Analysis of underivatized cellodextrin oligosaccharides by capillary electrophoresis with direct photochemically induced UV-detection.

This work focuses on the development of a CE method allowing, for the first time, the simultaneous separation of the underivatized first seven cellodextrin oligomers (glucose, cellobiose, cellotriose, cellotetraose, cellopentaose, cellohexaose, and celloheptaose), with a view to analyze the hydrolysates obtained after partial acid depolymerization of nitrocellulose, and eight carbohydrates (ribose, xylose, fructose, mannose, galactose, maltose, lactose, and sucrose), which might be potential interfering compounds in explosives samples. Separation was achieved with a highly alkaline BGE containing sodium chloride and direct mid-UV-absorbance detection was performed after photo-oxidation in the detection window. EOF was reversed to speed up the analysis using a dynamic capillary coating by hexadimethrine bromide. A central composite design was carried out to determine the effects of BGE conductivity and sodium hydroxide concentration on resolutions between neighboring peaks, and analysis time. A desirability analysis on modeled responses was applied to maximize resolutions and to minimize analysis time. The simultaneous analysis in 20 min total runtime of the 15 carbohydrates plus internal reference (naphthalene sulfonate) was carried out at 25°C with a BGE composed of 77.4 mM NaOH and 183 mM NaCl to adjust the conductivity at the optimum value. Finally, the resolution robustness was checked. This new method should also be of interest to monitor food and nonfood crop products.

Influence of high-conductivity buffer composition on field-enhanced sample injection coupled to sweeping in CE.

The aim of this work was to clarify the mechanism taking place in field-enhanced sample injection coupled to sweeping and micellar EKC (FESI-Sweep-MEKC), with the utilization of two acidic high-conductivity buffers (HCBs), phosphoric acid or sodium phosphate buffer, in view of maximizing sensitivity enhancements. Using cationic model compounds in acidic media, a chemometric approach and simulations with SIMUL5 were implemented. Experimental design first enabled to identify the significant factors and their potential interactions. Simulation demonstrates the formation of moving boundaries during sample injection, which originate at the initial sample/HCB and HCB/buffer discontinuities and gradually change the compositions of HCB and BGE. With sodium phosphate buffer, the HCB conductivity increased during the injection, leading to a more efficient preconcentration by staking (about 1.6 times) than with phosphoric acid alone, for which conductivity decreased during injection. For the same injection time at constant voltage, however, a lower amount of analytes was injected with sodium phosphate buffer than with phosphoric acid. Consequently sensitivity enhancements were lower for the whole FESI-Sweep-MEKC process. This is why, in order to maximize sensitivity enhancements, it is proposed to work with sodium phosphate buffer as HCB and to use constant current during sample injection.

A chemometric approach for the elucidation of the parameter impact in the hyphenation of field-enhanced sample injection and sweeping in capillary electrophoresis.

The aim of this work was to elucidate the impacts of parameters influencing cation-selective exhaustive injection coupled to sweeping and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). A chemometric approach using cationic compounds, acidic conditions (phosphate buffer, pH 2.3) and polyacrylamide-coated capillaries to suppress electroosmotic flow were used. It was demonstrated that the water plug was not useful because of long electrokinetic injections. If conductivity of the high conductivity buffer (HCB) and the HCB to sample conductivity ratio are sufficiently high (>1.66 S/m and >30, respectively), variations of HCB conductivity do not impact sensitivity. The length of the HCB must be long enough so that the most mobile cation remains stacked in this zone for a given injection time. SDS concentration should be as high as possible (the maximum concentration is dictated by MEKC, here 90 mM), so sensitivity is not impacted. We have shown analytes can be lost after electrokinetic injection, when the polarity of the voltage is reversed. Introducing a plug of micellar electrolyte before polarity reversal avoids these losses. Following these recommendations only injection time and sample conductivity impacted sensitivity enhancement. Sample conductivity had to be the lowest as possible and controlled in real case analyses to obtain repeatable enrichment factors.

On the use of response surface strategy to elucidate the electrophoretic migration of carbohydrates and optimize their separation.

