Chapter 28 - Capillary electrochromatography

Chiral drugs exert pharmacological effects through strict matching with chiral biological macromolecules and chiral recognition. Each enantiomer has different pharmacological activities, metabolic processes and rates, as well as toxicity pharmacokinetic characteristics owing to the difference in its interactions with the chiral environment. Therefore, method development for the resolution of chiral drugs is of great significance for the synthesis of chiral drugs and for quality control during the production process. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are prepared by using a target molecule as the template. MIPs demonstrate highly specific recognition properties toward the target molecule since they have specific spatial molecular structures and functional groups. Hence, MIPs are particularly suitable for the separation and purification of chiral drugs. Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) offers the advantages of high separation efficiency and high selectivity owing to the dual separation mechanisms including capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography. By using MIPs as the stationary phases for CEC, the advantages of the two technologies can be combined to achieve efficient separation of chiral drugs. MIPs were first applied to CEC for chiral resolution in 1994, and since then, there have been notable advances in this field. The four main chiral separation modes in CEC involve the use of MIPs as the stationary phases of open tubular, packed, and monolithic columns, and as the pseudostationary phase in the separation medium. This review summarizes the research progress of these four methods and reveals the potential of MIPs in chiral resolution by CEC. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods are commented. MIPs as the stationary phases of packed columns can allow for chiral separation. However, the preparation of packed columns in narrow capillaries is difficult. In addition, frits must be prepared at the ends of the capillaries to seal the MIPs. The frits lead to the formation of bubbles during the CEC analysis, thus resulting in poor repeatability and stability. These problems can be overcome by using MIP-based open tubular columns. Furthermore, conditioning of open tubular columns is easy and less time-consuming. However, open tubular columns have limited capacity. MIP-based monolithic columns have greater capacity than do open tubular columns, and frits are not required in this case. However, in situ preparation of MIPs monolith in narrow capillaries is still challenging. The application of MIPs to chiral CEC can also be realized by using them as pseudostationary phases (additives) in the separation medium, and this allows for ease of operation. Moreover, the amount of MIPs introduced into the capillary can be accurately controlled. Thus, the batch-to-batch reproducibility can be improved, but this has the disadvantage of increased MIP consumption. In order to further expand the potential of MIPs in chiral CEC, the following aspects must be considered. First, improvement of the preparation method. In most reported MIP-based-chiral CEC techniques, the peaks of the imprinted molecules show severe tailing, and this problem must be resolved. Improving the mass transfer rate of the prepared MIPs may be a suitable solution in this regard. Second, development of new functional monomers. A functional monomer is an indispensable component in the preparation of MIPs. New functional monomers can be prepared according to the "three-point interaction" rule. Third, selection of template molecules. A single enantiomer of chiral drugs is used as the template molecule to prepare chiral MIPs. The method is not suitable for the preparation of MIPs of chiral drugs for which a single enantiomer is difficult to obtain. Therefore, appropriate choice of the template molecules for these drugs is imperative. Fourth, discussion of chiral separation mechanism. The mechanism of interaction between the template molecules and MIPs needs to be explored further, in order to obtain theoretical guidance for the design and preparation of chiral MIPs.

A silica capillary of 50 μm internal diameter and 500 mm length (416 mm effective length) was chemically modified with 4-(trifluoromethoxy) phenyl isocyanate in the presence of dibutyl tin dichloride as catalyst. Sodium diethyl dithiocarbamate was reacted with the terminal halogen of the bound ligand to incorporate the initiator moiety, and in situ polymerization was performed using a monomer mixture of styrene, N-phenylacrylamide, and methacrylic acid. The resultant open tubular capillary column immobilized with the copolymer layer was used for the separation of tryptic digest of cytochrome C in capillary electrochromatography. The sample was well eluted and separated into many components. The elution patterns of tryptic digest of cytochrome C were studied with respect to pH and water content in the mobile phase. This preliminary study demonstrates that open tubular capillary electrochromatography columns with a modified copolymer layer composed of proper nonpolar and polar units fabricated by reversible addition-fragmentation transfer polymerization can be useful as separation media for proteomic analysis.

