Separation of rare earth elements by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Rare earth element separations by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Following the initial development of High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography (HSCCC) in the 1960s, several studies have explored its applicability in the separation of rare earth elements (REEs). More recently, however, HSCCC publications have transitioned towards the separation of natural products or pharmaceuticals, leaving the application for REEs largely unexplored from a practical standpoint. Herein, we expand upon prior work in this field by evaluating the suitability of HSCCC to separation of a subset of non-radioactive REEs (Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, and Y) at 10^-4 mol levels using di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (HDEHP) in n-heptane as the stationary phase and hydrochloric acid as the mobile phase. First, the effect of flow rate on the stationary phase volume retention ratio and resolution of Nd/Sm/Eu subgroup was evaluated followed by optimization of step-gradient elution profiles resulting in additional recovery of Tb and Y within a seven-hour window. The five REEs were separated at the baseline resolution level or above. Elution profiles obtained from multiple runs across two independently operated columns and across independent runs were cross analyzed. Reproducibility in elution profiles point to future applications in radioelement separation chemistry, where both chemical and radiochemical purity are of importance.

Chromatographic Techniques for Rare Earth Elements Analysis

The present capability of rare earth element (REE) analysis has been achieved by the development of two instrumental techniques. The efficiency of spectroscopic methods was extraordinarily improved for the detection and determination of REE traces in various materials. On the other hand, the determination of REEs very often depends on the preconcentration and separation of REEs, and chromatographic techniques are very powerful tools for the separation of REEs. By coupling with sensitive detectors, many ambitious analytical tasks can be fulfilled.

Liquid chromatography is the most widely used technique. Different combinations of stationary phases and mobile phases could be used in ion exchange chromatography, ion chromatography, ion-pair reverse-phase chromatography and some other techniques. The application of gas chromatography is limited because only volatile compounds of REEs can be separated. Thin-layer and paper chromatography are techniques that cannot be directly coupled with suitable detectors, which limit their applications. For special demands, separations can be performed by capillary electrophoresis, which has very high separation efficiency.

Numerical model for the investigation of countercurrent chromatography

A numerical model is developed to describe the separation process of countercurrent chromatography (CCC) in this work. The theory of countercurrent extraction table (TCCET) is first proposed to calculate concentration distributions of chemical components in the CCC, which is essential for a numerical model to describe the dynamic equilibrium of mass transfer. According to the theory of countercurrent extraction, the concentration in chromatography obeys binomial distribution, while the outflow from the n-th stage is a negative binomial distribution. As a result of the central limit theorem, they will obey normal distribution for sufficiently large n. Row-stage ratio (R(RS)) is then defined to determine the K value or retention time because it has a linear relationship to K value and retention time. The stage for a certain K value can be subsequently obtained with a very simple form, n(k)=1/(2piq(k)X(2)(k, max)), which can be calculated from the peak height obtained from experiments. Finally, the actual stage for a separation chromatogram can be acquired with using this simple expression. The agreement between theoretic and experimental results is quite satisfactory in the normal-phase and reversed-phase elution mode.

Countercurrent chromatography in analytical chemistry (IUPAC Technical Report)

Countercurrent chromatography (CCC) is a generic term covering all forms of liquid-liquid chromatography that use a support-free liquid stationary phase held in place by a simple centrifugal or complex centrifugal force field. Biphasic liquid systems are used with one liquid phase being the stationary phase and the other being the mobile phase. Although initiated almost 30 years ago, CCC lacked reliable columns. This is changing now, and the newly designed centrifuges appearing on the market make excellent CCC columns. This review focuses on the advantages of a liquid stationary phase and addresses the chromatographic theory of CCC. The main difference with classical liquid chromatography (LC) is the variable volume of the stationary phase. There are mainly two different ways to obtain a liquid stationary phase using centrifugal forces, the hydrostatic way and the hydrodynamic way. These two kinds of CCC columns are described and compared. The reported applications of CCC in analytical chemistry and comparison with other separation and enrichment methods show that the technique can be successfully used in the analysis of plants and other natural products, for the separation of biochemicals and pharmaceuticals, for the separation of alkaloids from medical herbs, in food analysis, etc. On the basis of the studies of the last two decades, recommendations are also given for the application of CCC in trace inorganic analysis and in radioanalytical chemistry.

Preparative separation and purification of squalene from the microalga Thraustochytrium ATCC 26185 by high-speed counter-current chromatography

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was successfully applied to the preparative separation and purification of squalene from microalgae. Crude squalene was obtained from the microalga Thraustochytrium ATCC 26185 by extraction with organic solvents. The crude squalene was further separated using a waterless two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-methanol (2:1, v/v). The upper phase as the mobile phase was pumped into the column at a flow-rate of 2.0 ml min(-1) in the tail-to-head elution mode. The fractions purified and collected were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The method yielded 0.2 mg squalene at 96% purity from 150 mg of the crude squalene (0.14% squalene) with 95% recovery. The separation of squalene by HSCCC was completed in 90 min.

