Development of an online solid-phase extraction with liquid chromatography method based on polymer monoliths for the determination of dopamine.

Porous polymer monoliths have been used to develop an online solid-phase extraction with liquid chromatography method for determination of dopamine in urine as well as for a continuous monitoring of dopamine in flowing system. A polymerization mixture containing 4-vinylphenylboronic acid monomer has been used to prepare a trapping column based on specific ring formation reaction with dopamine cis-diol functionality. Additionally, a monolithic stationary phase with zwitterion functionality has been used to prepare capillary column for the separation of dopamine. Experimental conditions including molarity, pH, and flow rate of the loading buffer together with a valve switching time have been optimized to provide the highest recovery for dopamine. Experimental setup has been used to determine dopamine in a urine. By using both calibration curve and standard addition method, the dopamine level was determined to be 1.19 and 1.28 mg/L, respectively. Further, we have used experimental design to optimize coupling of two extraction monolithic loops to separation capillary column with monolithic phase for a comprehensive monitoring of dopamine. After multivariate analysis, sample loading flow-rate and a flow-rate of flushing buffer were selected as the most significant variables. Optimized experimental setup was applied to continuously monitor dopamine degradation.

Remotely detected NMR for the characterization of flow and fast chromatographic separations using organic polymer monoliths.

An application of remotely detected magnetic resonance imaging is demonstrated for the characterization of flow and the detection of fast, small molecule separations within hypercrosslinked polymer monoliths. The hyper-cross-linked monoliths exhibited excellent ruggedness, with a transit time relative standard deviation of less than 2.1%, even after more than 300 column volumes were pumped through at high pressure and flow. Magnetic resonance imaging enabled high-resolution intensity and velocity-encoded images of mobile phase flow through the monolith. The images confirm that the presence of a polymer monolith within the capillary disrupts the parabolic laminar flow profile that is characteristic of mobile phase flow within an open tube. As a result, the mobile phase and analytes are equally distributed in the radial direction throughout the monolith. Also, in-line monitoring of chromatographic separations of small molecules at high flow rates is shown. The coupling of monolithic chromatography columns and NMR provides both real-time peak detection and chemical shift information for small aromatic molecules. These experiments demonstrate the unique power of magnetic resonance, both direct and remote, in studying chromatographic processes.

Effects of functional monomers on retention behavior of small and large molecules in monolithic capillary columns at isocratic and gradient conditions.

The polarity of (poly)methacrylate monolithic capillary columns was varied by using alkylmethacrylate monomers with butyl, cyclohexyl, 2-ethylhexyl, lauryl, and stearyl functional groups in the polymerization mixture. The hydrodynamic properties, as well as the retention characteristics in RP-LC of small molecules (alkylbenzenes) and of proteins under gradient elution conditions were studied. The RP selectivity depends on the type of alkyl chain in methacrylate monomer; however, there was no direct correlation between the size of the monomer molecule and methylene or aromatic selectivity of the monlithic column. The lowest selectivity was found for column based on lauryl methacrylate monomer. On the other hand, butyl methacrylate column shows high phenyl selectivity and the column with stearyl methacrylate possesses the highest methylene selectivity for small molecules. The retention increases with longer alkyl chain in methacrylate monomer, especially for high molar mass proteins on all prepared columns and showed gradient elution behavior of proteins in agreement with the linear solvent strength gradient model. The poly(laurylmethacrylate) column showed lowest hydrophobicity but best efficiency for proteins of all columns tested.

Efficient separation of small molecules using a large surface area hypercrosslinked monolithic polymer capillary column.

Monolithic poly(styrene-co-vinylbenzyl chloride-co-divinylbenzene) precursor capillary columns have been prepared and then hypercrosslinked to afford a monolith containing an array of small pores. This monolithic column exhibited a surface area of 663 m(2)/g or more than 1 order of magnitude larger than measured for the precursor column. Because it contains mesopores, this monolithic column affords good separation of uracil and alkylbenzenes in isocratic mobile phase mode and also proved useful for separations in size exclusion mode. A column efficiency as high as 73,000 plates/m was determined for uracil. In contrast, the presence of mesopores in this hypercrosslinked monolithic column had a detrimental effect on the separation of proteins.

Dual-retention mechanism of dopamine-related compounds on monolithic stationary phase with zwitterion functionality.

