Chromatography technique couplings

Coupling of analytical techniques (detectors) to high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) systems has increased in the last tree decades. Initially, gas chromatography was coupled to mass spectrometry (MS), then to infrai ed (IR) spectroscopy. Following the main interest was to hyphenate analytical techniques to HPLC. 

Gas and liquid chromatography directly coupled with atomic spectrometry have been reviewed [178,179], as well as the determination of trace elements by chromatographic methods employing atomic plasma emission spectrometric detection [180]. Sutton et al. [181] have reviewed the use and applications of ICP-MS as a chromatographic and capillary electrophoretic detector, whereas Niessen [182] has briefly reviewed the applications of mass spectrometry to hyphenated techniques. 

Principles and Characteristics The most commonly used and widely known technique coupled to gas chromatography is mass spectroscopy. In early couplings, with packed GC columns being the major problem encountered, elimination of the carrier gas at relatively high flow-rates (25mLmin 1), resulted in a significant loss of sensitivity. With the advent of open tubular devices, the column flow could be passed directly into the mass spectrometer. GC-MS is typically... 

Either gas chromatography (GC) or liquid chromatography (LC) can be used as a separation technique coupled with a variety of detection methods. Mass spectrometry (MS) is one of the most popular means of detection. When using GC-MS, a capillary column should be used, while any suitable LC column can be used for LC-MS. It is advisable to obtain a print-out of the chromatogram so that the shapes of individual peaks can be assessed. Electronically produced data using integrators should be treated with some suspicion and always examined visually to check the selected baseline, start- and end-points of peak integration, etc. 

Ceglarek et al.45 reported the rapid simultaneous quantification of immmunosuppressants (cyclosporine A, tacrolimus, and sirolimus) in transplant patients by turbulent flow chromatography (TFC) coupled with HPLC-MS/MS. TFC is an online extraction technique involving the direct application of human plasma onto a turbulent flow column where protein is washed from the samples before the retained drug is backflushed onto an analytical column. 

Whilst these methods are informative for the characterisation of synthetic mixtures, the information gained and the nature of these techniques precludes their use in routine quantitative analysis of environmental samples, which requires methods amenable to the direct introduction of aqueous samples and in particular selective and sensitive detection. Conventionally, online separation techniques coupled to mass spectrometric detection are used for this, namely gas (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC). As a technique for agrochemical and environmental analyses, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to atmospheric pressure ionisation-mass spectrometry (API-MS) is extremely attractive, with the ability to analyse relatively polar compounds and provide detection to very low levels. 

Natural products and natural-like compounds, generally coming from microbes, plants, sponges and animals [2, 3] may be fully identified and quantified by means of modem and advanced analytical techniques, such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to various detectors - from the most common UV/Vis to mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS and HPLC-MS/MS). The role of MS is to provide quantitative and qualitative information about mixtures separated by liquid chromatography [4],... 

Other combinations of chromatography techniques with MS which may be useful in environmental studies are the coupling of high performance liquid chromatography (LC) with MS [84,384,504,506,530,585-593],LC with MS-MS [181, 594 - 599], LC with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization MS (LC-APCI-MS) [600], and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-fast atom bombardment coupled to LC-MS (FTIR-FAB-LC-MS) [514]. 

Ion chromatography has become an essential tool of the pharmaceutical analytical chemist. The high sensitivity of the technique, coupled with the wide dynamic operating range made possible with modern high-capacity stationary phases makes it ideal for the analysis of ions in pharmaceutical applications. The combination of gradients and suppressed conductivity detection provides a powerful screening... 

Among the new techniques that have been developed to improve the throughput, turbulent-flow chromatography (TEC) coupled with MS has... 

Pluym et al. compared the use of CE to that of HPLC in chemical and pharmaceutical quality control. They stated that CE could be considered as a complementary technique to HPLC because of its large separation capacity, its simplicity, and its economical benefits. Jimidar et al. decided that CE offers high separation efficiency and can be applied as an adjunct in HPLC method validation. Mol et al. evaluated the use of micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI—MS) in impurity profiling of drugs, which resulted in efficient separations. 

Asche S, Beck T, Hener U, Mosandl A (2000) Multidimensional gas chromatography, online coupled with isotope ratio mass spectrometry (MDGC-IRMS) a new technique for analytical authentication of genuine flavour components. In Frontiers of Flavour Science. DFA, Garching... 

The quasi-simultaneous separation and determination of lanthanides and actinides by ion chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry combined with the isotope dilution technique and the further use of ion chromatography for the determination of fission products and actinides in nuclear applications are described by Betti et ul.10 48 68... 

Techniques such as mono- and bidimensional thin-layer chromatography and high-voltage electrophoresis have been used in peptide separations for many years. However, the versatility, short analysis times, and high resolution of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), coupled with the possibility of automating the analysis process, make this analysis technique the method of choice in peptide analyses at the present time (l-6a). 

White, S., Catterick, T., Fairman, B. and Webb, K. (1998) Speciation of organo-tin compounds using liquid chromatography atmospheric pressure ionisation mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry as complementary techniques./. Chromatogr. A, 794, 211-218. 

SFC has received attention as an alternative separation technique to liquid and gas chromatography. The coupling of SFC to plasma detectors has been studied because plasma source spectrometry meets a number of requirements for suitable detection. There have been two main approaches in designing interfaces. The first is the use of a restrictor tube in a heated cross-flow nebuliser. This was designed for packed columns. For a capillary system, a restrictor was introduced into the central channel of the ICP torch. The restrictor was heated to overcome the eluent freezing upon decompression as it left the restrictor. The interface and transfer lines were also heated to maintain supercritical conditions. Several speciation applications have been reported in which SFC-ICP-MS was used. These include alkyl tin compounds (Oudsema and Poole, 1992), chromium (Carey et al., 1994), lead and mercury (Carey et al., 1992), and arsenic (Kumar et al., 1995). Detection limits for trimethylarsine, triphenylarsine and triphenyl arsenic oxide were in the range of 0.4-5 pg. 

Kim, A.W., Foulkes, M.E., Ebdon, S., Hill, S.J., Patience, R.L., Barwise, A.G. and Rowland, S.J. (1992) Construction of a capillary gas chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry transfer line and application of the technique to the analysis of alkyllead species in fuel./. Anal. At. Spectrom., 7, 1147-1149. 

Several papers in this book and in the recent literature (3) discuss use of pyrolysis techniques coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to determine forms of organically bound sulfur, but these methods introduce an uncertainty due to the possible interconversion of these sulfur forms during the heating step. For example, it has been shown that when benzyl sulfide was heated to 290°C, tetraphenyl thiophene, hydrogen sulfide and stilbene were produced (4). Coupled with heat and mass transport limitation considerations, particularly for viscous liquids and solids, it is not unreasonable to question whether at least some of the thiophenic forms observed by these techniques were produced during the analysis and may not have been present in the original sample. 

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