SPE Sample Preparation Research Articles

Elimination of Toxic Solvents from Analytical Methods in Food Analysis: Caffeine Determination in Tea as an Example.

This study presents an innovative method for caffeine determination in tea, employing ethanol as the sole organic solvent for both SPE sample preparation and chromatographic analysis. This approach aligns with green chemistry principles, as confirmed by a comparative study highlighting ethanol's safety and eco-friendliness compared to traditional solvents. The experiments validate ethanol's efficacy in caffeine extraction and chromatographic analysis, minimizing environmental impact and eliminating toxicity risks. Utilizing a reduced chromatography column enhances the method's efficiency and sustainability, resulting in a low limit of quantitation (0.125 μg/mL) and good reproducibility (RSD < 2.5%). Based on tea from the Polish market, the findings reveal the caffeine content (19.29-37.69 mg/g) and endorse ethanol's role in enhancing sustainable chemical analysis in food science.

Analysis of brominide disinfection by-products (DBPs) in aquaculture water using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-tof/MS).

halogenic disinfectants have been shown to produce toxic and carcinogenic disinfection by-products in the water disinfection process. Dibromohydantoin (DBDMH) is a commonly used water disinfectant in aquaculture. Aquaculture water has more complex matrix, and the analytical method for disinfection by-products (DBPs) have not been reported. Since the content of DBPs is related to the external conditions such as ultraviolet irradiation, temperatures, pH and humic acid. The semi-target screening method for mainly DBPs based on tracing mass spectrometry fragments of bromide and accurate mass of high resolution mass spectrometry was established by ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-tof/MS). Br-DBPs as a important class of DBPs from DBDMH, which quantification analysis methods were developed based on accurate mass of high resolution mass spectrometry. through screening method to identify unknown Br-DBPs and quantitative analysis of the typical 4-bromophenol by-product of accurate mass was established. The conditions of the instrument parameters of mass spectrometry and SPE sample preparation procedure in complex real sample were optimized. The high efficiency method was demonstrated for the determination of Br-DBPs with a good linear correlation (R2 = 0.999) in the range of 0.500-200 μg L-1 and limit of detections (LODs) and limit of quantifications (LOQs) were 0.0250 ng L-1 and 0.0834 ng L-1, respectively. the developed screening and quantification analytical strategy for Br-DBPs is rapid, accurate and sensitivity applicable for environmental in aquaculture water monitoring.

Novel method for determination of heterocyclic compounds and their impact in brewing technology

A new simultaneous method for determination of 16 heterocyclic compounds using SPE sample preparation and GC-MS determination was developed regarding increasing interest of the role of sensory active compounds in beer. LiChrolut® EN SPE columns proved to be optimal for both, a mixture of analytes with a different polarity and such complicated matrix as beer. Recoveries of individual analytes are about 100% except for three compounds (2-methylpyridine about 30%, maltol and furaneol about 50%); repeatability, uncertainty and LOQ are satisfactory for the method application. The method was used for monitoring of heterocyclic compounds formation during roasting, mashing, hop boiling and fermentation. To summarize, during roasting of malt, the concentration of oxygen heterocycle compounds (OHC) increases more rapidly in comparison with nitrogen heterocycles compounds (NHC) till a critical point where OHC starts to decrease and NHC starts to be formed sharper (with the exception of 2-acetylpyrrole which is similar to OHC). Finally, the total concentration of NHC during fermentation rapidly decreases whilst the OHC concentration is influenced by many factors, e.g., fermentation conditions and yeast strain.

