Phases In Supercritical Fluid Chromatography Research Articles

Evaluation of separation properties of stationary phases in supercritical fluid chromatography; deazapurine nucleosides case study

A series of biologically important 7-deazapurine nucleosides was used for evaluation of selectivity of three stationary phases designed for supercritical fluid chromatography. The sorbents of stationary phases tested were diethylamine, diol and 2-picolylamine bonded on ethylene bridged hybrid particles. The highest selectivity for the tested nucleosides showed neutral diol column. All twelve tested nucleosides were baseline resolved in simple mobile phase composed of carbon dioxide/ethanol 79/21 (v/v). The effect of basic isopropylamine and mixed isopropylamine and trifluoroacetic acid mobile phase additives on retention and selectivity was also assessed. The interactions participating in the separation systems were revealed by linear free energy relationship. The obtained results demonstrated the significant contribution of hydrogen bond acidity and basicity on chromatographic behavior of the diol- and 2-picolylamine-based stationary phases.

Performance comparison of chlorinated chiral stationary phases in supercritical fluid chromatography for separation of selected pyrrolidone derivatives

The effects of two chlorinated chiral stationary phases, namely, Lux Cellulose-2 and Lux i-Cellulose-5, flow-rate, percentage of co-solvent and chemical structures of the compounds on retention and resolution were studied within this article. In this work a backpressure of 150 bar, a temperature of 40 °C and 10% of methanol as co-solvent were chosen as operating conditions. The optimum flow-rate was 2 mL/min. The percentage of co-solvent was studied between 7.5% and 15%. We have observed that 15% of methanol gave the best results for most of the compounds. For all the derivatives, the Lux Cellulose-2 provided better resolutions going from 1.50 to 3.59 compared with Lux i-Cellulose-5.

Design, synthesis and evaluation of a series of alkylsiloxane-bonded stationary phases for expanded supercritical fluid chromatography separations

Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) today represents an alternative technique in analytical chemistry due to its obvious benefits in kinetic performance and its complementarity to liquid chromatography. In this paper, a series of alkylsiloxane-bonded stationary phases were synthesized and evaluated to expand their SFC applications. Five kinds of non-endcapped C8 stationary phases (C8-1 to C8-5) with increasing bonding density were synthesized, and the carbon content was 3.91%, 6.07%, 7.97%, 8.65% and 9.10% respectively. Retention mechanism of the C8 phases in SFC in SFC was investigated by the use of a linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) model. Results underlined a close relationship between the bonding density of alkyl chain and the dispersion and polar interactions of the stationary phase. Complementary evaluation was studied based on the calculation of vector angle (θ), and the widest θ of 123° was found between silica and C8 with the highest bonding density. Selective diversity also existed between the two C8 phases with the highest and lowest bonding densities. In addition, the effect of modifier on the SFC mechanism was investigated. Modifiers (methanol, ethanol, isopropanol and acetonitrile) had insignificant influence on the dispersion interaction but they mainly affected the hydrogen bonding interaction by changing the LSER parameters a and b. Finally, C8 and silica columns were applied for separation of eight amide alkaloids of Piper kadsura. Silica provided better retention but limited selectivity while C8 can distinguish alkaloids different in alkyl chain, double bond and cis-trans structure. This research further contributed to demonstrate the potential of alkylsiloxane-bonded stationary phase in improving selectivity of SFC.

Characterization of Novel Polymer-Based Pyridine Stationary Phases for Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

2-Ethylpyridine-bonded silica is one of the most famous stationary phases employed in supercritical fluid chromatography, especially for the analysis of basic compounds and even without an additive in the mobile phase. In the present paper, we present the synthesis and characterization of three original stationary phases based on poly(vinylpyridine) polymers supported on silica. The position of nitrogen atom relative to the polymer chain was varied to be in the 2, 3, or 4 position. All these phases were prototypes, while the poly(4-vinylpyridine) phase was subsequently commercialized (DCPak P4VP from Daicel Corporation). The stationary phases obtained are characterized in supercritical fluid chromatography with carbon dioxide—methanol mobile phase, with a modified version of the solvation parameter model, to take account of ionic interactions. The three phases are also compared to a 2-ethylpyridine-bonded silica phase and a 2-picolylamine-bonded silica phase. It appears that the polymer-based pyridine phases are significantly more retentive than brush-type pyridine phases and adequately shield residual silanol groups to prevent unwanted interactions with basic compounds. The different selectivities and chromatographic performances are also evidenced with sample applications on pharmaceutical compounds, notably with a selection of 140 drug candidates.

