Headspace study of chiral interconversion of N-acetyl-homocysteine thiolactones.

The rate constants for (L)-N-acetyl homocysteine thiolactone enantiomerization have been obtained from batch-wise studies and by dynamic gas chromatography of racemic mixtures. Results from the batch-wise experiments show that the kinetics of racemization at 150 °C is the same for vials made of glass, silanized glass or Teflon-coated glass so that the vial surface exhibited no effect on the kinetics of racemization. From the temperature dependence of the rate constants the preexponential factor, activation energy, the activation Gibbs energy and activation entropy have been obtained from transition state theory. The catalytic effect of G-DP, G-BP and B-DP GC chiral stationary phases on racemization has been observed and quantified by the values of rate constants; B-DP exhibited the greatest activity. The Eyring activation parameters obtained from batch-wise experiment were compared with theoretical values acquired from quantum chemical modelling. Agreement between the experimental and calculated values of activation Gibbs energy, activation enthalpy and activation entropy is good. The dynamic gas chromatography of racemic mixture on chiral B-DP, G-DP and G-BP capillary columns indicate that the rate constants of forward and reverse reactions are different in chiral environments. The greatest accelerating effect in the process of enantiomerization has been identified for G-BP both in the batch-wise experiments and by the dynamic gas chromatography.

Determination of the interconversion energy barrier of three novel pentahelicene derivative enantiomers by dynamic high resolution liquid chromatography.

Dynamic high resolution liquid chromatography (DHPLC) was used to determine the kinetic and thermodynamic activation parameters of interconversion of three novel pentahelicene derivatives {3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzo[i]pentahelicene, naphtho[1,2-i]pentahelicene and 4-methoxybenzo[i]pentahelicene}. DHPLC was performed on a chiral isopropyl - carbamate cyclofructan 6 (LARIHC CF6-P) column under normal phase conditions. Variation of the column temperature and flow rate was used to study the interconversion process. A computer assisted deconvolution method was employed to determine the individual peak areas and the retention times required for the calculation of apparent enantiomerization energy barriers, enthalphy and entropy of the interconvertion of above defined pentahelicene derivative enantiomers. An ab initio quantum chemistry method was used to estimate theoretical kinetic and thermodynamic interconversion parameters and to evaluate experimental data of these three novel pentahelicene derivative enantiomers.

Enantioselective comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography of lavender essential oil.

The enantiomeric composition of several chiral markers in lavender essential oil was studied by flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography operated in the reverse flow mode and hyphenated to flame ionization and quadrupole mass spectrometric detection. Two capillary column series were used in this study, 2,3-di-O-ethyl-6-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl-ß-cyclodextrin or 2,3,6-tri-O-methyl-ß-cyclodextrin, as the chiral column in the first dimension and α polyethylene glycol column in the second dimension. Combining the chromatographic data obtained on these column series, the enantiomeric and excess ratios for α-pinene, ß-pinene, camphor, lavandulol, borneol, and terpinen-4-ol were determined. This maybe a possible route to assess the authenticity of lavender essential oil.

Comparison of the performance of forward fill/flush and reverse fill/flush flow modulation in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.

The performances of forward flow fill and flush (FFF) and of reverse flow fill and flush (RFF) in flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) using the same volume of the sampling channel have been studied and compared. Sample models include a reference mixture of hydrocarbons at low concentration, a petroleum reformate product and the essential oil of Rosa damascena Miller. The latter samples contain solutes in different concentrations but some up to 30% allowing to study overloading phenomena in detail. For solutes injected at low quantity, the performance of FFF and RFF is similar. For solutes present in a sample at high quantity, RFF guarantees less broadening and spreading resulting in better quantitation.

Enantioselective comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography. A route to elucidate the authenticity and origin of Rosa damascena Miller essential oils.