The methods of C18 modification to silica gel are well described in the literature. Three C18 modification methods are known by which three different types of C18 stationary phases are obtained, respectively-a brush form, an oligomeric form, and a bulk form. The brush form is composed of separate monomeric ligands chemically attached to the silica surface, and is obtained by reaction with monochlorodimethyloctadecylsilane. The oligomeric form, where a C18 oligomer is bonded to each silanol site of silica surface, is obtained with dichloromethyloctadecylsilane. The bulk form composed of a 3 dimensional polymer-like network, is obtained with trichlorooctadecylsilane. In all cases, endcapping is generally required after C18 modification to prevent the tailing phenomenon in chromatographic separation. The oligomeric and bulk forms are not widely used in the commercial products because preparation of such phases demands drastic and time-consuming reactions at high temperatures. On the other hand, the brush form is easy to make under mild reaction conditions, and is widely used. Spherical porous silica gel is the most common material for the support of C18 modification that gives high separation efficiencies. Microwave techniques have been used in chemical synthesis and derivatization, preparation of nano materials, extraction, sample treatment and dissolution, etc. Microwave application has been expanded even to polymerization and immobilization of polymer coating on chromatographic stationary phases. Microwave heating is known to often cause fast and good reaction results owing to rapid and uniform heating. However, microwave application in preparation of monoliths or C18 ligand modification has not been reported so far. Recently, the monolithic column has raised a lot of interest in liquid chromatography. The monolithic column is composed of an one-body porous solid structure with nanometer-sized inner pores and micrometer-sized through channels. Particularly, preparation of monolith column is carried out in silica capillary and it is used in capillary electrochromatography (CEC). Open-tubular columns have significant advantages over their packed counterparts because of the simplicity in column preparation and hasslefree fritless operation. Column efficiencies of 100 000 theoretical plates per meter are common for open tubular CEC columns of 50 μ ID, and column efficiencies up to half a million theoretical plates per meter have been reported for sol-gel open-tubular CEC columns of 10-13 μ ID. In this study, the effects of microwave heating have been studied in preparation of open tubular monolithic silica capillary columns and C18 modification in comparison with thermal heating. Three different capillary columns have been prepared by different heating processes-1) microwave heating for monolith formation and C18 ligand immobilization; 2) microwave heating for monolith formation and thermal heating for C18 ligand immobilization; 3) thermal heating for monolith formation and C18 ligand immobilization. Their performances in CEC separation have been comparatively studied. The microwave heating method for OT (open tubular) monolith formation was much faster than thermal heating, and the thickness of the monolith layer by microwave heating was much thinner than that by thermal heating.

Capillary columns with in situ formed porous monolithic packing for micro high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrochromatography

Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) has been realised as a combination of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) allowing the separation of analytes based on their differing adsorption and migration behaviour. There is a considerable interest in developing new methodologies for CEC, which uses chromatographic beads or monoliths as stationary phases or alternatively employs open tubular (OT) capillaries relying on surface modifications. Besides the bulk flat flow profile of the mobile phase in CEC columns allowing an enhanced resolution, due to the influence of the applied electrical field there are other possibilities to provide a higher resolution with better detection. As an additional newly means for peak sharpening and sample enrichment isotachophoresis and a “sweeping mechanism” could be envisaged, which both take advantage of the inhomogeneous electric field pattern in the capillary by choosing appropriate leading and terminating background electrolytes (BGEs). Transient isotachophoresis would be another technique to provide an increased plate height in the separations, using an optimized sample matrix, e.g. containing a relatively high acetonitrile content, with the same leading and terminating BGEs. In this thesis, a new method to generate a “sharpening zone”, which is similar to the concept of transient isotachophoresis, was established using an aqueous sample matrix containing an organic solvent. Target analytes within this zone could be concentrated whilst they migrated through the capillary. A novel technique was developed that used the sharpening zone for sweeping and concentrating several unresolved analyte peaks allowing an enhanced peak resolution. As the aim was to concentrate only some part of the analyte zone containing compounds of interest, the position and width of the sharpening zone needed to be well controlled. Various techniques to tune the width and position of the sharpening zone were thus developed, involving modifying the organic modifier content in the BGE, applying pressure additionally to the electroosmotic flow (EOF) and modifying the inner surface of the capillaries. This work also critically evaluated some related existing knowledge and theoretical approaches in CEC including the concept of tuneable system eigenpeaks (noncomigrating or ghost peaks caused by waves of an electric field in the capillary). Although peak broadening caused by eigenpeaks (which often suppresses resolution in CEC) has been well described for aqueous or pure non-aqueous BGEs, a systematic study of eigenmobility in aqueous/acetonitrile BGEs had not been reported. The experiments related to the eigenmobility led to a new approach to tune the eigenpeak position in chromatograms whereby a selective sample peak sharpening mechanism was elaborated using the sharpening zone. The novel approach was demonstrated for the separation of various peptides in the CE mode and for the resolution of incompletely resolved chiral amino acids in CEC. These investigations furthermore led to the development of an appropriate stationary phase, which was produced using techniques for an in-column synthesis of a molecular imprinted polymer (MIP). Well prepared MIPs are capable of specifically enhancing the retention of target analytes, herein focusing on enantio-selective isolation of chiral molecules. Since such a MIP was rather rigid, which often caused capillary clogging when used as a conventional monolithic stationary phase, this MIP was incorporated into porous layer open tubular (PLOT) capillaries. Numerous experimental difficulties were overcome with respect to the vinylisation of long fused-silica capillaries and for the polymerisation of the MIP within using thermal- and photo-polymerisations. A method for the characterization of such MIP-PLOT capillaries was elaborated involving the Langmuir adsorption theory. The new columns were evaluated using chromatography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and CEC analysis. All experiments were designed according to the principles of Green Chemistry. These concepts involved the use of small scale analysis, simulation studies reducing the number of performed experiments, systematic studies with low amounts of solvents and materials, and optimisation of synthesis methods to reduce time, energy and reagent consumption. The theories, methods and results presented in this thesis will, in the future, allow further targeted developments of novel analytical tools for a green, sensitive, selective and improved resolution analysis of chemical and biological compounds including chiral compounds, peptides and proteins.