Enrichment and determination of zinc by high-speed countercurrent chromatography

The capability of high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC) has been investigated for enrichment and determination of metal ions at trace levels. Separation of selected divalent metal ions was performed using a small coiled column. A hexane solution of 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (EHPA) was employed as the stationary phase. Loaded divalent metal ions such as Ni, Co, Cu, and Zn were chromatographically eluted in the order of increasing extractability by passing a mobile phase buffered at a desired pH. Individual metal ions showed good linearity between concentrations and chromatographic peak areas of the absorbance, as detected by postcolumn reaction with 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol (PAR). Metal ions enriched into the stationary phase from a sample solution were separated into individual metal ions. The trace quantity of zinc in natural mineral water was determined by enrichment separation through an HSCCC column.

Preparative separation of lappaconitine, ranaconitine, N-deacetyllappaconitine and N-deacetylranaconitine from crude alkaloids of sample Aconitum sinomontanum Nakai by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Analytical high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was used for the systematic selection and optimization of the two-phase solvent system to separate alkaloids from Aconitum sinomontanum Nakai. The optimum solvent systems CHCl3-MeOH-0.3 M/0.2 M HCl (4:1.5:2, v/v) thus obtained led to the successful separation of lappaconitine, ranaconitine, N-deacetyllappaconitine and N-deacetylranaconitine from 60 to 500 mg of crude alkaloid sample by preparative HSCCC separation.

Application of analytical and preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography for separation of lycopene from crude extract of tomato paste

Lycopene was isolated from 100 mg of crude extract of tomato paste containing about 9% of lycopene. Analytical high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was first used for the systematic selection of the two-phase solvent system. Then preparative HSCCC separation was performed with a nonaqueous solvent system composed of n-hexane-dichloromethane-acetonitrile at an optimum volume ratio of 10:3.5:6.5. This yielded 8.6 mg of lycopene at over 98.5% purity as determined by HPLC analysis.

On-line microextraction of metal traces for subsequent determination by plasma atomic emission spectrometry using pH peak focusing countercurrent chromatography

Metal ions were highly efficiently enriched by pH peak focusing high-speed countercurrent chromatography. The peak intensity for a 10-mL standard sample in the effluent stream was increased over 100-fold compared to conventional plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Ca, Cd, Cu, Mg, Mn, Ni, and Zn are chromatographically extracted in a basic organic stationary phase containing a complex-forming reagent such as bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid. After the sample solution is introduced into the column, metal ions remain around the sharp pH border formed between acidic and basic zones, moving toward the column outlet. Enriched metal ions are finally eluted with the sharp pH border as a highly concentrated peak into a volume of less than 100 microL. We evaluated this method for concentration efficiency in trace determination in tap water using different column diameters.

Application of analytical and preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography for separation of alkaloids from Coptis chinensis Franch

Analytical high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was used for the systematic selection and optimization of the two-phase solvent system to separate alkaloids from Coptis chinensis Franch. The optimum solvent system thus obtained led to the successful separation of alkaloids from C. chinensis Franch by preparative HSCCC. One batch separation yielded four pure alkaloids, including palmatine, berberine, epiberberine and coptisine from the crude alkaloid extract.

Affinity countercurrent chromatography using a ligand in the stationary phase

In countercurrent chromatography (CCC), an addition of a ligand to the liquid stationary phase remarkably improved both retention time and peak resolution of the analytes: various amino acid derivatives were separated by N-dodecanoyl-L-proline-3,5-dimethylanilide, while polar catecholamines and dipeptides were separated by bis-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid. By selecting an appropriate ligand and dissolving it in the liquid stationary phase, the present CCC technique can perform a variety of separations comparable to chiral chromatography, ion chromatography, and affinity chromatography. Leakage of the ligand from the column can be entirely eliminated by introducing a small volume of a ligand-free stationary phase at the end of the column as an absorbent. The method further facilitates application of pH-zone-refining CCC and can increase the sample loading capacity over 10 times for a given column.

pH-Zone refining counter-current chromatography of polar catecholamines using di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid as a ligand

The use of di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (DEHPA) as a ligand in the stationary phase effectively increased the partition coefficient of polar catecholamines. pH-Zone refining counter-current chromatography of six components, i.e. five catecholamines and one amino acid (DOPA), was successfully performed using a two-phase solvent system composed of methyl tert.-butyl ether and water by adding DEHPA (20%) and ammonium acetate (200 mM) to the organic phase and HCl (50 mM) to the aqueous mobile phase. DOPA was eluted first as a normal peak followed by the five catecholamines which formed a succession of highly concentrated rectangular peaks associated with sharp impurity peaks at their borders (UV tracing at 280 nm). Both pH and standard partition coefficient of collected fractions indicated minimum overlap between the main peaks. Each component was identified by NMR analysis.