The analysis of Bulgarian and Turkish Rosa damascena Miller essential oils was performed by flow-modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography using simultaneous detection of the second column effluent by flame ionization and quadrupole mass spectrometric detection. Enantioselective separations were obtained by running the samples on 2,3-di-O-ethyl-6-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl-ß-cyclodextrin column as the first column and on polyethylene glycol as the second column. The determination of enantiomeric or diastereomeric excess of some terpenoic solutes is a possible route for quality or authenticity control as well as for the elucidation of the country of origin.

Considerations on the determination of the limit of detection and the limit of quantification in one-dimensional and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.

Methods based on the blank signal as proposed by IUPAC procedure and on the signal to noise ratio (S/N) as listed in the ISO-11843-1 norm for determination of the limit of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) in one-dimensional capillary gas chromatography (1D-GC) and comprehensive two-dimensional capillary gas chromatography (CG×GC) are described in detail and compared for both techniques. Flame ionization detection was applied and variables were the data acquisition frequency and, for CG×GC, also the modulation time. It has been stated that LOD and LOQ estimated according to IUPAC might be successfully used for 1D-GC-FID method. Moreover, LOD and LOQ decrease with decrease of data acquisition frequency (DAF). For GC×GC-FID, estimation of LOD by IUPAC gave poor reproducibility of results while for LOQ reproducibility was acceptable (within ±10% rel.). The LOD and LOQ determined by the S/N concept both for 1D-GC-FID and GC×GC-FID methods are ca. three times higher than those values estimated by the standard deviation of the blank. Since the distribution pattern of modulated peaks for any analyte separated by GC×GC is random and cannot be predicted, LOQ and LOD may vary within 30% for 3s modulation time. Concerning sensitivity, 1D-GC-FID at 2Hz and of GC×GC-FID at 50Hz shows a ca. 5 times enhancement of sensitivity in the modulated signal output.

Computerized optimization of flows and temperature gradient in flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.

Informational entropy and syentropy percent were used to optimize the flows in the first (1D) and in the second (2D) dimension ((1)Fm and (2)Fm, respectively) as well as the temperature program rate (r) for the flow modulated GC×GC-FID separation of C6-C12 aromatic hydrocarbons in a low boiling petrochemical sample. The separations were performed on a column series consisting of a 25m×0.25mm i.d.×0.2µm df of the polar ionic liquid SLB-IL 100 (1,9-di(3-vinylimidazolium)nonane bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide) in the first dimension and 5m×0.25mm i.d.×0.25µm df apolar HP-5MS (5% phenyl-95% methylpolysiloxane) in the second dimension. A dependence of a distribution of individual aromatic hydrocarbons in the 2D retention plane on the carrier gas flows ((1)Fm, and (2)Fm,) and temperature gradient (r) was examined in this study. It was found that informational entropy and synentropy percent are advantageous criteria to characterize the distribution of peaks in the 2D retention plane. Maximum informational entropy and synentropy percents correspond to the maximum distribution of C6-C12 aromatic hydrocarbons in the corresponding 2D retention plane gained by the given separation using optimized values of individual carrier gas column volume flows and the temperature rate at the temperature programmed GC×GC separations.

GC separation of enantiomers of alkyl esters of 2-bromo substituted carboxylic acids enantiomers on 6-TBDMS-2,3-di-alkyl- ß- and γ-cyclodextrin stationary phases.

The gas chromatographic separation of enantiomers of 2-Br carboxylic acid derivatives was studied on four different 6-TBDMS-2,3-di-O-alkyl- ß- and -γ-CD stationary phases. The differences in thermodynamic data {ΔH and -ΔS} for the 15 structurally related racemates were evaluated. The influence of structure differences in the alkyl substituents covalently attached to the stereogenic carbon atom, as well as in the ester group of the homologous analytes, and the selectivity of modified ß- and γ- cyclodextrin derivatives was studied in detail. The cyclodextrin cavity size, as well as elongation of alkyl substituents in positions 2 and 3 of 6-TBDMS-ß-CD, also affected their selectivity. The quality of enantiomeric separations is influenced mainly by alkyl chains of the ester group of the molecule and this appears to be independent of the CD stationary phase used. In some cases the separations occur as the result of external adsorption rather than inclusion complexations with the chiral selector. It was found that the temperature dependencies of the selectivity factor were nonlinear.