Chiral Separations Using a Modified Water Stationary Phase in Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

A novel means of achieving chiral separations in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) using a water stationary phase is presented. By adding various chiral selectors to the phase, different chiral analytes can be readily separated using neat CO2 as a mobile phase. For example, by adding β-cyclodextrin, it is found that certain flavanone enantiomers can be separated, while using the antibiotic vancomycin as a selector provides separation of some chiral phenoxypropionic acids. Other additives such as sodium chloride and triethylamine are also explored and found to enhance certain separations when also present in the water phase. While column pressure has a moderate impact on chiral analyte retention and separation in this SFC method, column temperature has a comparatively larger influence. In particular, relatively cooler temperatures below about 5 °C are found to markedly increase resolution and selectivity. For instance, notably large resolution of 4.7 is achieved for a phenoxypropionic acid pair at 0 °C and 150 atm CO2. Since the method does not require modifier to elute such polar species, it is also readily compatible with FID detection and does not generate organic waste. Therefore, results indicate that this approach could be a potentially simple and flexible means of achieving chiral separations in SFC.

The Properties of the Nucleodur HILIC Stationary Phase in Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

The Nucleodur HILIC zwitterionic stationary phase was characterized by linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) analysis in the supercritical fluid chromatography mode. It was shown that the main contribution to retention is made by hydrogen bonding interactions.

Enantioselective potential of polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases in supercritical fluid chromatography.

The enantioselective potential of two polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases for analysis of chiral structurally diverse biologically active compounds was evaluated in supercritical fluid chromatography using a set of 52 analytes. The chiral selectors immobilized on 2.5μm silica particles were tris-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarmabate) derivatives of cellulose or amylose. The influence of the polysaccharide backbone, different organic modifiers, and different mobile phase additives on retention and enantioseparation was monitored. Conditions for fast baseline enantioseparation were found for the majority of the compounds. The success rate of baseline and partial enantioseparation with cellulose-based chiral stationary phase was 51.9% and 15.4%, respectively. Using amylose-based chiral stationary phase we obtained 76.9% of baseline enantioseparations and 9.6% of partial enantioseparations of the tested compounds. The best results on cellulose-based chiral stationary phase were achieved particularly with propane-2-ol and a mixture of isopropylamine and trifluoroacetic acid as organic modifier and additive to CO2 , respectively. Methanol and basic additive isopropylamine were preferred on amylose-based chiral stationary phase. The complementary enantioselectivity of the cellulose- and amylose-based chiral stationary phases allows separation of the majority of the tested structurally different compounds. Separation systems were found to be directly applicable for analyses of biologically active compounds of interest.

Enantioseparation of novel chiral sulfoxides on chlorinated polysaccharide stationary phases in supercritical fluid chromatography

Asymmetric sulfoxides is a particular case of chirality that may be found in natural as well as synthetic products. Twenty-four original molecules containing a sulfur atom as a centre of chirality were analyzed in supercritical fluid chromatography on seven polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases (CSP) with carbon dioxide – methanol mobile phases. While all the tested CSP provided enantioseparation for a large part of the racemates, chlorinated cellulosic phases proved to be both highly retentive and highly enantioselective towards these species.Favourable structural features were determined by careful comparison of the enantioseparation of the probe molecules. Molecular modelling studies indicate that U-shaped (folded) conformations were most favorable to achieve high enantioresolution on these CSP, while linear (extended) conformations were not so clearly discriminated.For a subset of these species adopting different conformations, a broad range of mobile phase compositions, ranging from 20 to 100% methanol in carbon dioxide, were investigated. While retention decreased continuously in this range, enantioseparation varied in a non-monotonous fashion. Abrupt changes in the tendency curves of retention and selectivity were observed when methanol proportion reaches about 60%, suggesting that a change in the conformation of the analytes and/or chiral selector is occurring at this point.

Retention Characteristics of a pH Tunable Water Stationary Phase in Supercritical Fluid Chromatography.

The retention characteristics of a novel pH tunable water stationary phase are presented. The method utilizes a change in mobile phase from N2 to CO2 to acidify the water phase in situ and control the ionization and elution of organic acids. With N2 present the phase pH>5.4 and the acids are ionized and strongly retained. Conversely, with CO2 present the pH<3.8 and the acids are neutralized and can elute. This effect is reasonably independent of time. For example, at 80°C hexanoic acid readily elutes from a 10 m column after switching to CO2 at any point over a 1 h period. Beyond this, however, some broadening and peak erosion is noted. Acids are also retained on 10 and 2 m columns similarly, since their elution primarily depends upon the change in stationary phase pH. Altering the CO2 solubility in the water phase alone (i.e., through changing system temperature and pressure without using N2) also produces similar changes in stationary phase acidity. However, this approach yields greater system noise and instability. The N2/CO2 switching mode is used to analyze organic acids in various samples and is found to provide high selectivity for them over other matrix components. Therefore, this approach can potentially simplify the analysis of such acids in complex samples.

