High-performance liquid chromatography components

Purification of poloxamers has been extensively investigated due to their use in medical applications, the intention often being to remove potentially toxic components. Supercritical fluid fractionation and liquid fractionation have been used successfully to remove low-molecular weight impurities and antioxidants from poloxamers. Gel filtration, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and ultrafiltration through membranes are among the other techniques examined [5]. 

Chromatography is a separation process employed for the separation of mixtures of substances. It is widely used for the identification of the components of mixtures, but as explained in Chapters 8 and 9, it is often possible to use the procedure to make quantitative determinations, particularly when using Gas Chromatography (GC) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). 

High performance liquid chromatography is used for the separation and quantitative analysis of a wide variety of mixtures, especially those in which the components are insufficiently volatile and/or thermally stable to be separated by gas chromatography. This is illustrated by the following method which may be used for the quantitative determination of aspirin and caffeine in the common analgesic tablets, using phenacetin as internal standard where APC tablets are available the phenacetin can also be determined by this procedure. 

GUO c, CAO G, SOFIC E and PRIOR R L (1997) High-performance liquid Chromatography coupled with coulometric array detection of electroactive components in fruits and vegetables Relationship to oxygen radical absorbance capacity, J Agric Food Chem, 45, 1787-96. 

Trugo, L.C. and Macrae, R., Application of high performance liquid chromatography to the analysis of some non-volatile coffee components, Archivos Latinoamericanos de NutrIclon, 39(1),96,1989. 

P.A. Tarantilis, G. Tsoupras and M. Polissiou, Determination of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) components in crude plant extract using high performance liquid chromatography UV visible photodiode array detection mass spectrometry, J. Chromatogr. A, 699, 107 118 (1995). 

F.L. Liu, C.Y.W. Ang, T.M. Heinze, J.D. Rankin, R.D. Beger, J.P. Freeman and J.O. Lay Jr, Evaluation of major active components in St. John s Wort dietary supplements by high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and electrospray mass spectrometric confirmation, J. Chromatogr. A, 888, 85 92 (2000). 

Separation-based techniques, especially high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC), have long been the work horses of pharmaceutical analysis laboratories. They are among the most powerful and versatile tools for the detection and quantitation of analytes (chemical components) in complex matrices frequently encountered in the course of PhR D. 

Consider one small molecule, phenylalanine. It is an essential amino acid in our diet and is important in protein synthesis (a component of protein), as well as a precursor to tyrosine and neurotransmitters. Phenylalanine is one of several amino acids that are measured in a variety of clinical methods, which include immunoassay, fluorometry, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC see Section 4.1.2) and most recently MS/MS (see Chapter 3). Historically, screening labs utilized immunoassays or fluorimetric analysis. Diagnostic metabolic labs used the amino acid analyzer, which was a form of HPLC. Most recently, the tandem mass spectrometer has been used extensively in screening labs to analyze amino acids or in diagnostic labs as a universal detector for GC and LC techniques. Why did MS/MS replace older technological systems The answer to this question lies in the power of mass spectrometer. 

Sample preparation for analysis by hyphenated methods requires some additional planning when compared to nonhyphenated methods. All steps, extraction, concentration, and final solvent selection must take into consideration and be compatible with all the components of the hyphenated instrumentation. For gas chromatographic methods, all the components in the mixture must be in the gaseous state. For liquid chromatography (LC) or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the samples of the analytes of interest can be solids or liquids, neutral or charged molecules, or ions, but they must be in solution. If the follow-on analysis is by MS, then each of the analytes may require a different method of introduction into the MS. Metals and metal ions may be introduced by HPLC if they are in solution but commonly are introduced via AAS or inductively coupled plasma (ICP). Other analytes may be directly introduced from HPLC to MS [2],... 

Liquid chromatography (LC) and, in particular, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), is at present the most popular and widely used separation procedure based on a quasi-equilibrium -type of molecular distribution between two phases. Officially, LC is defined as a physical method... in which the components to be separated are distributed between two phases, one of which is stationary (stationary phase) while the other (the mobile phase) moves in a definite direction [ 1 ]. In other words, all chromatographic methods have one thing in common and that is the dynamic separation of a substance mixture in a flow system. Since the interphase molecular distribution of the respective substances is the main condition of the separation layer functionality in this method, chromatography can be considered as an excellent model of other methods based on similar distributions and carried out at dynamic conditions. 

High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) (Chapter 30) gives an elaborate discussion of theoretical aspects. Instrumentation encompasses the various important components e.g., solvent reservoir and degassing system pressure, flow and temperature pumps and sample injection system ... 

H. Horie and K. Kohata, Analysis of tea components by high-performance liquid chromatography and high-performance capillary electrophoresis. J. Chromatogr.A 881 (2000) 425 -38. 

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