A novel type of glycopolymer brushes grafted open-tubular capillary column (OTCC) was developed for the polar compound separation. Briefly, the glycerol methacrylate (GMA) polymer brushes were grafted on the inner wall of OTCC by the surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Next, glucose was coupled to the side chains of the GMA polymer brushes to obtain the hydrophilic stationary phase (PGMA-N-Glucose). The optimized SI-ATRP reaction conditions were GMA/CuCl/CuCl2/cyclohexanol system grafting at 25 degrees C for 1 h. After the glucose coupling, the column back pressure was about 3,585 kPa. The structure of the glycopolymer brushes on the inner surface of OTCC was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The glycopolymer grafting resulted in the formation of three-dimensional wave-like polymer structure on the inner surface of OTCC and largely increased the interior surface area. Therefore, improved column efficiency and loading capacity can be achieved. Under the optimized conditions, the electro osmotic flow (EOF) strength of the glycopolymer brushes grafted OTCC was obviously less than that of the bare column when the pH value of the mobile phase ranging from 3 to 11. Using the glycopolymer brushes grafted OTCC, the baseline separations of polar molecules and proteins were obtained without peak tailing. The future work will focus on the further development of the glycopolymer brushes for the highly polar compound separation, such as glycans and glycoproteins.

A novel mode of affinity chromatography (AC) based on an open tubular capillary column (OTAC) is demonstrated. The OTAC column is prepared by immobilizing Cibacron blue F3GA onto the inner surface of a 50-microm-i.d. capillary column. The AC experiment is performed on a capillary electrophoresis instrument by using its pressure system as the driving force. Bovine serum albumin and lysozyme (Lys) are successfully separated with stepwise gradient elution. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for the elution time of the retained Lys is 0.08%, and good repeatability of its peak area and peak height with an RSD value lower than 2.12% for 10 consecutive runs is observed. The loading capacity and detection limit for the retained Lys are approximately 36 ng and 8.6 ng, respectively. It is also found that the amount of protein adsorbed is unaffected by the flow rate of the loading buffer, and OTAC can be used for the fast determination of biopolymers. Some of the advantages of OTAC over conventional modes of open tubular capillary liquid chromatography are that the detection sensitivity and loading capacity of a sample can be greatly improved, because the relatively large inner diameter of the capillary can be adopted and the whole capillary column can be used to adsorb the solute in OTAC.

A mixture of unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters was separated with a new splitless capillary set-up. With the employed apparatus configuration different capillary separation techniques such as capillary high-performance liquid chromatography (cHPLC), capillary electrochromatography (CEC) and pressurized capillary electrochromatography (pCEC) could be applied. The detection and identification of the sample compounds were accomplished by hyphenating these capillary separation techniques with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy using a novel configuration of the detection capillary set-up. Using modified electrokinetically driven separation techniques, the electric field was applied solely across the separation column. With this improved interface for capillary liquid chromatography-NMR on-line coupling, the stereochemical assignment of the cis and trans configuration of unsaturated fatty acids could be easily accomplished. Finally, the results of cHPLC-NMR, CEC-NMR and pCEC-NMR coupling experiments were compared.

Capillary electrochromatography is a miniaturized technique offering some advantages over conventional ones in separation science. It combines the best features of capillary zone electrophoresis (high efficiency of separation) and liquid chromatography (high selectivity). Because of the low flow rates, minute volumes of mobile phases can be applied, and therefore, it can be considered a green analytical technique. Capillary electrochromatography has been successfully used to separate many classes of compounds, including peptides, proteins, drugs, antibiotics, pollutants, enantiomers, etc. In this overview chapter, the main features of this technique are summarized. Its potential for the separation of enantiomers of chiral compounds and the main chiral stationary phases employed are presented. Finally, some selected applications in this field, reported in the literature in the period 2020-2024, are presented.