Seven retention models have been selected to describe a dual-retention behavior of ten dopamine-related compounds on polymer-based monolithic stationary phase with zwitterion sulfobetaine functionality. Regression quality, as well as a statistical significance of individual regression parameters, have been evaluated. Better regression performance showed two four-parameter models when compared to three-parameter models. On the other hand, limited number of experimental points disqualified statistical robustness of four-parameter models. Among three-parameter models, retention description introduced by Horváth and Liang provided comparable quality of regression at significantly improved robustness. Multivariate analysis of the best three-parameter models provided the description of physicochemical properties of dopamine precursors and metabolites. Principal component analysis and logistic regression allowed structural characterization of dopamine-related compounds based solely on regression parameters extracted from an isocratic elution data. Both polarity and type of functional groups has been correctly assigned for 3-methoxytyramine that has not been part of an evaluation study. Among applied dual-retention models, Horváth´s model, initially developed to describe a retention of ionic compounds on nonpolar stationary phases, provided robust regression of experimental data and allowed an extraction of structural characteristics of dopamine-related compounds.

Photografting of polymer monoliths by a crosslinking monomer.

The surface of fifteen polymethacrylate monolithic stationary phases has been modified by a post-polymerization UV-initiated grafting reaction with bifunctional poly(ethylene glycol)dimethacrylate monomers. An effect of crosslinking monomer length, its concentration in the modification mixture, and a time of the modification reaction have been selected to control the extent of modification by a design of experiments protocol. Hydrodynamic and kinetic properties of prepared columns were characterized by capillary liquid chromatography. Regression analysis of determined data revealed that there is only a minor effect of modification reaction on column permeability, as it is rather controlled by the composition of the polymerization mixture used to prepare generic monolith. On the other hand, the utilization of shorter crosslinking monomer increased the formation of small pores and minimized mass transfer resistance effect. Both column efficiency and mass transfer resistance also improved when a lower concentration of crosslinking monomer in the modification mixture was used. Photografting modification decreased a negative effect of mass transfer resistance related to a crosslink density gradient and allowed fast isocratic separations of dopamine metabolism-related compounds. Developed preparation protocol might be further utilized in the preparation of monolithic stationary phases in microfluidic devices.

Characterization of polymer-based monolithic capillary columns by inverse size-exclusion chromatography and mercury-intrusion porosimetry.

Organic-polymer monolithic capillary columns were prepared in fused-silica capillaries by a radical copolymerization reaction of butyl methacrylate and ethylene dimethacrylate monomers in the presence of 1,4-butanediol and 1-propanol as porogen solvents and azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator. The porous properties could be influenced by changing the ratio of porogen solvents, while keeping the monomer content constant, or by changing the ratio of monomers to porogen in the polymerization mixture. The resulting chromatographic properties, such as porosity, permeability were determined under high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) conditions. The mesopore size distributions of the monolithic materials determined with inverse size-exclusion chromatography (ISEC) were compared with those measured by mercury-intrusion porosimetry. Both techniques are complementary. While mercury-porosimetry measures the entire range of pore sizes and provides more physical information on the monoliths, ISEC is very suitable for determining the size of mesopores in the swollen monoliths.

Polymethacrylate monolithic columns for capillary liquid chromatography.

In recent years, continuous separation media have attracted considerable attention because of the advantages they offer over packed columns. This research resulted in two useful monolithic material types, the first based on modified silica gel and the second on organic polymers. This work attempts to review advances in the development, characterization, and applications of monolithic columns based on synthetic polymers in capillary chromatography, with the main focus on monolithic beds prepared from methacrylate-ester based monomers. The polymerization conditions used in the production of polymethacrylate monolithic capillary columns are surveyed, with attention being paid to the concentrations of monomers, porogen solvents, and polymerization initiators as the system variables used to control the porous and hydrodynamic properties of the monolithic media. The simplicity of their preparation as well as the possibilities of controlling of their porous properties and surface chemistries are the main benefits of the polymer monolithic capillary columns in comparison to capillary columns packed with particulate materials. The application areas considered in this review concern mainly separations in reversed-phase chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography, hydrophobic and hydrophilic interaction modes; enzyme immobilization and sample preparation in the capillary chromatography format are also addressed.

Preparation of monolithic columns with target mesopore-size distribution for potential use in size-exclusion chromatography.

