Improved Extraction Repeatability and Spectral Reproducibility for Liquid Extraction Surface Analysis-Mass Spectrometry Using Superhydrophobic-Superhydrophilic Patterning.

A major problem limiting reproducible use of liquid extraction surface analysis (LESA) array sampling of dried surface-deposited liquid samples is the unwanted spread of extraction solvent beyond the dried sample limits, resulting in unreliable data. Here, we explore the use of the Droplet Microarray (DMA), which consists of an array of superhydrophilic spots bordered by a superhydrophobic material giving the potential to confine both the sample spot and the LESA extraction solvent in a defined area. We investigated the DMA method in comparison with a standard glass substrate using LESA analysis of a mixture of biologically relevant compounds with a wide mass range and different physicochemical properties. The optimized DMA method was subsequently applied to urine samples from a human intervention study. Relative standard deviations for the signal intensities were all reduced at least 3-fold when performing LESA-MS on the DMA surface compared with a standard glass surface. Principal component analysis revealed more tight clusters indicating improved spectral reproducibility for a human urine sample extracted from the DMA compared to glass. Lastly, in urine samples from an intervention study, more significant ions (145) were identified when using LESA-MS spectra of control and test urine extracted from the DMA. We demonstrate that DMA provides a surface-assisted LESA-MS method delivering significant improvement of the surface extraction repeatability leading to the acquisition of more robust and higher quality data. The DMA shows potential to be used for LESA-MS for controlled and reproducible surface extraction and for acquisition of high quality, qualitative data in a high-throughput manner.

Unusual stacking with electrokinetic injection of cationic analytes from micellar solutions in capillary zone electrophoresis.

Electrokinetic injection (EKI) in capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) of charged analytes is by the electroosmotic flow (EOF) and electrophoretic mobility of analytes. In most forms of stacking with EKI, the sample ions were introduced via electrophoretic mobility and concentrated in a stacking boundary inside the capillary. In this work, we describe the unusual stacking of cationic analytes via EKI of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles into a fused silica capillary filled with acidic background solution (BGS) with 40-50 % acetonitrile. The analytes prepared with SDS micelles were injected because of their interaction with micelles or effective electrophoretic mobility. We observed two peaks from an analyte, and this suggested the concentration of analytes into two stacking zones. These two adjacent stacking zones were surprisingly maintained inside the capillary during EKI although the EOF was moving towards the inlet. The zones were identified as the SDS micelles (micelles zone) and organic solvent-rich stacking zone (solvent-rich zone) where the micelles zone was closer to the inlet end of capillary. The analytes concentrated in the solvent-rich zone through the mechanism of micelle to solvent stacking (MSS). The concentrated analytes in the micelles zone were from the concentrated analytes that electrophoretically migrated into the micelles zone from the solvent-rich zone during EKI. The analytes in the micelles zone were then re-stacked by MSS and formed the second sharp peak in CZE. This was prevented by reduction of acetonitrile concentration in the inlet BGS. A sensitivity enhancement factor of more than 100 was obtained for model cationic drugs (diphenhydramine and imipramine).

Spectrophotometric determination of some histamine H1-antagonists drugs in their pharmaceutical preparations.

Two rapid, simple and sensitive extractive specrophotometric methods has been developed for the determination of three histamine H1-antagonists drugs, e.g., chlorphenoxamine hydrochloride (CPX), diphenhydramine hydrochloride (DPH) and clemastine (CMT) in bulk and in their pharmaceutical formulations. The first method depend upon the reaction of molybdenum(V) thiocyanate ions (Method A) with the cited drugs to form stable ion-pair complexes which extractable with methylene chloride, the orange red color complex was determined colorimetrically at lambda(max) 470nm. The second method is based on the formation of an ion-association complex with alizarin red S as chromogenic reagents in acidic medium (Method B), which is extracted into chloroform. The complexes have a maximum absorbance at 425 and 426nm for (DPH or CMT) and CPX, respectively. Regression analysis of Beer-Lambert plots showed a good correlation in the concentration ranges of 5.0-40 and 5-70microgmL(-1) for molybdenum(V) thiocyanate (Method A) and alizarin red S (Method B), respectively. For more accurate analysis, Ringbom optimum concentration ranges were calculated. The molar absorptivity, Sandell sensitivity, detection and quantification limits were calculated. Applications of the procedure to the analysis of various pharmaceutical preparations gave reproducible and accurate results. Further, the validity of the procedure was confirmed by applying the standard addition technique and the results obtained in good agreement well with those obtained by the official method.

