Thermoresponsive chiral stationary phase functionalized with the copolymer of β-cyclodextrin and N-isopropylacrylamide for high performance liquid chromatography

Dicationic imidazole ionic liquid stationary phase for preservative detection and its application under mixed mode of HILIC/RPLC/IEC

BACKGROUND

Food safety has always been a great concern, and the detection of additives is vital to ensuring food safety. Therefore, there is a necessity to develop a method that can quickly and efficiently separate and detect additives in food. High performance liquid chromatography is widely used in the analysis and testing of food additives. Ionic liquids have attracted wide attention in the preparation of high performance liquid chromatography stationary phases owing to their high stability, low vapor pressure and adjustable structure.

RESULTS

We developed a novel dicationic imidazole ionic liquid stationary phase for the simultaneous determination of organic preservatives (sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate) and inorganic preservatives (nitrate and nitrite) in foodstuffs under mixed-mode chromatography. The method had the advantages of easy operation, high reproducibility, good linearity and precision. In the detection of these four preservatives, the limit of detection ≤0.4740 mg⋅L-1 and the limit of quantification ≤1.5800 mg⋅L-1. The intra-day and inter-day precision were less than 4.02%, and the recovery rate was 95.90∼100.19 %. At the same time, we also characterized the stationary phase, explored the mechanism and evaluated the chromatographic performance. The stationary phase was able to operate under the mixed mode of reversed phase/hydrophilic interaction/ion exchange chromatography, and it was capable of separating hydrophilic substances, hydrophobic substances, acids, and inorganic anionic substances with good separation efficiency and had high column efficiency.

SIGNIFICANCE

In summary, the stationary phase has a promising application in the routine analysis of organic and inorganic preservatives in food. In addition, the stationary phase has good separation ability for hydrophilic, hydrophobic, ionic substances and complex samples, making it a prospective material for chromatographic separation.

Recent advances in chiral selectors immobilization and chiral mobile phase additives in liquid chromatographic enantio-separations: A review

For decades now, the separation of chiral enantiomers of drugs has been gaining the interest and attention of researchers. In 1991, the first guidelines for development of chiral drugs were firstly released by the US-FDA. Since then, the development in chromatographic enantioseparation tools has been fast and variable, aiming at creating a suitable environment where the physically and chemically identical enantiomers can be separated. Among those tools, the immobilization of chiral selectors (CS) on different stationary phases and the chiral mobile phase additives (CMPA) which have been progressed and studied extensively. This review article highlights the major advances in immobilization of CS together with their different recognition mechanisms as well as CMPA as a cheaper and successful alternative for chiral stationary phases. Moreover, the role of molecular modeling tool as a pre-step in the choice of CS for evaluating possible interactions with different ligands has been pointed up. Illustrations of reported methods and updates for immobilized CS and CMPA have been included.

Switchable Separation Strategy via Host-Guest Locks

Universal separation strategies are the ultimate goal in separation science. However, there is always a tradeoff between universality and selectivity due to the negative influence among different recognition domains. With the goal of universal separation in mind, an unprecedented, switchable, and versatile separation strategy using reversible supramolecular host-guest interactions has been developed. These adjustable separation mediums were prepared using surface-grafted cationic cyclodextrin to firmly bind negatively charged adamantane derivatives. By changing guest structures, the surface functionality of the separation medium can be precisely regulated to be selective for a variety of substrates including chiral or achiral molecules, thus producing satisfactory single-column universality. This method offers a new approach to move beyond conventional separation methodologies and should stimulate the design of switchable functional materials.

Enantioseparation in high performance liquid chromatography: preparation and evaluation of a vancomycin-based chiral stationary phase via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization

A chromatographic technique based on a chiral stationary phase (CSP) has been explored for enantioseparation. Herein, poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (poly(GMA)) brushes were grafted on the surface of silica gel via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP), followed by the introduction of vancomycin as a chiral selector. The as-synthesized material was characterized by elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), proving the formation of vancomycin-immobilized brushes. Then the resulting CSP was explored to separate 7 racemic drugs (bicalutamide, 1-benzyl-5-phenylbarbituric acid, chlorpheniramine maleate, fluoxetine hydrochloride, verapamil hydrochloride, benzoxazocine hydrochloride and isoprenaline hydrochloride) in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Several factors affecting the enantioseparation performance of the vancomycin-immobilized CSP, including the triethylamine (TEA) content in the buffer, pH value, content of organic solvent in the mobile phase, flow rate and injection volume, were mainly optimized. Under the optimal conditions, baseline separation of fluoxetine hydrochloride (R_S = 2.52) was achieved, which was better than that on a commercial Chirobiotic V column, while enantioseparation of bicalutamide (R_S = 1.01), chlorpheniramine maleate (R_S = 0.77), 1-benzyl-5-phenylbarbituric acid (R_S = 0.67), isoprenaline hydrochloride (R_S = 0.73), verapamil hydrochloride (R_S = 0.91) and benzoxazocine hydrochloride (R_S = 1.03) was partly achieved. It was concluded that SI-ATRP is a robust way to fabricate vancomycin-based CSPs for enantioseparation.