This paper focuses on the optimization with a design of experiments of a new CE method for the simultaneous separation of four carbohydrates of interest (fructose, glucose, lactose, and sucrose) and five potentially interfering carbohydrates (ribose, xylose, maltose, mannose, and galactose) with a highly alkaline separation electrolyte for subsequent applications to food, beverage, forensic, or pharmaceutical samples. First, the factors that potentially affect the carbohydrate migration were identified: NaOH concentration in the separation electrolyte, separation temperature, and separation electrolyte conductivity. A central composite design was then carried out to determine and model the effects of these three factors on normalized migration times and separation efficiency. From the model, an optimization of the separation was carried out using a desirability analysis based on resolutions between adjacent peaks and analysis time. The optimum conditions obtained were a separation electrolyte composed of 98 mM NaOH and 120 mM NaCl to adjust the conductivity at 4.29 S/m and a separation temperature fixed at 26.5°C. Finally, these conditions were experimentally confirmed and the robustness of the obtained separation was checked.

New avenue for mid-UV-range detection of underivatized carbohydrates and amino acids in capillary electrophoresis.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) appeared as an interesting alternative to chromatographic methods for carbohydrate analysis, but it can be difficult to implement, because of the lack of easily ionizable functions and chromophore groups. Recently, a promising method was proposed by Rovio et al. for the CE separation under extremely high alkaline conditions of neutral carbohydrates under their alcoholate form and their direct UV detection [Rovio et al. Electrophoresis 2007, 28, 3129-3135; and Rovio et al. J. Chromatogr. A 2008, 1185, 139-144], which is claimed to be due to the absorption of enediolate at 270 nm. Even so, most of the detected compounds in Rovio's paper (for example, sucrose) cannot give such enediolate, lacking a carbonyl group. In this work, a deeper insight was paid to the understanding of detection mechanism. In effect, unusual detection phenomena were observed in comparing reducing and nonreducing carbohydrate behaviors, which pointed to the existence of photochemical reactions in the detection window. A more systematic study of the influence of many parameters (carbohydrate nature, electrolyte pH, residence time in the detection window, and capillary diameter) was undertaken. In addition to this, most of this work was performed under cathodic (reversed) electro-osmotic flow conditions (using Polybrene-modified capillaries), to obtain much faster separations than under Rovio's conditions. This study also opens up new avenues for the detection in mid-UV range of non-UV-absorbing compounds bearing reducing moieties, such as amino acids.

Capillary electrophoresis analysis of inorganic cations in post-blast residue extracts applying a guanidinium-based electrolyte and bilayer-coated capillaries.

A new CE method was developed for the identification and quantitation of inorganic cations in post-blast residues. The simultaneous analysis in 20 min total runtime of eight cations in post-blast residues (ammonium, potassium, monomethylammonium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, strontium), plus lithium cation as the internal reference, was carried out with a BGE involving a non-CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic, and harmful to reproduction) chromophore (guanidinium cation) and a double-layer modified capillary (hexadimethrine bromide/polyvinylsulfonate). A study of UV detection conditions using guanidinium ion as the probe led us to set the analysis and reference wavelengths and their associated bandwidths as well as the probe concentration fixed at 15 mM. The successive multiple ionic-polymer layer approach limited the cation adsorption on capillary wall and improved the EOF stability. These caused a significant improvement in method repeatability. Intermediate precisions were 2.4% for corrected areas and 1.3% for normalized migration times. Limits of detection close to 1 mg/L for all cations were obtained. The matrix effects were studied with chemometric approach for different matrices representative of those collected after explosion. Tests with blank matrix extracts of soil, cloth, and with simulated matrix extract containing 800 mg/L Ca²âº and 500 mg/L Fe²âº were carried out and no significant matrix effects were observed. Finally, analyses of real residues collected after cash dispenser and homemade firework explosions demonstrate excellent correlation between the CE results and those obtained with the ion chromatography method used routinely.

Analysis of degradation products of chemical warfare agents using capillary electrophoresis.