Evaluation of an amide‐based stationary phase for supercritical fluid chromatography

J. Sep. Sci. 2016, 39, 3469-3476 A stationary phase containing an amide group embedded in a hydrophobic backbone (i.e., C18-amide) attached to silica particles was characterized by means of the linear solvation energy relationship model, which relates the chromatographic retention factor to specific solute interactions. The evaluationwas conducted under supercritical fluid chromatographic conditions using a mobile phase composition of carbon dioxide and methanol as co-solvent. The stationary phase showed to provide an alternate separation selectivity that is attractive to separate drug-like polar compounds in a relatively fast analysis time.

Evaluation of an amide-based stationary phase for supercritical fluid chromatography.

A relatively new stationary phase containing a polar group embedded in a hydrophobic backbone (i.e., ACE®C18-amide) was evaluated for use in supercritical fluid chromatography. The amide-based column was compared with columns packed with bare silica, C18 silica, and a terminal-amide silica phase. The system was held at supercritical pressure and temperature with a mobile phase composition of CO2 and methanol as cosolvent. The linear solvation energy relationship model was used to evaluate the behavior of these stationary phases, relating the retention factor of selected probes to specific chromatographic interactions. A five-component test mixture, consisting of a group of drug-like molecules was separated isocratically. The results show that the C18 -amide stationary phase provided a combination of interactions contributing to the retention of the probe compounds. The hydrophobic interactions are favorable; however, the electron donating ability of the embedded amide group shows a large positive interaction. Under the chromatographic conditions used, the C18 -amide column was able to provide baseline resolution of all the drug-like probe compounds in a text mixture, while the other columns tested did not.

SFC-MS/MS as an orthogonal technique for improved screening of polar analytes in anti-doping control

HPLC is considered the method of choice for the separation of various classes of drugs. However, some analytes are still challenging as HPLC shows limited resolution capabilities for highly polar analytes as they interact insufficiently on conventional reversed-phase (RP) columns. Especially in combination with mass spectrometric detection, limitations apply for alterations of stationary phases. Some highly polar sympathomimetic drugs and their metabolites showed almost no retention on different RP columns. Their retention remains poor even on phenylhexyl phases that show different selectivity due to π-π interactions. Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) as an orthogonal separation technique to HPLC may help to overcome these issues. Selected polar drugs and metabolites were analyzed utilizing SFC separation. All compounds showed sharp peaks and good retention even for the very polar analytes, such as sulfoconjugates. Retention times and elution orders in SFC are different to both RP and HILIC separations as a result of the orthogonality. Short cycle times could be realized. As temperature and pressure strongly influence the polarity of supercritical fluids, precise regulation of temperature and backpressure is required for the stability of the retention times. As CO2 is the main constituent of the mobile phase in SFC, solvent consumption and solvent waste are considerably reduced. Graphical Abstract SFC-MS/MS vs. LC-MS/MS.

Conformational free energy of alkylsilanes by nonequilibrium-pulling Monte Carlo simulation

The stationary phase in supercritical fluid chromatography includes alkylsilanes, bearing typically 18-carbon alkane chains, bonded to silica. The silanes are in contact with supercritical carbon dioxide. Interaction of the stationary phase with analytes from the mobile phase depends on conformation of the silanes, whether they form a collapsed layer between the silica and the carbon dioxide or are extended into the carbon dioxide. Although equilibrium conformation of alkylsilanes can be determined by equilibrium Monte Carlo (MC) simulation, that is hampered by slow relaxation of the chains. An alternative is to pull alkylsilanes from collapsed to extended conformations, then calculate free energy change from the Jarzynski equality. This work compares conformational results from equilibrium MC simulation to free energies from nonequilibrium pulling simulations. Because both equilibrium and nonequilibrium simulations are faster for shorter silanes, this work also compares results from 8-carbon and 18-carbon silanes. Free energies from nonequilibrium pulling predict that alkylsilanes tend to bend over and form a layer between silica and carbon dioxide. Results from equilibrium simulations are qualitatively consistent with results from nonequilibrium pulling. Longer-chain silanes have greater tendency to extend slightly into the carbon dioxide.