On the use of quadrupole mass spectrometric detection for flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.

Flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with simultaneous flame ionization detection (FM GC×GC-FID) and quadrupole mass spectrometric detection (FM GC×GC-qMSD) was applied to the analysis of a quantitative reference standard sample covering the C5-C14 hydrocarbon range and a kerosene sample. This study reports the influence of the data acquisition frequency (DAF) of the qMSD on the qualitative and quantitative data. The DAF was varied between 5.27 and 25.45Hz. In GC×GC-qMSD, the characterization of peaks is getting worse with decreasing qMSD frequencies which deteriorate the quality of the 2D contour plots of the separations. It is, however, demonstrated that the improved characterization of the peaks at high qMSD frequencies is combined with loss in sensitivity and in spectral quality. Dependences of a (2)D hydrocarbon peak area (∑Ai of all corresponding (2)D peaks) on the DAFs show negative slopes which testify the conclusion that the sensitivity of GC×GC-qMSD determinations decreases with the increase of DAF. Consequently, the limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) increase with the increase of DAF. Moreover, quality criteria on recorded spectral data also indicate that the lower the DAF is, the higher is the spectral quality.

On the use of ionic liquid capillary columns for analysis of aromatic hydrocarbons in low-boiling petrochemical products by one-dimensional and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.

One-dimensional and comprehensive two-dimensional flow modulated gas chromatography with simultaneous flame ionization and mass spectrometric detection were applied for the identification and quantification of benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylenes (BTEX) as well as of all C9-C11 aromatic hydrocarbons in the low-boiling petroleum products gasoline, reformate and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) samples. GC×GC experiments were performed on two reversed phase polarity column sets namely SLB-IL100 (25m×250µm i.d.×0.2µm df)+HP-5MS (5m×250µm i.d.×0.25µm df) and SLB-IL111 (30m×250µm i.d.×0.2µm df)+HP-5MS (5m×250µm i.d.×0.25µm df). The one-dimensional GC experiments were carried out on the same ionic liquid columns. The most powerful method is GC×GC on the SLB-111+HP-5MS column combination. Quantitative analysis of individual aromatic hydrocarbons (C6-C11) present in gasoline, reformate and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) samples was performed by GC×GC-FID using the internal normalization method. Mass spectra obtained by GC×GC-qMSD were used for identification of the aromatic hydrocarbons in these samples.

On the determination of a detector response enhancement factor for flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.

Comparison of conventional one-dimensional gas chromatography (1D-GC) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) shows that the detector signal in GC×GC is significantly enhanced. The value of this enhancement depends on the operating parameters, such as the modulation time and the non-modulated ((1)D column) and corresponding modulated ((2)D column) peak widths. Determination of the enhance factors in flow modulated GC×GC for separation of hydrocarbon samples using flame ionization detection (FM GC×GC-FID) was studied. A term named detector response enhance factor (DREF) has been designed to express the value of the signal enhancement. Two methods were used to calculate DREF: (i) employing (2)D peak height, and (ii) using a theoretical approach. Comparison of FM GC×GC-FID and 1D-GC-FID method illustrates that the DREF increases from 10 to 33 times, in 1-6s modulation time intervals.

Flow-modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with simultaneous flame ionization and quadrupole mass spectrometric detection.

