Reversed-phase chromatography elution process

Adsorption chromatography The process can be considered as a competition between the solute and solvent molecules for adsorption sites on the solid surface of adsorbent to effect separation. In normal phase or liquid-solid chromatography, relatively nonpolar organic eluents are used with the polar adsorbent to separate solutes in order of increasing polarity. In reverse-phase chromatography, solute retention is mainly due to hydrophobic interactions between the solutes and the hydrophobic surface of adsorbent. Polar mobile phase is used to elute solutes in order of decreasing polarity. 

Perhaps the worst problem of gradient elution separations is the need to reequilibrate the column with the initial solvent before a second sample can be run. An often-quoted rule of thumb is that up to 20 column volumes of the initial solvent may be necessary for this reequilibration process. The best test of reequilibration is the elution time of a weakly retained solute. These solutes will be greatly affected by an incompletely equilibrated stationary phase, and the retention time will vary. Cole and Dorsey have described a simple and convenient method for the reduction of column reequilibration time following gradient elution reversed-phase chromatography (119). Their method utilizes the addition of a constant 3% 1-propanol to the mobile phase throughout the solvent gradient to provide consistent solvation of the stationary phase. They noted reductions in reequilibration times of up to 78% ... 

Figure 9.3 Schematic illustration of the electrophoretic transfer of proteins in the chromatophoresis process. After being eluted from the HPLC column, the proteins were reduced with /3-mercaptoethanol in the protein reaction system (PRS), and then deposited onto the polyacrylamide gradient gel. (PRC, protein reaction cocktail). Reprinted from Journal of Chromatography, 443, W. G. Button et al., Separation of proteins by reversed-phase Mgh-performance liquid cliromatography , pp 363-379, copyright 1988, with permission from Elsevier Science.

One attempt to overcome these disadvantages has been to use multidimensional liquid chromatography (LC) followed directly by tandem mass spectrometry to separate, fragment and identify proteins (Link et al., 1999). In this process, a denatured and reduced protein mixture is digested with a protease to create a collection of peptides (Fig. 2.6). The peptide mixture is applied to a cation exchange column and a fraction of these peptides are eluted based on charge onto a reverse-phase column. The... 

Otsuki and Shiraishi [3] used reversed phase absorption liquid chromatography and field desorption mass spectrometry to determine polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether non ionic surfactants in water. In the separation of polyoxyethylene octylphenyl, nonylphenyl and dodecylphenyl ethers by gradient elution with a holding process by holding the... 

Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) is a rapidly emerging technique that adds a new dimension to current separation science. The major "news" in this method is that the hydrodynamic flow of the eluting liquid, which is typical of HPLC, is replaced by a flow driven by electro-endoosmosis. This increases considerably the selection of available separation mechanisms. For example, combinations of traditional processes such as reversed-phase- or ion-exchange- separations with electromigration techniques are now possible. Also, CEC is opening new horizons in the separation of non-polar compounds, and thus represents an alternative to the widely used micellar electrokinetic chromatography. 

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) is the usual method of choice for the separation of anthocyanins combined with an ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) or diode-array detector (DAD)(Hebrero et al., 1988 Hong et ah, 1990). With reversed-phase columns the elution pattern of anthocyanins is mainly dependent on the partition coefficients between the mobile phase and the Cjg stationary phase, and on the polarity of the analytes. The mobile phase consists normally of an aqueous solvent (water/carboxylic acid) and an organic solvent (methanol or acetonitrile/carboxylic acid). Typically the amount of carboxylic acid has been up to 10%, but with the addition of a mass spectrometer as a detector, the amount of acid has been decreased to as low as 1 % with a shift from trifluoroacetic acid to formic acid to prevent quenching of the ionization process that may occur with trifluoroacetic acid. The acidic media allows for the complete displacement of the equilibrium to the fiavylium cation, resulting in better resolution and a characteristic absorbance between 515 and 540 nm. HPLC separation methods, combined with electrochemical or DAD, are effective tools for anthocyanin analysis. The weakness of these detection methods is a lack of structural information and some nonspecificity leading to misattribution of peaks, particularly with electrochemical... 

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