Simultaneous determination of ten nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs from drinking water, surface water and wastewater using micro UHPLC-MS/MS with on-line SPE system

A simple, accurate and sensitive micro UHPLC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 10 nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) from different environmental matrices. The micro LC ‒ on-line SPE method described in this study allowed to determine the selected drugs at ultra-trace levels without the most commonly used complex off-line SPE sample preparation procedures. The presented method is capable of reaching satisfactory low LOQ values with analysing the sample directly after being diluted with water. In order to attain high sensitivity, mass spectrometry was carefully optimized for the analysis of the drugs. Fenoprofen, flurbiprofen and naproxen were found to produce CO2 loss during ionization, forming intense [M-H-CO2]- ions instead of [M-H]-. All the other compounds were analyzed through their [M+H]+ and [M-H]- ions. Effect of mobile phase pH on ionization was also studied. Lower pH resulted in higher ion intensities. For this reason, a reversed phase chromatographic separation was applied at pH 3.1 with formic acid at concentration of 0.01%. Matrix effects have been evaluated during validation and sample dilution was optimized focusing on the lowest achievable LOQ values. Analytes were determined from drinking water directly, from surface water and wastewater following dilution with purified water by 2 : 8 (v/v) and 1 : 9 (v/v), respectively. Finally, the method was applied to real sample analysis.

Sample Clean-up Strategies for ESI Mass Spectrometry Applications in Bottom-up Proteomics: Trends from 2012 to 2016.

Bottom-up proteomics is a mass spectrometric (MS)-based approach for the characterization of peptides obtained from in-solution protein digestion. MS is favored over other methods for peptide and protein analysis because of its better sensitivity and high throughput. Inorganic ions and surfactants present in the sample or produced during tryptic digestion are detrimental in MS analysis and affect the proteome data, thus sample preparation for removal of these unwanted components has become essential. Here, we review 48 research papers on strategies for removal of salts and surfactants (in particular, SDS) prior to ESI-MS analysis in bottom-up proteomics from 2012 to 2016. The strategies were mostly based on SPE and membrane-based filter-aided sample preparation for salt and SDS removal, respectively. Some known limitations of SPE and filter-aided sample preparation procedures are that they can be time consuming, laborious, and require the use of organic solvents before a concentrated extract suitable for analysis is obtained. The development of faster analytical methods by reducing the sample preparation time and thereby, increasing sample throughput, and in a solvent-less and membrane-less operation, is a significant contribution to proteome research.

Multiplexed MALDI-MS arrays for screening of MIP solid phase extraction materials.

Technology that facilitates rapid investigation of solid phase extraction protocols using very small amounts of sorbent can save both time and money. The microfabricated ISET (Integrated Selective Enrichment Target) interfaced with MALDI mass spectrometry is able to provide an efficient, economic and generic optimization process for SPE sample preparation. The SPE is performed in a rapid and parallel fashion, with a processing time off only 2h per ISET with 96 samples. Each of the 96 wells on the ISET can hold 600nL of SPE sorbent. The ability to work with small amounts of sorbent and samples in the ISET platform provides a big advantage when developing affinity sorbents, such as molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). Here it is demonstrated that an amount of 25mg phosphoserine imprinted MIP (pS-MIP) sorbent can allow for analysis of more than 500 ISET nanovials using a multitude of different conditions. In the presented case, the multiplexed experiments allowed for early discovery of unspecific interactions and subsequent minimization of these, resulting in a protocol that provided improved enrichment of phosphopeptides.

Quantitative HPLC-MS analysis of nucleotide sugars in plant cells following off-line SPE sample preparation