Flow-modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with simultaneous monitoring of the separation by flame ionization (GC × GC-FID) and quadrupole mass spectrometric (GC × GC-qMSD) detection was studied for the analysis of gasoline and kerosene samples. The acquisition frequency of the FID was 100 Hz and of the qMSD 18 Hz for the mass range m/z 40-300. The instrumental set-up is such that both one-dimensional (GC-FID and GC-qMSD) and two-dimensional separations using the same working conditions can be performed. Gasoline and kerosene samples were analyzed on the column combination HP-5MS ((1)D)+HP INNOWax ((2)D). Three modulated peaks were obtained for each hydrocarbon present above 0.1% with ca. 300 ms peak width at the base using 6 s modulation times. Modulated peaks in GC × GC-FID were thus characterized by ca. 30 points while those in GC × GC-qMSD method by 6-8 points only. The FID speed is sufficient for reliable quantitative analysis, while the qMSD scan speed is perfectly appropriate for identification purposes. Moreover, in the GC × GC-qMSD method considerably improved quality of uncorrected spectra was obtained, arising from the enhanced separation over one-dimensional GC-MSD analysis. Spectral match qualities of up to 98% were found.

On retentivity tuning by flow in the second column of different comprehensive two dimensional gas chromatographic configurations.

Retentivity tuning in comprehensive two dimensional GC separations of aliphatics (linear and cyclic hydrocarbons) and aromatics in gasoline by changing the carrier gas flows in the column series at constant working temperature parameters of both columns is discussed. Comprehensive 2D techniques studied include GC×GC with cryogenic and differential flow modulation and non-modulated transfer (NMT). In all configurations, the first dimension was a non-polar column and the second dimension a polar column. Using three different flows (0.6, 1.0 and 1.4mL/min) of helium carrier gas in cryogenic modulated GC×GC illustrated that, as expected, retention of the solutes on the (1)D and (2)D columns increased but the separation quality was nearly constant. A change of carrier gas pressure (p(m)=175-125kPa) on the (1)D and (2)D columns joint point at constant inlet pressure (p(i)=525kPa) in NMT, induces an increase of the carrier gas flow rate on the (1)D and a decrease on the (2)D column, respectively. The higher retentivity of the (2)D column improved the group type separation of aliphatic/cyclic hydrocarbons and aromatics and a higher distribution of aromatics on the 2D retention plane was noted. Retentivity tuning was also performed in flow modulated GC×GC by operating the (1)D column at 0.8mL/min and the (2)D column at 20 and 26mL/min. The higher retentivity at 20mL/min improved the group type separation of aliphatic/cyclic hydrocarbons and aromatics in the 2D retention plane.

Enhanced comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatographic resolution of polychlorinated biphenyls on a non-polar polysiloxane and an ionic liquid column series.

A total of 196 out of 209 polychlorobiphenyl (PCB) congeners were resolved using GC×GC-TOFMS with a non-polar/ionic liquid column series consisting of poly(50%-n-octyl-50%-methyl)siloxane and (1,12-di(tripropylphosphonium)dodecane bis(trifluoromethansulfonyl)amide) in the first and second dimension, respectively. It has been found that 13 PCB congeners overlap in five doublets (CB12+CB13, CB62+CB75, CB70+CB76, CB97+CB125 and CB153+CB168) and one triplet (CB90+CB101+CB113). All toxic, "dioxin like" congeners were separated with no interferences from any PCB congener. The 109 PCBs present in Aroclor 1242 and the 82 PCBs present in Aroclor 1260 were resolved GC×GC-TOFMS analysis on this column set.

Use of a polar ionic liquid as second column for the comprehensive two-dimensional GC separation of PCBs.