Analysis of chemical warfare agents (CWAs), their precursors and degradation products (DPs) is an important verification component in support of the Chemical Weapons Convention and urgently demanding rapid and reliable analytical methods. Considering a growing number of papers presented in the last years in the field of capillary electrophoresis (CE) of DPs, this review article gives an overview on CE techniques which are feasible for the determination of DPs with the advantages of using relatively simple and inexpensive research instrumentation, reduced consumption of potentially toxic samples, shorter sample preparation times, etc. A brief introduction is provided into the chemical background of CWAs followed by a documented appraisal that the CE method is well suited to deal with polar, acidic DPs mostly occurring in aqueous samples or extracts. Applications of CE to the separation of DPs are described, complemented by a critical discussion of the detection techniques, including mostly conductivity, laser-induced fluorescence, UV absorption and mass spectrometry. This review also includes actual development regarding the challenges of CE in analyses of different DPs from real samples, often avoided by in- and off-line pre-concentration techniques or the coupling of CE to selective detection methods. Special emphasis is placed on the miniaturised CE systems that have the potential of being before long developed into a field deployable and potentially disposable platform for routine DP monitoring in environmental samples.

Interaction study of a lysozyme-binding aptamer with mono- and divalent cations by ACE.

Binding between an aptamer and its target is highly dependent on the conformation of the aptamer molecule, this latter seeming to be affected by a variety of cations. As only a few studies have reported on the interactions of monovalent or divalent cations with aptamers, we describe herein the use of ACE in its mobility shift format for investigating interactions between various monovalent (Na+, K+, Cs+ or divalent (Mg2+, Ca2+, Ba2+) cations and a 30-mer lysozyme-binding aptamer. This study was performed in BGEs of different natures (phosphate and MOPS buffers) and ionic strengths. First, the effective charges of the aptamer in 30 mM ionic strength phosphate and MOPS (pH 7.0) were estimated to be 7.4 and 3.6, respectively. Then, corrections for ionic strength and counterion condensation effects were performed for all studies. The effective mobility shift was attributed not only to these effects, but also to a possible interaction with the buffer components (binary or ternary complexes) as well as possible conformational changes of the aptamer. Finally, apparent binding constants were calculated for divalent cations with mathematical linearization methods, and the influence of the nature of the BGE was evidenced.

Separation of alpha-lactalbumin grafted- and non-grafted maghemite core/silica shell nanoparticles by capillary zone electrophoresis.

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) in immunodiagnostics is a challenging task for many reasons, including the need for miniaturization. In view of the development of an assay dedicated to an original, miniaturized and fully automated immunodiagnostics which aims to mimic in vivo interactions, magnetic zwitterionic bifunctional amino/polyethyleneoxide maghemite core/silica shell NPs functionalized with allergenic alpha-lactalbumin were characterized by CE. Proper analytical performances were obtained through semi-permanent capillary coating with didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) or permanent capillary wall modification by hydroxypropylcellulose. The influence of experimental conditions (e.g. buffer component nature, pH, ionic strength, and electric field strength) on sample stability, electrophoretic mobility, and dispersion was investigated using either DDAB- or hydroxypropylcellulose-coated capillaries. Adsorption to the capillary wall and aggregation phenomena were evaluated according to the CE conditions. The proper choice of experimental conditions, i.e. separation under -10 kV in a 25 mM ionic strength MES/NaOH (pH 6.0) with a DDAB-coated capillary, allowed the separation of the grafted and the non-grafted NPs.

Simultaneous capillary electrophoretic analysis of inorganic anions and cations in post-blast extracts of acid-aluminum mixtures.

Bursts resulting from the chemical reaction between hydrochloric or nitric acid with aluminum foils are very often committed by the young delinquency in western countries because of its easiness of achievement. A fast, simple, selective, and cost-effective method allowing the simultaneous detection of chloride and nitrate anions and aluminum(III) was thus required. This article focused on the development and validation of a CE method using a BGE containing 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (PDC) acting as both an anionic chromophore and as an aluminum(III) complexing agent. First, the achievement of the speciation diagram of Al(III) in the presence of PDC allowed the choice of pH conditions for which aluminum(III) was globally anionic. The study of the selectivity for Al(III) in the presence of ten other cationic species potentially present in post-blast residues dictated the choice of the PDC concentration at 20 mM. The validation step next demonstrated the figures of merit of the method, with an intermediate precision for Al(III) of 2% on normalized migration times and 3.5% on corrected areas. Finally, this method was used for analyses of real post-blast extracts from acid-aluminum mixtures.