An analytical workflow was developed for the absolute quantification of uridine diphosphate (UDP)-sugars in plant material in order to compare their metabolism both in wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana and mutated plants (ugd2,3) possessing genetic alterations within the UDP-glucose dehydrogenase genes involved in UDP-sugar metabolism. UDP-sugars were extracted from fresh plant material by chloroform-methanol-water extraction and further purified by solid-phase extraction with a porous graphitic carbon adsorbent with extraction efficiencies between 80 ± 5 % and 90 ± 5 %. Quantitative determination of the UDP-sugars was accomplished through HPLC separation with a porous graphitic carbon column (HypercarbTM) which was interfaced to electrospray ionization Orbitrap mass spectrometry. The problem of instable retention times due to redox processes on the stationary phase were circumvented by grounding of the column effluent and incorporation of a column regeneration procedure using acetonitrile-water containing 0.10 % trifluoroacetic acid. The method was calibrated using external calibration and UDP as internal standard. Calibration functions were approximated by first- or second-order regression analysis for concentrations spanning three orders of magnitude. Upon injecting sample volumes of 2.65 μL, the limits of detection for the UDP-sugars were in the 70 nmol L−1 range. Six different UDP-sugars, including UDP-glucose, UDP-galactose, UDP-arabinose, UDP-xylose, UDP-glucuronic acid, and UDP-galacturonic acid were found in concentrations of 0.4 to 38 μg/g plant material. Data evaluation by analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed statistically significant differences in UDP-sugar concentrations between wild-type and mutant plants, which were found to conclusively mirror the impaired metabolic pathways in the mutant plants. Figureᅟ Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00216-014-7746-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Sample preparation and UHPLC-FD analysis of pteridines in human urine

Elevated levels of pteridines can indicate the activation of cellular immune system by certain diseases. No work dealing with the simultaneous determination of urinary neopterin, biopterin and their reduced forms has been published. Therefore, a new SPE–UHPLC-FD method for the analysis of these compounds has been developed. The main emphasis was put on the stability of dihydroforms during the sample processing and storage. As a stabilizing agent, dithiothreitol, at various concentrations, and various pH values (3.8–9.8) of working solutions were tested.Chromatographic separation was performed under HILIC isocratic conditions on BEH Amide column. The method was linear for the calibration standard solutions in the range of 10–10,000ng/ml (dihydroforms) and 0.5–1000ng/ml (oxidized forms), and for real samples in the range of 25–1000ng/ml (dihydroforms) and 1–100ng/ml (oxidized forms). The development of a new SPE sample preparation method was carried out on different types of sorbents (based on a mixed-mode cation exchange, porous graphitic carbon and a polymer comprising hydrophilic and hydrophobic components). Final validation was performed on a MCAX SPE column. Method accuracy ranged from 76.9 to 121.9%. The intra- and inter-day precision did not exceed 10.7%. The method provided high sensitivity for the use in routine clinical measurements of urine (LLOQ 1ng/ml for oxidized forms and 25ng/ml for dihydroforms). Average concentrations of biopterin, neopterin, and dihydrobiopterin found in urine of healthy persons were related to the mol of creatinine (66.8, 142.3, and 257.3μmol/mol of creatinine, respectively) which corresponded to the literature data. The concentration of dihydroneopterin obtained using our method was 98.8μmol/mol of creatinine.

Systematic Investigation of Orthogonal SPE Sample Preparation for The LC–MS/MS Bioanalysis of A Monoclonal Antibody After Pellet Digestion

Increasing assay sensitivity is critical for promoting the application of LC-MS/MS quantitative bioanalysis of therapeutic proteins. A sample processing method that can selectively remove the abundant background peptides in the serum tryptic digests and retain the target peptides can greatly improve the assay sensitivity. Mixed-mode strong-cation exchange SPE was systematically investigated as an orthogonal sample separation technique to reversed-phase UHPLC for the analysis of a test monoclonal antibody, BMS-986012, in monkey serum after pellet digestion. Strong cation exchange SPE efficiently removed most of the background peptides and reduced the matrix effect and background level in the monitored mass transition channels. As a result, improved sensitivity was observed for the surrogate peptides VVSV and SLIY. This orthogonal approach provides a simple and easy-to-develop sample preparation method that can selectively remove most background peptides and extract the target peptides, therefore, improving the LC-MS/MS assay sensitivity.