Deactivation of frits for use in capillary high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrochromatography with characterization by imaging with laser-induced fluorescence

The potential of the widely used chiral stationary phase for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) enantioseparations, cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (CDMPC, sold under the trade name Chiralcel OD) was evaluated under the conditions of nonaqueous capillary electrochromatography (CEC). The effect of the particle size of the silica gel, the loading of CDMPC on the silica gel and nature of the organic solvent, as well as electrolyte salts on the separation characteristics were investigated. This study illustrates the applicability of CDMPC for obtaining highly efficient enantioseparations under the conditions of nonaqueous CEC. Comparative study of enantioseparations in capillary liquid chromatography (CLC) and CEC indicated the significant advantages of CEC such as higher plate number at the similar linear flow rates of the mobile phase as well as better tolerance of higher linear flow rates.

Analytical potential of mid-infrared detection in capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography: A review

The protein modified monolithic column in affinity capillary electrochromatography (CEC) has attracted considerable attention over the past decades because of its great enantioseparation ability. A porous polymethacrylate ester-based capillary monolithic column poly (glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate) (poly (GMA-co-EDMA)) was prepared by in situ co-polymerization. The process was initiated thermally by azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN). The polymerization mixture contained GMA as the function monomer and EDMA as the crosslinking agent with 1,4-butanediol and 1-propanol as the binary porogen solvent. Under the optimized reaction conditions, including the proportion of monomer and porogens, reaction temperature etc, the column exhibited a uniform structure, sufficient permeability and excel- lent pressure resistance. The separation of alkyl benzenes on the column was mainly based on typical reversed-phase chromatographic retention mechanism. The reproducibility and stability were good with RSDs less than 9. 0%. A pepsin functionalized organic polymer monolith was prepared by covalently bonded pepsin to poly(GMA-co-EDMA) monolith with glutaraldehyde as a spacer based on the activity of epoxide group. The enantioseparation performance of the pepsin affinity monolith for basic enantiomers has been investigated by CEC. Nefopam, amlodipine, citalopram and chlorpheniramine were resolved, and baseline separations of nefopam, amlodipine, citalopram were achieved. The influences of pH, operating voltage, temperature and sample quantity used on the chiral separation were studied. The chiral recognition mechanism of enantiomers on the monolithic column in CEC is discussed. This work developed a new method for the prepataion and application of protein affinity monolith in CEC.

Replacing pressure-driven flow with electroosmotic flow in chromatography with packed capillary columns results in a new and powerful analytical technique, combining the advantages of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE): capillary electrochromatography (CEC). In essence, it involves packing CE capillaries with HPLC stationary phases and applying a voltage across the packed capillary, which generates an electroosmotic flow (EOF) that transports solutes along the capillary toward the detector; on the way, both differential partitioning and electrophoretic migration of the solutes occur, resulting in their separation. This dual separation mechanism can afford unique selectivities. Also, the plug-flow profile of EOF reduces flow-related band broadening, so that separation efficiencies of several hundred thousand plates per meter are often obtained (i.e., one or two orders of magnitude greater than those of present conventional chromatographic systems). There is no back pressure when EOF occurs, so small particle sizes (1–3 μm) and/or long columns can be used. Generally, carrier electrolytes containing high levels (40–80%) of organic solvents such as methanol or acetonitrile are employed, making it useful for water-insoluble compounds, which can be difficult to analyse by CE. CEC can be faster than HPLC, and gradient-elution CEC is being developed as an alternative to gradient-elution liquid chromatography of polymers.

In this study, we aimed to separate the enantiomeric forms of d,l ‐histidine, one of the essential amino acids, through molecular imprinted monolithic capillary electrochromatography columns prepared using hydrophobic N‐methacryloyl‐( l )‐phenylalanine methyl ester as the functional monomer, and l ‐histidine as the template molecule. We investigated the effect of monomer ratio, temperature, template molecule mole ratio, crosslinker ratio, and porogen ratio to improve the permeability properties of the monolithic column. Characterization studies of the column were evaluated by attenuated total reflectance‐Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis. The chromatographic performance of the column was investigated using alkylbenzene‐derived compounds. We evaluated some parameters to determine the optimum conditions for electrochromatographic studies such as electric field, organic solvent ratio, and pressure effect. The calculated imprinting factor (2.18) proved that the l ‐histidine imprinted amino acid‐based monolithic column separated d,l ‐histidine molecules efficiently (percent relative standard deviation < 1.5) from each other using molecular imprinting technique with high‐resolution values (resolution value > 1.5). As a result, selective d,l ‐histidine separation was achieved in less than 10 min at pH 7.0 without using a ligand or extra modification step for the first time.