Study of overload for basic compounds in reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography as a function of mobile phase pH.

The retention and overloading properties for eight basic solutes and two quaternary ammonium compounds were studied over the pH range 2.7-10.0 using phosphate and carbonate buffers. At low pH, a hybrid inorganic-organic silica-ODS phase (XTerra RP-18, 15 cm x 0.46 cm) showed substantial loss in efficiency when sample masses exceeded about 0.5 microg; these results were similar to those obtained previously on pure silica ODS and wholly polymeric phases, suggesting a common overloading mechanism. At pH 7-8.5, substantial improvements in loading capacity were obtained on XTerra due apparently to the unexpectedly strong influence of small decreases in solute ionisation. Data from the quaternary compounds suggested that silanol ionisation on this phase was still small even at intermediate pH. For many bases, loading capacity continued to improve as the pH was raised to 10, in line with the decrease in the proportion of ionised solute. However, for the highest pK(a) solutes, peak shape worsened at high pH, possibly due to the negative influence of increasing column silanol ionisation.

Separation and determination of pseudoephedrine, dextromethorphan, diphenhydramine and chlorpheniramine in cold medicines by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis.

An easy, rapid and simple nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) method was developed for the identification and determination of four basic nitrogenous compounds, i.e. pseudoephedrine (PE), dextromethorphan (DXM), diphenhydramine (DHM) and chlorpheniramine (CLP). The most suitable running buffer was composed of 40 mM ammonium acetate, 10% acetonitrile (ACN) in methanol with a fused-silica capillary column (47 cm x 75 microm i.d.), 25 kV applied voltage and 25 degrees C capillary temperature. The calibration curves revealed linear relationships between the peak area for each analyte and its concentration (correlation coefficients: 0.9993 for PE, 0.9971 for DXM, 0.9991 for DHM, and 0.9995 for CLP, respectively). The relative standard deviations of the migration time and peak area of the four compounds were 0.37, 3.90, 0.73 and 0.68, and 2.80, 3.50, 1.60 and 3.70%, respectively. The method was successfully applied to determine the four compounds in five cold medicines, the recoveries of the four constituents ranging between 91 and 109%.

Liquid chromatography of antihistamines using post-column tris(2,2'-bipyridine) ruthenium(III) chemiluminescence detection.

The separation and detection of five antihistamine drugs commonly found within over-the-counter allergy and cold pharmaceutical products was performed by HPLC with chemiluminescence (CL) detection. Comparable detection limits at 5-10 pmol were found for the antihistamines by both UV at 214 nm and tris(2,2'-bipyridine) ruthenium(III) CL. However, urine samples were found not to generate as large an unretained peak by CL detection as compared to those peaks by UV detection at 214 and 254 nm. For example, the pheniramine peak representing 0.15 microgram/ml was almost totally obscured at 214 nm. Quantitative results received for three antihistamine commercial samples ranged from 4 to 8% error in accuracy when an internal standard was used to compensate for short term detector drift.

Removal of diphenhydramine from water by swelling clay minerals.