An improved SPE method for fractionation and identification of phospholipids

This work reports an efficient and universal SPE method developed for separation and identification of phospholipids derived from complex biological samples. For the separation step, sequential combination of silica gel-aminopropyl-silica gel SPE cartridges is applied. This setup enables separation of phosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidic acid, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, cardiolipin, and sphingomyelin into four fractions according to the polarity of their headgroups. Sample acquisition of the SPE fractions is performed by a high-resolution LC-MS system consisting of a hybrid linear IT Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer coupled to RP-HPLC. The unequivocal advantage of our SPE sample preparation setup is avoidance of analyte peak overlapping in the determination step done by RP-HPLC. Overlapping phospholipid signals would otherwise exert adverse ion suppression effects. An additional benefit of this method is the elimination of polar and nonpolar (e.g. neutral lipids) contaminants from the phospholipid fractions, which highly reduces contamination of the LC-MS system. The method was validated with fermentation samples of organic waste, where 78 distinct phospholipid and sphingomyelin species belonging to six lipid classes were successfully identified.

Drug screening in human plasma by cloud-point extraction and HPLC

Abstract Cloud-point extraction (CPE) with RP-HPLC/DAD detection was used to develop a screen for six model basic drugs (paracetamol, promazine, amitriptyline, nortriptyline, clomipramine and chlorpromazine) in human plasma. These drugs’ varied hydrophobicities entail different affinities for the micelle-rich phase and CPE extraction efficiencies. Extraction recovery (except paracetamol) was above 80% and reproducibility (RSD%) ranged from 2.88 to 10.26 intraday and from 3.12 to 12.33 interday. The limits of detection were: 0.125 µg mL−1 (promazine and chlorpromazine), 0.25 µg mL−1 (amitriptyline and nortriptyline) and 0.5 µg mL−1 (paracetamol and clomipramine). The method was linear over the ranges: 0.125–1.0 µg mL−1 (promazine and chlorpromazine), 0.25–1.0 µg mL−1 (amitriptyline and nortriptyline), 0.5–1.0 µg mL−1 (clomipramine) and 0.5–10 µg mL−1 (paracetamol). The procedure is a good alternative to the SPE or LLE sample preparation usually used.

Optimizing nanovial outlet designs for improved solid‐phase extraction in the integrated selective enrichment target—ISET

The integrated selective enrichment target is a microfluidic platform for SPE sample preparation with integrated nanocolumns, which simultaneously offers direct MALDI MS read-out. Here, we present a study on the importance of different nanocolumn outlet hole geometries and hole areas in relation to MS signal intensity and reproducibility. A design solution that provides the flow characteristics required for robust sample preparation using automated liquid handling is reported.

Application of DBS for Quantitative Assessment of the Peptide Exendin-4; Comparison of Plasma and DBS Method by UHPLC–MS/MS

An investigation was performed in order to establish if dried blood spots (DBS) could be applied to the quantitation of biopharmaceuticals in biological matrices and perform equivalently in terms of accuracy, precision and stability to traditional plasma methods. A method was successfully validated for the peptide Exendin-4 (39 amino acids in length) utilizing DBS technology. The validated DBS method resulted in a more sensitive and simplistic method than an existing monkey plasma method and required tenfold less sample volume. The final DBS method resulted in a 10-2000-ng/ml linear calibration range using approximately 5 µl of dried blood, compared with the plasma method in which 150 µl of plasma coupled with SPE sample preparation resulted in a 20-2000-ng/ml linear calibration range. Although not needed for DBS, SPE was required for the plasma method to reduce endogenous matrix interferences and achieve desired LLOQ. Matrix stability was also enhanced by the implementation of the DBS platform when compared with either plasma or whole blood. DBS technology can be utilized for the quantitation of biopharmaceuticals and offer advantages over traditional plasma-based methods.

Novel derivatisation technique for the determination of chlorophenoxy acid type herbicides by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

The analytical detection of chlorophenoxycarboxylic-acid-type herbicides (2,4-D, dichloprop, MCPA, etc.) in environmental samples is often a problem in instrumental analysis, as these compounds containing free carboxylic groups require chemical derivatisation prior to gas chromatographic (GC) methods. Nine chlorophenoxy-acid-type herbicide active ingredients have been derivatised successfully with trimethylsilyl N,N-dimethyl carbamate and t-butyldimethylsilyl N,N-dimethyl carbamate by forming their trimethylsilyl (TMS) and t-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) esters, respectively. The detection and determination of the derivatives were performed by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The study included determination of retention indices, mass spectral properties and comparison of derivatives produced. The mass spectra of TBDMS derivatives are usually dominated by very characteristic ions [M-57](+) resulting from the cleavage of t-butyl moiety during electron impact (EI) ionisation in the mass spectrometer. Limits of detection were 5 to 100 pg applying GC with EI-MS detection in full scan mode. The method, using SPE sample preparation, was applied for the analysis of 115 ground water and surface water samples collected in Békés County, Hungary in 2009.