Online CIEF-ESI-MS in glycerol-water media with a view to hydrophobic protein applications.

A new online coupling of CIEF with ESI-MS has been developed in glycerol-water media. This improved protocol provides: (i) the electric continuity during the whole analysis by a discontinuous filling of the capillary with 60:40 (cm/cm) catholyte/proteins-ampholyte mixture; (ii) the use of an anticonvective medium, i.e. 30:70 glycerol/water, v/v, compatible with MS detection and as an aid to hydrophobic protein solubilization and (iii) the use of unmodified bare fused-silica capillaries, as the glycerol/water medium strongly reduces EOF. Focusing was performed in positive polarity and cathodic mobilization was achieved by both voltage and pressure application. The setup was optimized with respect to analysis time, sensitivity and precision on pI determination. The optimized anolyte and catholyte were composed of 50 mM formic acid/1 mM glutamic acid (pH 2.35) and 100 mM NH(3)/1 mM lysine (pH 10.6), respectively. The effects of ampholyte concentration, focusing time and ESI parameters were presented for model proteins and discussed. This new integrated protocol should be an easy and effective additional tool in the field of proteome analysis, providing a means for the characterization of a large number of hydrophilic and hydrophobic proteins.

New insight into suction and dilution effects in CE coupled to MS via an ESI interface. II--dilution effect.

The hyphenation of CE with MS is nowadays accepted as a powerful analytical approach. As far as ESI, the most common interface, is concerned, one challenge is to provide the most sensitive as well as quantitative information, which is quite a difficult task, as it is linked, among other factors, to suction and dilution effects. In the coaxial ESI configuration, it has been previously demonstrated that suction effect depends on many parameters inherent to the ESI interface geometry, the prevailing ones being the CE capillary protrusion from the interface needle, the sheath liquid (SL) and the overall BGE flow rates and velocity profile. In this paper, dilution effect is studied, as the CE electrolyte is mixed with SL at the interface. Considering peak intensity and efficiency, this effect was studied as a function of the various parameters of the interface (capillary protrusion from the SL tube, nebulizing gas, SL and CE electrolyte flow rates) or of the source (skimmer and ESI voltages, drying gas flow rate and temperature). It appears that the dilution effect seems slightly lower than what can be anticipated from the proportions of the liquid flow rates. This study also indicates that suction effect has to be considered first to better understand the dilution phenomenon, as suction effect leads to an increase in peak intensity, before a dilution effect appears.

Analysis of nerve agent degradation products in high-conductivity matrices by transient ITP preconcentration and CZE separation coupled to ESI-MS.

Preconcentration of nerve agent degradation products (alkyl methylphosphonic acids) contained in high-conductivity matrices was performed using transient ITP to enhance sensitivity of CE-ESI-MS. The separation conditions of the five studied alkyl methylphosphonic acids in CE-MS were first optimized. The presence of methanol in the separation medium was required to obtain a good separation of the analytes under counter-EOF conditions. Preconcentration by ITP was induced by the BGE acting as leading electrolyte (LE) while the terminating electrolyte (TE) was loaded before the sample because of the counter-EOF conditions. Different leading ions (formate or acetate) and LE concentrations were tested. The best results for the analysis of soil extracts fortified with the analytes were obtained with an LE composed of 30 mM CH(3)COONH(4) adjusted to pH 8.8 with ammonium hydroxide in (35:65 v/v) MeOH/H(2)O mixture. The TE consisted of 200 mM glycine adjusted to pH 10.0 with ammonium hydroxide in the same solvent mixture. The loading length of the TE zone was optimized. The initial pH of the TE, which determined the initial mobility of the terminating ion, appeared to markedly influence the resolution and the sensitivity. This transient ITP-CZE-MS method was then adapted for the analysis of rat urine samples fortified with the analytes, which required the use of a more concentrated LE (50 mM). LODs between 4 and 70 ng/mL in soil extract, and between 5 and 75 ng/mL in rat urine were reached from extracted ion electropherograms.