Frequent detection of pharmaceuticals in surface water and wastewater attracted renewed attention on studying interactions between pharmaceuticals and sludge or biosolids generated from wastewater treatment. Less attention was focused on studying interactions between pharmaceuticals and clay minerals, important soil and sediment components. This research targeted on investigating interactions between diphenhydramine (DPH), an important antihistamine drug, and a montmorillonite, a swelling clay, in aqueous solution. Stoichiometric desorption of exchangeable cations accompanying DPH adsorption confirmed that cation exchange was the most important mechanism of DPH uptake by the swelling clay. When the solution pH was below the pK(a) of DPH, its adsorption on the swelling clay was less affected by pH. Increasing solution pH above the pK(a) value resulted in a decrease in DPH adsorption by the clay. An increase in d(001) spacing at a high DPH loading level suggested interlayer adsorption, thus, intercalation of DPH. The results from this study showed that swelling clays are a good environmental sink for weak acidic drugs like DPH. In addition, the large cation exchange capacity and surface area make the clay a good candidate to remove cationic pharmaceuticals from the effluent of wastewater treatment facilities.

Some advantages of high temperature for the separation of pharmaceutical compounds with mass spectrometry detection.

The beneficial effects of high temperature on separation and detection of basic compounds, the detection being performed by MS via ESI, are investigated. The influence of various parameters on both separation and detection performances is studied. These parameters include the mobile phase pH, the temperature, and the type of stationary phase. Experiments are performed under gradient elution conditions. The results obtained with four different supports, silica-, zirconia-, carbon-, and polymer-based columns, are compared by means of different criteria including the elution composition, the peak asymmetry, and the S/N. High temperature liquid chromatography at high pH with volatile buffers suitable for MS detection was shown to be an interesting choice for solutes with basic sites.

Liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction for sample preparation of biological fluids prior to capillary electrophoresis.

Methamphetamine as a model compound was extracted from 2.5-mL aqueous samples adjusted to pH 13 (donor solution) through a thin phase of 1-octanol inside the pores of a polypropylene hollow fiber and finally into a 25-microL acidic acceptor solution inside the hollow fiber. Following this liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction (LLLME), the acceptor solutions were analyzed by capillary zone electrophoresis (CE). Extractions were performed in simple disposable devices each consisting of a conventional 4-mL sample vial, two needles for introduction and collection of the acceptor solution, and a 8-cm piece of a porous polypropylene hollow fiber. From 5 to 20 different samples were extracted in parallel for 45 min, providing a high sample capacity. Methamphetamine was preconcentrated by a factor of 75 from aqueous standard solutions, human urine, and human plasma utilizing 10(-1) M HCl as the acceptor phase and 10(-1) M NaOH in the donor solution. In addition to preconcentration, LLLME also served as a technique for sample cleanup since large molecules, acidic compounds, and neutral components were not extracted into the acceptor phase. Utilizing diphenhydramine hydrochloride as internal standard, repetitive extractions varied less than 5.2% RSD (n = 6), while the calibration curve for methamphetamine was linear within the range 20 ng/microL to 10 micrograms/mL (r = 0.9983). The detection limit of methamphetamine utilizing LLLME/CE was 5 ng/mL (S/N = 3) in both human urine and plasma.

pH-independent large-volume sample stacking of positive or negative analytes in capillary electrophoresis.

In capillary electrophoresis, the short optical path length associated with on-column UV detection imposes an inherent detection problem. Detection limits can be improved using sample stacking. Recently, large-volume sample stacking (LVSS) without polarity switching was demonstrated to improve detection limits of charged analytes by more than 100-fold. However, this technique requires suppression of the electroosmotic flow (EOF) during the run. This necessitates working at a low pH, which limits using pH to optimize selectivity. We demonstrate that LVSS can be performed at any buffer pH (4.0-10.0) if the zwitterionic surfactant Rewoteric AM CAS U is used to suppress the EOF. Sensitivity enhancements of up to 85-fold are achieved with migration time, corrected area, and peak height reproducibility of 0.8-1.6%, 1.3-3.7%, and 0.8-4.9%, respectively. Further, it is possible to stack either positively or negatively charged analytes using zwitterionic surfactants to suppress the EOF.