Capillary and Microchip Electrophoresis

Abstract

The article contains sections titled: 1. Introduction 2. CE Modes and Techniques 2.1. Overview 2.2. Capillary Zone Electrophoresis, Isotachophoresis, and Isoelectric Focusing 2.3. Separations with Additional Constraints 2.4. Electrokinetic Capillary Chromatography 2.5. Capillary Electrochromatography 3. Theoretical Aspects of CE 3.1. Electrokinetic Phenomena and Fundamental Separation Aspects 3.2. Dynamic Computer Simulation of Electrophoretic Processes 3.3. Peakmaster for Capillary Zone Electrophoresis 3.4. Moving Boundary Equation, Regulation Functions and Other Models 3.5. Internet Resources and Availability of Physico-Chemical Constants 4. CE Instrumentation 4.1. General Aspects and Early Developments 4.2. Instrumentation Featuring Fused-Silica Capillaries 4.3. Chip Instrumentation 4.4. CE-MS and CE Instrumentation for Special Tasks 5. Aspects of a CE-Based Assay 5.1. Separation Column 5.2. Separation Medium 5.3. Analyte Injection, Stacking, and Detection 5.4. Sample Preparation, Analyte Quantitation and Complete Assay Specifications 6. CE Applications 6.1. CE for Determination of Physico-Chemical Properties of Molecules, Ions, and Liquids 6.2. CE of Ions and Small Molecules 6.3. CE of Pharmaceuticals and their Metabolites 6.4. CE of Carbohydrates 6.5. CE of Peptides and Proteins 6.6. CE of Oligonucleotides, DNA, and RNA 6.7. CE of Particles and Synthetic Polymers 6.8. Special Techniques for Ultrafast Analysis, Extreme Resolution, and Small Sample Size 7. Brief Discussion and Outlook Electrophoretic separations and analyses in capillaries and microchannels have received considerable attention since the 1970s. Since this time a number of techniques for electrophoretic separations and analyses of small (microliters to femtoliters) sample volumes have emerged, including capillary zone electrophoresis, capillary isotachophoresis, capillary isoelectric focusing, capillary gel electrophoresis, affinity capillary electrophoresis, electrokinetic capillary chromatography, and capillary electrochromatography. High separation efficiencies have been demonstrated in conjunction with high-resolution on-column and/or end-column sample detection. Capillary and microchip electrophoresis represent instrumental approaches of electrophoresis which complement other techniques, in particular high-performance liquid chromatography and slab gel electrophoresis. This keyword presents theoretical, instrumentation, and practical assay aspects of capillary and microchip electrophoresis together with illustrative examples. Examples of capillary electrophoresis in major fields of application are given and an overview of the key achievements encountered is provided.