Preparation and characterization of starch-cellulose interpenetrating network hydrogels based on sequential Diels-Alder click reaction and photopolymerization

Herein, starch-cellulose interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogels were fabricated by sequential Diels-Alder click reaction and photopolymerization in water. Moreover, β-cyclodextrin, a commonly used host molecule in supramolecular chemistry, was also introduced to improve the performance of the IPN hydrogel. Firstly, the starch-based dienes were synthesized by modifying starch with N-maleoyl-β-alanine, and the cellulose-based dienophiles were obtained by the reaction of cellulose and furfurylamide succinate; Secondly, the as-synthesized starch-based dienes, cellulose-based dienophiles, polymerizable β-cyclodextrin, crosslinker, and acrylamide were dissolved in water and obtained a transparent solution. The solution was maintained in a water bath of 50 °C for 3 h, forming the first network via catalyst-free click Diels-Alder reaction, subsequently, the second network was formed by photopolymerization. Their preparation conditions were optimized via one-factor experiments and their properties and structures were characterized. Finally, 5- fluorouracil (5-Fu) was used as a model drug to study the sustained release behavior of the drug-loaded hydrogels. Release profile was found to fit in Ritger-Peppas kinetic model and polymer relaxation and drug diffusion made a valuable contribution to drug release. Taking into account the virtues of easily controllable photopolymerization and catalyst-free Diels-Alder reaction, the strategy described here has a potential application in the preparation of IPN hydrogels.

One-pot method for the synthesis of β-cyclodextrin and covalent organic framework functionalized chiral stationary phase with mixed-mode retention mechanism

As a welcomed porous material, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have many advantages and are widely used in various aspects. Particularly, COFs have aroused great attentions of scientists in chromatographic separation field due to their outstanding advantages, such as high stability, large specific surface area and multiple voids. However, endowing COFs with chirality to construct chiral stationary phase (CSP) function is still facing many challenges. Here, we firstly prepared a β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and covalent organic framework functional silica CSP named as COF@CD@SiO₂ by one-pot method to perform high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) chiral separation. The morphology and structure of the synthesized stationary phase were investigated by a variety of characterization methods including Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N₂ adsorption experiment, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and elemental analysis (EA). The prepared stationary phase realized fast separation of six enantiomers in a short time. The separation mechanism was mainly ascribed to the inclusion complexation of β-cyclodextrin and the mutli-interaction sites from COFs material. In conclusion, the prepared chiral column can be used to achieve fast separation of enantiomers with good stability and reproducibility. These results can open new avenue for using chiral COFs in liquid chromatographic separation.

Recent progress in the development of chiral stationary phases for high-performance liquid chromatography

Separations and analyses of chiral compounds are important in many fields, including pharmaceutical production, preparation of chemical intermediates, and biochemistry. High-performance liquid chromatography using a chiral stationary phase is regarded as one of the most valuable methods for enantiomeric separation and analysis because it is highly efficient, is broadly applicable, and has powerful separation capability. The focus for development of this method is the identification of novel chiral stationary phases with superior recognition performance and good stability. The present article reviews recent progress in the development of new chiral stationary phases for high-performance liquid chromatography between January 2018 and June 2021. These newly reported chiral stationary phases are divided into three categories: small organic molecule-based (cyclodextrin and its derivatives, macrocyclic antibiotics, cinchona alkaloids, and other low molecular weight chiral molecules), macromolecule-based (cellulose and amylose derivatives, chitin and chitosan derivatives, and synthetic helical polymers) and chiral porous material-based (chiral metal-organic frameworks, chiral covalent organic frameworks, and chiral inorganic mesoporous silicas). Each type of chiral stationary phase is discussed in detail.

Strategies for Preparation of Chiral Stationary Phases: Progress on Coating and Immobilization Methods

Enantioselective chromatography is one of the most used techniques for the separation and purification of enantiomers. The most important issue for a specific successful enantioseparation is the selection of the suitable chiral stationary phase (CSP). Different synthetic approaches have been applied for the preparation of CSPs, which embrace coating and immobilization methods. In addition to the classical and broadly applied coating and immobilization procedures, innovating strategies have been introduced recently. In this review, an overview of different methods for the preparation of coated and immobilized CSPs is described. Updated examples of CSPs associated with the various strategies are presented. Considering that after the preparation of a CSP its characterization is fundamental, the methods used for the characterization of all the described CSPs are emphasized.

Polysaccharide- and β-Cyclodextrin-Based Chiral Selectors for Enantiomer Resolution: Recent Developments and Applications

Polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, and their derivatives, particularly of amylose, cellulose, chitosan, and β-cyclodextrin, are well-known chiral selectors (CSs) of chiral stationary phases (CSPs) in chromatography, because they can separate a wide range of enantiomers. Typically, such CSPs are prepared by physically coating, or chemically immobilizing the polysaccharide and β-cyclodextrin derivatives onto inert silica gel carriers as chromatographic support. Over the past few years, new chiral selectors have been introduced, and progressive methods to prepare CSPs have been exploited. Also, chiral recognition mechanisms, which play a crucial role in the investigation of chiral separations, have been better elucidated. Further insights into the broad functional performance of commercially available chiral column materials and/or the respective newly developed chiral phase materials on enantiomeric separation (ES) have been gained. This review summarizes the recent developments in CSs, CSP preparation, chiral recognition mechanisms, and enantiomeric separation methods, based on polysaccharides and β-cyclodextrins as CSs, with a focus on the years 2019-2020 of this rapidly developing field.