The main factors affecting the mesopore porosity of methacrylate-ester based monolithic columns were investigated. We prepared 40 monolithic capillary columns with porosity controlled by varying the proportions of butyl methacrylate (BMA) and ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) monomers and of 1,4-butanediol (BUT) and 1-propanol (PROP) as the porogen solvent in the polymerisation mixtures by thermally initiated in situ polymerisation in fused-silica capillaries. Using mixture design software, we systematically varied the composition of the polymerisation mixtures to find significant factors affecting mesopore formation. Multivariate analysis of the experimental data obtained for the fabricated columns yielded a model for prediction of the mesopore porosity in monolithic beds as a function of the composition of the polymerisation mixture used to prepare polymethacrylate monolithic capillary columns. The mean absolute deviation of predicted porosities is 0.029 for most of the columns, with only eight columns showing deviations exceeding 0.050. The main factor affecting the mesopore porosity proved to be the combination of the concentration of hydrophobic monomer (BMA) and the concentration of the less-polar solvent, 1-propanol, in the porogen mixture. The proportion of mesopores in the monolithic capillary columns increases with increasing concentration of 1-propanol and with decreasing concentration ratios of the cross-linker (EDMA) to monomer (BMA) and of BUT to PROP porogenic solvents.

Retention of small molecules on polymethacrylate monolithic capillary columns.

In this paper, the concentration of N-isopropylacrylamide in the polymerization mixture has been varied to prepare several polymethacrylate monolithic capillary columns. Polymer monoliths combining N-isopropylacrylamide with zwitterion monomer, as well as various dimethacrylate crosslinking monomers have been prepared and characterized. Uracil, thiourea, phenol, toluene, ethylbenzene, propylbenzene, and butylbenzene have been used to characterize retention of prepared capillary columns in the mobile phases with 40-95% of acetonitrile and at working temperatures ranging from 25 to 60°C. By an optimization of six-parameter polynomial models we have found that the retention of small molecules is affected mainly by the concentration of the acetonitrile in the mobile phase with very low contribution of working temperature and combined effect of acetonitrile concentration and temperature. Concentration of the mobile phase controlled also enthalpy of the retention. On the other hand, entropic contribution was almost insensitive to the change of the mobile phase composition, especially for mobile phases containing more than 60% of acetonitrile.

Polymetacrylate and hybrid interparticle monolithic columns for fast separations of proteins by capillary liquid chromatography.

Preparation of organic polymer monolithic columns in fused silica capillaries was aimed at fast gradient separation of proteins. For this purpose, polymerization in situ procedure was optimized, using ethylene dimetacrylate and butyl metacrylate monomers with azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator of the polymerization reaction in presence of non-aqueous porogen solvent mixtures composed of 1-propanol and 1,4-butanediol. The separation of proteins in totally monolithic capillary columns was compared with the chromatography on a new type of "hybrid interparticle monolithic" capillary columns, prepared by in situ polymerization in capillary packed with superficially porous spherical beds, 37-50 microm. The "hybrid" columns showed excellent stability and improved hydrodynamic flow properties with respect to the "totally" monolithic capillary columns. The separation selectivity is similar in the two types of columns. The nature of the superficially porous layer (bare silica or bonded C18 ligands) affects the separation selectivity less significantly than the porosity (density) of the monolithic moiety in the interparticle space, controlled by the composition of the polymerization mixture. The retention behaviour of proteins on all prepared columns is consistent with the reversed-phase gradient elution theory.

Pore volume accessibility of particulate and monolithic stationary phases.

A chromatographic characterization of pore volume accessibility for both particulate and monolithic stationary phases is presented. Size-exclusion calibration curves have been used to determine the pore volume fraction that is accessible for six alkylbenzenes and twelve polystyrene standards in tetrahydrofuran as the mobile phase. Accessible porosity has been then correlated with the size of the pores from which individual compounds are just excluded. I have determined pore volume accessibility of commercially available columns packed with fully and superficially porous particles, as well as with silica-based monolithic stationary phase. I also have investigated pore accessibility of polymer-based monolithic stationary phases. Suggested protocol is used to characterize pore formation at the early stage of the polymerization, to evaluate an extent of hypercrosslinking during modification of pore surface, and to characterize the pore accessibility of monolithic stationary phases hypercrosslinked after an early termination of polymerization reaction. Pore volume accessibility was also correlated to column efficiency of both particulate and monolithic stationary phases.

Nucleophilic substitution in preparation and surface modification of hypercrosslinked stationary phases.