The orthogonality of three columns coupled in two series was studied for the congener specific comprehensive two-dimensional GC separation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). A non-polar capillary column coated with poly(5%-phenyl-95%-methyl)siloxane was used as the first ((1)D) column in both series. A polar capillary column coated with 70% cyanopropyl-polysilphenylene-siloxane or a capillary column coated with the ionic liquid 1,12-di(tripropylphosphonium)dodecane bis(trifluoromethane-sulfonyl)imide were used as the second ((2)D) columns. Nine multi-congener standard PCB solutions containing subsets of all native 209 PCBs, a mixture of 209 PCBs as well as Aroclor 1242 and 1260 formulations were used to study the orthogonality of both column series. Retention times of the corresponding PCB congeners on (1)D and (2)D columns were used to construct retention time dependences (apex plots) for assessing orthogonality of both columns coupled in series. For a visual assessment of the peak density of PCBs congeners on a retention plane, 2D images were compared. The degree of orthogonality of both column series was, along the visual assessment of distribution of PCBs on the retention plane, evaluated also by Pearson's correlation coefficient, which was found by correlation of retention times t(R,i,2D) and t(R,i,1D) of corresponding PCB congeners on both column series. It was demonstrated that the apolar+ionic liquid column series is almost orthogonal both for the 2D separation of PCBs present in Aroclor 1242 and 1260 formulations as well as for the separation of all of 209 PCBs. All toxic, dioxin-like PCBs, with the exception of PCB 118 that overlaps with PCB 106, were resolved by the apolar/ionic liquid series while on the apolar/polar column series three toxic PCBs overlapped (105+127, 81+148 and 118+106).

The non-modulated transfer of total effluent for serially coupled columns in gas chromatography.

The non-modulated transfer (NMT) of the total effluent of the separation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on two columns coupled in series has been studied. A non-polar poly(5%-phenyl-95%-methyl)siloxane column (40 m x 100 microm x 0.1 microm) and a polar 70%-cyanopropyl-polysilphenylene-siloxane column (4 m x 0.1 mm x 0.1 microm) were used as (1)D and (2)D columns, respectively. The effluents from both the (1)D column and the (1)D+(2)D column series were monitored independently by two FIDs. Data from the (1)D and (1)D+(2)D integration reports were used to evaluate the NMT experiment. (1)D retention times, t(R,i,D1), were directly accessible from (1)D integration report while (2)D retention times, t(R,i,B), were calculated for all corresponding peak pairs from (1)D and (1)D+(2)D integration reports as a difference t(R,i,D2)=t(R,i,D1+D2)-t(R,i,D1). Search for corresponding peaks of PCB congeners in the (1)D and (1)D+(2)D chromatograms is elucidated in detail on standard PCB samples and on PCB congeners present in the technical formulation Arochlor 1242. Both retention times (t(R,i,D1) and t(R,i,D2)) as well as peak widths at half height (w(h,i)) and peak heights (h(i)) obtained from integration reports were used to construct 2D and 3D images for PCB NMT separations on serially coupled columns. The performance of the NMT procedure is illustrated by the separation of (i) standard PCB solutions, (ii) a mixture of the 209 PCBs, and (iii) a mixture of Arochlor 1242 and hydrocarbons on the DB-5+BPX-70 column series.

Gas chromatography of 209 polychlorinated biphenyl congeners on an extremely efficient nonselective capillary column.

The gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) separation of all 209 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners was studied on an extremely efficient 80 m x 0.1mm i.d. capillary column coated with a 0.1 microm film of poly(5%-phenyl methyl)siloxane stationary phase. The quality of the separation and the number of resolved and coeluting peaks were compared to predictions according to the statistical overlap theory (SOT) and to literature data on PCB separations obtained by one-dimensional and comprehensive two-dimensional GC (GC x GC) and GC-MS. Mass spectral and chemometric deconvolution procedures were used to resolve overlapping peaks. On the highly efficient column, 195 PCB congeners were resolved in 96 min separation time using spectral and chemometric deconvolution. This number is comparable to the best separations described in GC x GC-MS mode. The novel method was developed for spectral deconvolution of overlapped PCB congeners which was verified determining the most toxic, dioxin-like PCBs both in the model mixture of 209 PCBs as well as in the Aroclor 1242 and Aroclor 1254 formulations.

Chemometric deconvolution of gas chromatographic unresolved conjugated linoleic acid isomers triplet in milk samples.