Application of Cinchona alkaloid-based zwitterionic chiral stationary phases in supercritical fluid chromatography for the enantioseparation of Nα-protected proteinogenic amino acids

Stereoselective supercritical fluid chromatographic separations of the enantiomers of a large set of Nα-Fmoc proteinogenic amino acids were carried out on the recently developed Cinchona alkaloid-based zwitterionic chiral stationary phases Chiralpak ZWIX(+)™ and ZWIX(−)™ with protic solvents as co-solvents. The effects of the mobile phase composition, the natures and concentrations of the acid or base additives, the co- and counter-ions and temperature on the separations were investigated. The retention time in most cases slightly increased, while the separation factor decreased with increasing temperature. The changes in standard enthalpy, Δ(ΔH°), entropy, Δ(ΔS°), and free energy, Δ(ΔG°), were calculated from the linear van’t Hoff plots derived from the lnα vs 1/T curves in the studied temperature range (20–60°C). The values of the thermodynamic parameters depended on the natures of the selectors and the structures of the analytes. On both ZWIX(+)™ and ZWIX(−)™ columns, enthalpically-driven separations were observed. The elution sequence was determined in all cases and was observed to be opposite on ZWIX(+)™ and ZWIX(−)™ which acted for the presented applications as chiral anion exchanger.

An attempt to estimate ionic interactions with phenyl and pentafluorophenyl stationary phases in supercritical fluid chromatography

Pentafluorophenyl-bonded silica (PFP) phases employed in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) often provide very different results depending on the column manufacturer. PFP phases also provide significantly different selectivity from non-fluorinated aromatic phases. As all HPLC columns can also be employed with carbon dioxide-based mobile phases, PFP phases can also be useful to supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). However, whether they provide adequate retention and selectivity in SFC conditions is necessary for them to find applicability with this technique.In our laboratory, a column classification for packed column SFC was designed, based on the solvation parameter model, which currently comprises data for about eighty different columns. In this paper, we present the characterization of eleven PFP phases provided by different manufacturers used with carbon dioxide–methanol mobile phases. The columns are compared to fifteen other non-fluorinated phenyl and diphenyl phases in terms of their retention and separation characteristics assessed by the solvation parameter model with five Abraham descriptors. The latter is insufficient for an accurate description of retention mechanisms on the PFP phases, thus two extra terms accounting for ionic interactions with anions and cations (D− and D+), previously developed for HPLC in hydrophilic interaction mode (HILIC), are introduced. While some approximations are necessary regarding the true pH and pKa values in CO2-based mobile phases, the retention models are significantly improved by this addition, allowing to integrate ionizable analytes in the test set for evaluation of ionic interactions in the chromatographic systems.

Sum of ranking differences to rank stationary phases used in packed column supercritical fluid chromatography

The identification of a suitable stationary phase in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is a major source of difficulty for those with little experience in this technique. Several protocols have been suggested for column classification in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), and SFC. However, none of the proposed classification schemes received general acceptance. A fair way to compare columns was proposed with the sum of ranking differences (SRD). In this project, we used the retention data obtained for 86 test compounds with varied polarity and structure, analyzed on 71 different stationary phases encompassing the full range in polarity of commercial packed columns currently available to the SFC chromatographer, with a single set of mobile phase and operating conditions (carbon dioxide–methanol mobile phase, 25°C, 150bar outlet pressure, 3ml/min). First, a reference column was selected and the 70 remaining columns were ranked based on this reference column and the retention data obtained on the 86 analytes. As these analytes previously served for the calculation of linear solvation energy relationships (LSER) on the 71 columns, SRD ranks were compared to LSER methodology. Finally, an external comparison based on the analysis of 10 other analytes (UV filters) related the observed selectivity to SRD ranking. Comparison of elution orders of the UV filters to the SRD rankings is highly supportive of the adequacy of SRD methodology to select similar and dissimilar columns.

Development of an achiral supercritical fluid chromatography method with ultraviolet absorbance and mass spectrometric detection for impurity profiling of drug candidates. Part I: Optimization of mobile phase composition

Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is a very useful tool in the purpose of impurity profiling of drug candidates, as an adequate selection of stationary phases can provide orthogonal separations so as to maximize the chances to see all impurities. The purpose of the present work is to develop a method for chemical purity assessment. The first part, presented here, focuses on mobile phase selection to ensure adequate elution and detection of drug-like molecules, while the second part focuses on stationary phase selection for optimal separation and orthogonality.The use of additives in the carbon dioxide – solvent mobile phase in SFC is now commonplace, and enables in particular to increase the number of eluted compounds and to improve peak shapes. The objective of this first part was to test different additives (acids, bases, salts and water) for their chromatographic performance assessed in gradient elution with a diode-array detector, but also for the mass responses obtained with a single-quadrupole mass detector, equipped with an electrospray ionization source (Waters ACQUITY QDa).In this project, we used a selection of one hundred and sixty compounds issued from Servier Research Laboratories to screen a set of columns and additives in SFC with a Waters ACQUITY UPC2 system. The selected columns were all high-performance columns (1.7–1.8μm with totally porous particles or 2.6–2.7μm with superficially porous particles) with a variety of stationary phase chemistries.Initially, eight additives dissolved in the methanol co-solvent were tested on a UPC2 ACQUITY UPC2 HSS C18 SB column. A Derringer desirability function was used to classify the additives according to selected criteria: elution capability, peak shapes, UV baseline drift, and UV and mass responses (signal-to-noise ratios). Following these tests, the two best additives (ammonium acetate and ammonium hydroxide) were tested on a larger number of columns (10) where the two additives appeared to provide very comparable overall scores. However, ammonium acetate was selected for slightly better chromatographic quality.In a second step, we investigated the effects of ammonium acetate concentration (between 0 and 25mM in the methanol co-solvent) on retention and peak efficiency. Two types of silica supports were tested by working with ACQUITY UPC2 HSS C18 SB and BEH columns. 20mM ammonium acetate in methanol with 2% water was finally selected as the best co-solvent composition.

On the method development of immobilized polysaccharide chiral stationary phases in supercritical fluid chromatography using an extended range of modifiers

Polysaccharide-derived selectors are often used in the separation of enantiomers by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). Their recognition patterns are normally investigated with alcohols and acetonitrile as modifiers. The present paper describes the results of a research program designed by Pfizer and Chiral Technologies Inc. to explore the potential of other solvents (i.e. ethyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran, dichloromethane) in SFC by using a series of polysaccharide-derived supports with broad solvent versatility (CHIRALPAK IA, IB, IC, ID, IE and IF). The contribution of such extended solvent range to the overall success rate, as well as to overcome racemization, solubility and stability issues was confirmed by using standard non-proprietary samples and research molecules. Elution patterns with such lower polarity solvents, compared to alcohols, and the role of the different additives were also investigated.

Contrasting selectivity between HPLC and SFC using phenyl-type stationary phases: A study on linear polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons

A selectivity study was undertaken using two types of phenyl-type (Synergi polar RP and Cosmosil 5PBB) stationary phases in supercritical fluid chromatography. The mobile phases used in the SFC environment employed CO2 with methanol as the modifier. These columns were tested using linear polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons as the test solutes. The retention behaviour of these PAHs in SFC was compared to their behaviour in HPLC and there were very distinct differences. On the Synergi-polar stationary phase the PAH selectivity was highly dependent on the methanol modifier concentration, but in comparison on the Cosmosil column, the selectivity between the members of this PAH test group showed almost no change as a function of the methanol concentration, even though the retentivity on the Cosmosil stationary phase was far greater than the Synergi stationary. In fact, the mobile phase played a very passive role in the separations observed on the Cosmosil stationary phase.

Analysis of non-phthalates plasticizers on porous graphitic carbon by supercritical fluid chromatography using evaporative light scattering detection

The analysis of several plasticizers, widely used in the production of medical devices, was investigated on porous graphitic carbon (PGC) stationary phase in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) with an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD). Due to strong interaction of compounds with the PGC support, solvents of strong eluotropic strength were added to the CO2 supercritical fluid. The effect of alkyl chain (pentane, hexane, heptane) and chlorinated (CH2Cl2, CHCl3, CCl4) solvents was studied on the retention and on the ELSD detection of plasticizers. A co-solvent mixture composed of CHCl3/heptane, eluted under gradient mode, allowed a significant improvement of the ELSD response compared to the use of each solvent individually. Then, a central composite design (CCD) was implemented to optimize both the separation and the detection of plasticizers. The parameters involved were the outlet pressure, the gradient slope, the co-solvent composition and the drift tube temperature of the ELSD. After optimization, baseline separation of plasticizers was achieved in 7min and best signal-to-noise ratios were obtained with outlet pressure and drift tube temperature of ELSD set at 200bar and 31°C, respectively. The co-solvent mixture was also composed of CHCl3/heptane (35/65 v/v) and a gradient from 15 to 60% of co-solvent in 2.2min was employed. The results demonstrated that CCD is a powerful tool for the optimization of SFC/ELSD method and the response surface model analysis can provide statistical understandings of the significant factors required to achieve optimal separation and ELSD sensitivity.