Charge-based characterization of nanometric cationic bifunctional maghemite/silica core/shell particles by capillary zone electrophoresis.

In view of employing functionalized nanoparticles (NPs) in the context of an immunodiagnostic, aminated maghemite/silica core/shell particles were synthesized so as to be further coated with an antibody or an antigen via the amino groups at their surface. Different functionalization rates were obtained by coating these maghemite/silica core/shell particles with 3-(aminopropyl)triethoxysilane and 2-[methoxy(polyethyleneoxy)propyl]-trimethoxysilane at different molar ratios. Adequate analytical performances with CE coupled with UV-visible detection were obtained through semi-permanent capillary coating with didodecyldimethyl-ammonium bromide, thus preventing particle adsorption. First, the influence of experimental conditions such as electric field strength, injected particle amount as well as electrolyte ionic strength and pH, was evaluated. A charge-dependent electrophoretic mobility was evidenced and the separation selectivity was tuned according to electrolyte ionic strength and pH. The best resolutions were obtained at pH 8.0, high ionic strength (ca. 100 mM), and low total particle volume fraction (ca. 0.055%), thus eliminating interference effects between different particle populations in mixtures. A protocol derived from Kaiser's original description was performed for quantitation of the primary amino groups attached onto the NP surface. Thereafter a correlation between particle electrophoretic mobility and the density of amino groups at their surface was established. Eventually, CE proved to be an easy, fast, and reliable method for the determination of NP effective surface charge density.

Separation of synthetic (co)polymers by capillary electrophoresis techniques.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a very efficient tool for separating and characterizing synthetic polymers, copolymers, and polyelectrolytes. Different modes of CE (free solution capillary electrophoresis [FSCE], entangled polymer solution CE [EPSCE], capillary gel electrophoresis [CGE], or micellar electrokinetic chromatography [MEKC]) can be used depending on the characteristics of the polymer solutes (end charged, evenly charged, or uncharged polymers) and on the polymer solute heterogeneities (molecular mass, functionality, chemical composition). To illustrate the potential of CE, four different methods are proposed using either nonaqueous or aqueous electrolytes. The first method describes the separation of synthetic organic polypeptides according to their functionalities and molar masses in a nonaqueous electrolyte. In a second method, polyelectrolyte oligomers are separated by FSCE in aqueous buffer. The third method demonstrates the great potential of EPSCE for the size-based separation of evenly charged polyelectrolytes on a wide range of molar masses. The last method describes a simple two-dimensional approach realized in a single capillary that combines a separation according to the chemical composition (FSCE) with a size-based separation (EPSCE).

Determination of nanoparticle diffusion coefficients by Taylor dispersion analysis using a capillary electrophoresis instrument.

The collective diffusion coefficient D(C) of diluted suspensions of positively charged iron oxide maghemite particles was experimentally investigated using a capillary electrophoresis instrument on the grounds of Taylor dispersion theory. Conditions for this approach to be applicable to nanoparticles of mean solid diameter below 10nm were set in this work, enabling precisions on D(C) determination of less than 2% relative standard deviation (RSD). Significantly different D(C) values were thus measured for particle populations differing in solid number mean diameter by only 2 nm. The obtained values were compared to the z-average diffusion coefficient derived from dynamic light scattering (DLS) experiments and used for the calculation of the Stokes radius. The measured diffusion coefficients appeared to be dependent on particle volume fraction and electrolyte ionic strength. These observations were eventually discussed in terms of particle interactions.

Field-amplified sample stacking for the detection of chemical warfare agent degradation products in low-conductivity matrices by capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry.