A generally known problem of GC separation of trans-7;cis-9; cis-9,trans-11; and trans-8,cis-10 CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) isomers was studied by GC-MS on 100m capillary column coated with cyanopropyl silicone phase at isothermal column temperatures in a range of 140-170 degrees C. The resolution of these CLA isomers obtained at given conditions was not high enough for direct quantitative analysis, but it was, however, sufficient for the determination of their peak areas by commercial deconvolution software. Resolution factors of overlapped CLA isomers determined by the separation of a model CLA mixture prepared by mixing of a commercial CLA mixture and CLA isomer fraction obtained by the HPLC semi-preparative separation of milk fatty acids methyl esters were used to validate the deconvolution procedure. Developed deconvolution procedure allowed the determination of the content of studied CLA isomers in ewes' and cows' milk samples, where dominant isomer cis-9,trans-11 is eluted between two small isomers trans-7,cis-9 and trans-8,cis-10 (in the ratio up to 1:100).

On the use of solid phase ion exchangers for isolation of amino acids from liquid samples and their enantioselective gas chromatographic analysis.

This work focuses on the development of a suitable working procedure for preconcentration of amino acids enantiomers from water samples using a solid phase extraction. The three types of ion exchangers with various capabilities have been used. The effect of experimental conditions in SPE procedure employing strong anion exchange (SAX), weak (WCX) and strong cation exchange (SCX) cartridges (such as sample volume, pH, origin of elution solvent and its volume) on effective preconcentration of the model set of amino acids has been studied in detail. The enantiomers of isolated and preconcentrated amino acids have been analysed by GC on three capillary columns coated with chiral selectors. The different amino acids derivatives have been investigated in order to achieve optimal resolution of biogenic amino acids and their enantiomers. The best separation of amino acid enantiomers has been obtained on a Chirasil-L-Val column analysing their N-TFA methyl esters. It has been shown that SCX-SPE cartridge with sulfonic groups attached on silicagel support is most suitable for isolation and preconcentration of amino acids from water samples. For this sample treatment procedure, the overall recovery of extraction process has been calculated as an average value from three measurements. It has been found, that recoveries are practically identical for both enantiomers of a particular amino acid and varies in the range 75-99% depending on the type of amino acid. The effectivity of this sample preparation and GC method has been verified by preconcentration of amino acids from orange juice fortified by racemic mixture of some selected amino acids.

Determination of the 2,3-pentadienedioic acid enantiomer interconversion energy barrier 1. Classical kinetic approach.

A classical kinetic method was used to determine the energy barrier for the inter-conversion of 2,3-pentadienedioic acid enantiomers. Each individual enantiomer was isolated by collecting the appropriate peaks from the HPLC enantiomeric separation, of racemic 2,3-pentadienedioic acid. The isolated enantiomers were racemized at 22 degrees C using various interconversion times. The ratio of enantiomers in each reaction solution was determined by HPLC at 22 degrees C. The corresponding peak areas of the enantiomers and the interconversion times obtained from the HPLC chromatograms were used to calculate both the interconversion rate constants describing (+)--> (-) and (-) --> (+) interconversions as well as the energy barriers. It was confirmed that the interconversion of 2,3-pentadienedioic acid enantiomers is a firstorder kinetic reaction. Both semiempirical and ab initio methods were used to explore the mechanism of the interconversion of 2,3-pentadienedioic acid enantiomers, and to calculate the interconversion energy barrier. Comparison of the interconversion energy barriers found by the ab initio method (deltaG# = 110.7 kJ/mol) and by classical kinetics in the mobile phase solution at 22 degrees C (delta Gapp = 93.9+/-0.2 kJ/mol) shows a difference which may be attributed to the different conditions assumed in the theoretical calculation (i.e., a gaseous state) and the actual experimental conditions (i. e., liquid solution) and a possible catalytic effect of the solution composition.