Four linear diaminoalkanes (1,2-diaminoethane, 1,4-diaminobutane, 1,6-diaminohexane, and 1,8-diaminooctane) have been used to hypercrosslink poly(styrene-co-vinylbenzyl chloride-co-divinylbenzene) monolithic stationary phases by nucleophilic substitution reaction. The column efficiency of polymer monoliths improved with longer diaminoalkane with 1,8-diaminoctane providing the highest efficiency. The concentration of 1,8-diaminoctane, together with hypercrosslinking time and temperature has been optimized. To improve the permeability of prepared columns, the hypercrosslinking modification has been combined with an early termination of polymerization reaction and decrease in polymerization temperature. The optimal column has been prepared by a polymerization reaction for 2h at 65°C and hypercrosslinked in the presence of 3% 1,8-diaminooctane for 2h at 95°C. The repeatability study of the presented protocol provided relative standard deviation for nine columns prepared independently out of three individual polymerization mixtures in between 2.0-12.0% for retention factors and 1.5-6.5% for plate heights, respectively. Further, we have modified residual chloromethyl groups with 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (taurine) to prepare monolithic columns suitable for separation of small polar molecules in hydrophilic interaction chromatography. The highest retention of polar thiourea showed the column modified at 70°C for 20 h. Taurine-modified hypercrosslinked column showed the minimum of van Deemter curve of 20 µm. The prepared column provided dual-retention mechanism, including hydrophilic interaction and reversed-phase liquid chromatography that can be controlled by the composition of the mobile phase. The prepared column has been successfully used for an isocratic separation of low-molecular phenolic acids.

Cross-linker effects on the separation efficiency on (poly)methacrylate capillary monolithic columns. Part II. Aqueous normal-phase liquid chromatography.

We synthesized seven different polymethacrylate monolithic capillary columns using N,N-dimethyl-N-metacryloxyethyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium betaine functional monomer (MEDSA) and various cross-linking monomers differing in the polarity and size. The efficiency of monolithic columns for polar low-molecular compounds in the aqueous normal-phase (HILIC) mode depends rather on the polarity, than on the size of the cross-linker molecules. Cross-linking molecules, which exhibit high polarity can produce poly(methacrylate) monoliths with an increase in pore sizes below 50nm. Columns prepared with pentaerythritol triacrylate or bisphenol A dimethacrylate cross-linkers show large inner pore (mesopore) porosity, and provide poor efficiency, whereas columns with trioxyethylene dimethacrylate (TriEDMA) and tetraoxyethylene dimethacrylate (TeEDMA) cross-linkers showed poor permeability. Columns prepared using dioxyethylene dimethacrylate (DiEDMA), and especially glycerolate dimethacrylate (BIGDMA) cross-linkers, showed best efficiency, with more 60,000-70,000 theoretical plates/m, almost twice in comparison to (poly)methylene dimethacrylate (HEDMA) in the HILIC mode. All columns show dual retention mechanism and can be used for separations of low-molcular compounds such as phenolic acids in the HILIC mode in acetonitrile-rich mobile phases and in the reversed-phase mode in mobile phases with higher concentrations of water. Some columns show broad pore distribution and can be used for size-exclusion chromatography of non-polar polymers in tetrahydrofuran.

Cross-linker effects on the separation efficiency on (poly)methacrylate capillary monolithic columns. Part I. Reversed-phase liquid chromatography.

We synthesized 8 polymethacrylate monolithic capillary columns using laurylmethacrylate functional monomer and various cross-linking monomers differing in the polarity and size. The efficiency of monolithic columns for low-molecular compounds significantly improved with increasing number of repeat non-polar methylene groups in the cross-linker molecules, correlating with greater proportion of small pores with size less than 50 nm. The best efficiency with HETP=25 µm for alkylbenzenes was achieved for columns prepared using hexamethylene dimethacrylate (HEDMA). Columns prepared with polar (poly)oxyethylene dimethacrylate cross-linkers show also improved efficiency with increasing chain length and generally better performance in comparison to the (poly)methylene dimethacrylate cross-linkers of comparable size, however with less apparent effects of the chain lengths on the pore distribution. The monolithic columns prepared with tetraoxyethylene dimethacrylate (TeEDMA) showed the best efficiency of all the columns tested, corresponding to HETP=15 µm (approx. 70,000 theoretical plates/m), show excellent column-to-column reproducibility with standard deviations of 2.5% in retention times, good permeability and low mass transfer resistance, so that is suitable for fast separation of low-molecular compounds in 2 min or less. By modification of the fused-silica capillary inner walls pre-treatment procedure, very good long-term stability was achieved even in 0.5 mm i.d. capillary format. The TeEDMA column can be also used for size-exclusion chromatography of lower non-polar synthetic polymers, whereas it is less suitable for separations of proteins than the HEDMA column.