Preconcentration of chemical warfare agent degradation products (alkylphosphonic acids and alkyl alkylphosphonic acids) in low-conductivity matrices (purified water, tap water and local river water) by field-amplified sample stacking (FASS) was developed for capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled to ion trap mass spectrometry. FASS was performed by adding a mixture of HCOONH(4) and NH(4)OH in appropriate concentrations to the sample. This allowed to control the conductivity and the pH of the sample in order to obtain FASS performances that are independent of analyte concentration. The influence of different parameters on FASS (sample to background electrolyte (BGE) conductivity ratio, injection volume and concentration of BGE) was studied to determine the optimal conditions and was rationalized by using the theoretical model developed by Burgi and Chien. A good correlation was obtained between the bulk electroosmotic velocity predicted by this model and the experimental value deduced from the migration time of the electroosmotic flow marker detected by mass spectrometry (MS). This newly developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of tap water and local river water fortified with the analytes and provided a 10-fold sensitivity enhancement in comparison to the signal obtained without preconcentration procedure. The quite satisfactory repeatability and linearity for peak areas obtained in the 0.5-5 microg mL(-1) concentration range allow quantitative analysis to be implemented. Limits of detection of 0.25-0.5 microg mL(-1) for the alkyl alkylphosphonic acids and of 0.35-5 microg mL(-1) for the alkylphosphonic acids were reached in tap water and river water.

First investigations for the characterization of glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase by capillary electrophoresis.

The enzyme glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase (GlmS) is an important point of metabolic control in biosynthesis of amino sugar-containing macromolecules and is therefore a potential target in order to design antibacterial and antifungal drugs. It has two oligomerization states, which are the active dimer and the inactive hexamer. For the first time, the potential of CE to separate and quantify the two forms was studied. After incubating GlmS with the d-glucosamine 6-phosphate (GlcN6P) inhibitor, an electrolyte based on sodium phosphate at pH 7.2 and an ionic strength of 100mM plus GlcN6P (either 2 or 20mM) allowed the hexamer-dimer separation. However, the displacement of the dimer/hexamer equilibrium during the analysis time prevented any improvement of the resolution when varying the effective separation length or the temperature of the analysis. Therefore, the use of a short-end CE method allowed the decrease in the analysis time to about 1min. Some parameters such as the temperature and the time of incubation and the ratio of the inhibitor and enzyme concentrations were studied. Then, it was also possible to test, very rapidly and with a very small amount, some molecules having an inhibition potential for the GlmS enzyme (arabinose-5-phosphate oxime, 2-amino-2-deoxy-d-glucitol 6-phosphate, and glucose-6-phosphate).

Evaluation of chiral ionic liquids as additives to cyclodextrins for enantiomeric separations by capillary electrophoresis.

A great interest has been drawn these last years towards ionic liquids in analytical chemistry, especially for separation methods. Recent synthesis of chiral ILs opened the way of the evaluation of new potential selectors for enantiomeric separations. This work focused on the evaluation of two chiral ILs (ethyl- and phenylcholine of bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide) by CE. Particular selectivities are awaited by exploiting unique ion-ion or ion-dipole interactions and by tailoring the nature of the cation and the anion. To evaluate such phenomena, a study was carried out with anti-inflammatory drugs 2-arylpropionic acids as model compounds. The results show that these chiral ILs did not present direct enantioselectivity with regard to these model analytes. The influence of chiral ILs in the electrolytes was then studied in the presence of classical chiral selectors (di- or trimethyl-beta-cyclodextrin). Although no general trend could be established, an increase in separation selectivity and resolution was observed in some cases, suggesting synergistic effects. The complementary determination of apparent inclusion constant values of these IL cations in the used cyclodextrins by affinity CE provided support to the understanding of the phenomena involved.

Nonaqueous capillary electrophoretic behavior of 2-aryl propionic acids in the presence of an achiral ionic liquid. A chemometric approach.

Ionic liquids (ILs) appear really attractive as electrolyte additives in nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE). These salts may offer new possibilities of interactions to modulate analyte effective mobilities. The presence of 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (BMIM NTf2) in acetonitrile/alcohol background electrolytes (BGEs) was investigated in this work. The aim of this study was to elucidate the influence of the IL concentration on the electrophoretic behavior of four arylpropionic acids and to identify the interactions between the analytes and the IL cation. The influence on mobility of the IL concentration, the nature and the proportion of the organic solvents, and the concentration of the ionic components of the BGE was first studied by a univariate approach. A four-factor D-optimal experimental design was then applied to provide a deeper insight into analyte interaction with IL cation present both free in BGE and adsorbed onto the capillary wall.