phase liquid chromatographic columns containing polar embedded groups/amino endcappings using principal component analysis

Polar embedded phases have become increasingly popular in liquid chromatography (LC) analysis. These phases can produce diverse chromatographic selectivities as a result of their differing base silica, the type of polar embedded group (i.e. amide, urea, carbamate, ether or sulphonamide moieties) and the length of the alkyl ligand. Four column characterization protocols, using differing test probes, have been used to characterize 18 of these phases together with 17 alkyl phases (some of which contained novel polar endcapping, i.e. amino), which have been evaluated using principal component analysis (PCA). PCA provided graphical comparisons of the differences/similarities between these phases and between their corresponding C-alkyl, amino endcapped and enhanced polar selectivity phases.

Comparative study of three teicoplanin-based chiral stationary phases using the linear free energy relationship model

Teicoplanin (T) is a macrocyclic glycopeptide that is highly effective as a chiral selector for enantiomeric separations. In this study, we used three teicoplanin-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs) - native teicoplanin, teicoplanin aglycon (TAG) and recently synthesized methylated teicoplanin aglycon (MTAG). In order to examine the importance of various interaction types in the chiral recognition mechanism the three related CSPs were evaluated and compared using a linear free energy relationship (LFER). The capacity factors of 19 widely different solutes, with known solvation parameters, were determined on each of the columns under the same mobile phase conditions used for the chiral separations. The regression coefficients obtained revealed the magnitude of the contribution of individual interaction types to the retention on the compared columns under those specific experimental conditions. Statistically derived standardized regression coefficients were used to evaluate the contribution of individual molecular interactions within one stationary phase. It has been concluded that intermolecular interactions of the hydrophobic type significantly contribute to retention on all the CSPs studied here. Other retention increasing factors are n- and pi-electron interactions and dipole-dipole or dipole-induced dipole ones, while hydrogen donating or accepting interactions are more predominant with the mobile phase than with the stationary phases. However, these types of interactions are not equally significant for all the CSPs studied.