Hypercrosslinking: new approach to porous polymer monolithic capillary columns with large surface area for the highly efficient separation of small molecules.

Monolithic polymers with an unprecedented surface area of over 600 m(2)/g have been prepared from a poly(styrene-co-vinylbenzyl chloride-co-divinylbenzene) precursor monolith that was swollen in 1,2-dichloroethane and hypercrosslinked via Friedel-Crafts reaction catalyzed by ferric chloride. Both the composition of the reaction mixture used for the preparation of the precursor monolith and the conditions of the hypercrosslinking reaction have been varied using mathematical design of experiments and the optimized system validated. Hypercrosslinked monolithic capillary columns contain an array of small pores that make the column ideally suited for the high efficiency isocratic separations of small molecules such as uracil and alkylbenzenes with column efficiencies reproducibly exceeding 80,000 plates/m for retained compounds. The separation process could be accelerated while also improving peak shape through the use of higher temperatures and a ternary mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile, tetrahydrofuran, and water. As a result, seven compounds were well separated in less than 2 min. These columns also facilitate separations of peptide mixtures such as a tryptic digest of cytochrome c using a gradient elution mode which affords a sequence coverage of 93%. A 65 cm long hypercrosslinked capillary column used in size exclusion mode with tetrahydrofuran as the mobile phase afforded almost baseline separation of toluene and five polystyrene standards.

Polymethacrylate monolithic and hybrid particle-monolithic columns for reversed-phase and hydrophilic interaction capillary liquid chromatography.

We prepared hybrid particle-monolithic polymethacrylate columns for micro-HPLC by in situ polymerization in fused silica capillaries pre-packed with 3-5microm C(18) and aminopropyl silica bonded particles, using polymerization mixtures based on laurylmethacrylate-ethylene dimethacrylate (co)polymers for the reversed-phase (RP) mode and [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]-dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) zwitterionic (co)polymers for the hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) mode. The hybrid particle-monolithic columns showed reduced porosity and hold-up volumes, approximately 2-2.5 times lower in comparison to the pure monolithic columns prepared in the whole volume of empty capillaries. The elution volumes of sample compounds are also generally lower in comparison to packed or pure monolithic columns. The efficiency and permeability of the hybrid columns are intermediate in between the properties of the reference pure monolithic and particle-packed columns. The chemistries of the embedded solid particles and of the interparticle monolithic moiety in the hybrid capillary columns contribute to the retention to various degrees, affecting the selectivity of separation. Some hybrid columns provided improved separations of proteins in comparison to the reference particle-packed columns in the reversed-phase mode. Zwitterionic hybrid particle-monolithic columns show dual mode retention HILIC/RP behaviour depending on the composition of the mobile phase and allow separations of polar compounds such as phenolic acids in the HILIC mode at lower concentrations of acetonitrile and, often in shorter analysis time in comparison to particle-packed and full-volume monolithic columns.

Comparison of monolithic silica and polymethacrylate capillary columns for LC.

Organic polymer monolithic capillary columns were prepared in fused-silica capillaries by radical co-polymerization of ethylene dimethacrylate and butyl methacrylate monomers with azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator of the polymerization reaction in the presence of various amounts of porogenic solvent mixtures and different concentration ratios of monomers and 1-propanol, 1,4-butanediol, and water. The chromatographic properties of the organic polymer monolithic columns were compared with those of commercial silica-based particulate and monolithic capillary and analytical HPLC columns. The tests included the determination of H-u curves, column permeabilities, pore distribution by inversed-SEC measurements, methylene and polar selectivities, and polar interactions with naphthalenesulphonic acid test samples. Organic polymer monolithic capillary columns show similar retention behaviour to chemically bonded alkyl silica columns for compounds with different polarities characterized by interaction indices, Ix, but have lower methylene selectivities and do not show polar interactions with sulphonic acids. The commercial capillary and analytical silica gel-based monolithic columns showed similar selectivities and provided symmetrical peaks, indicating no significant surface heterogeneities. To allow accurate characterization of the properties of capillary monolithic columns, the experimental data should be corrected for extra-column contributions. With 0.3 mm ID capillary columns, corrections for extra-column volume contributions are sufficient, but to obtain true information on the efficiency of 0.1 mm ID capillary columns, the experimental bandwidths should be corrected for extra-column contributions to peak broadening.