Determination of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3 in human plasma using HPLC with UV detection based on SPE sample preparation

Interest in the metabolism and physiological action of vitamin D is increased exponentially. The most important metabolites of vitamin D are 25-hydroxyvitamin and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3). The aim of the study was to develop a rapid and simple HPLC method for the measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) in human plasma. A method for the measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) using HPLC with UV detection and investigation into the extraction techniques with regard to stability and recovery are described. For the separation, RP column LiChroCart 125-4, Purospher RP-18e, 5 microm, was used. The mixture of methanol and deionized water (95:5 v/v) was used as mobile phase. The analytical performance of this method is satisfactory: the intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation were below 10%. Quantitative recoveries from spiked plasma samples were between 92.0-103.2%. The LOD was 10 nmol/L. The preliminary reference range of 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) in a group of blood donors is 62 +/- 26 nmol/L.

HPLC method for simultaneous determination of retinoids and tocopherols in human serum for monitoring of anticancer therapy

A simple and rapid HPLC method requiring small volumes (250 microL) of human serum after C18 SPE sample preparation was developed using monolithic technology for simultaneous determination of all-trans-retinoic acid, 13-cis-retinoic acid, retinol, gamma- and alpha-tocopherol. The monolithic column, Chromolith Performance RP-18e (100x4.6 mm), was operated at ambient temperature. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of acetonitrile (ACN) and 1% ammonium acetate in water (AMC) at pH 7.0. The mobile phase started at 98:2 (v/v) ACN/AMC (column pre-treatment) at a flow rate of 2 mL/min, then changed to 95:5 (v/v) ACN/AMC for 4 min at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min and a further 3 min at a flow rate of 3.2 mL/min. Detection and identification were performed using a photodiode array detector. Retinol, 13-cis- and all-trans-retinoic acid were monitored at 325 nm. Both alpha- and gamma-tocopherol were detected at 295 nm. The total analysis time was 7.2 min. Tocol (synthesized tocopherol, not occurring in humans) was used as internal standard. The method was linear in the range of 0.125-10.00 micromol/L for all-trans-retinoic acid, 0.125-5.00 micromol/L for 13-cis-retinoic acid, 0.25-10.00 micromol/L for retinol, 0.5-50.00 micromol/L for gamma-tocopherol, and 0.5-50.00 micromol/L for alpha-tocopherol. The present method may be useful for monitoring of retinoids and tocopherols in clinical studies.

Serum protein profiling by solid phase extraction and mass spectrometry: A future diagnostics tool?

Serum protein profiling by MS is a promising method for early detection of disease. Important characteristics for serum protein profiling are preanalytical factors, analytical reproducibility and high throughput. Problems related to preanalytical factors can be overcome by using standardized and rigorous sample collection and sample handling protocols. The sensitivity of the MS analysis relies on the quality of the sample; consequently, the blood sample preparation step is crucial to obtain pure and concentrated samples and enrichment of the proteins and peptides of interest. This review focuses on the serum sample preparation step prior to protein profiling by MALDI MS analysis, with particular focus on various SPE methods. The application of SPE techniques with different chromatographic properties such as RP, ion exchange, or affinity binding to isolate specific subsets of molecules (subproteomes) is advantageous for increasing resolution and sensitivity in the subsequent MS analysis. In addition, several of the SPE sample preparation methods are simple and scalable and have proven easy to automate for higher reproducibility and throughput, which is important in a clinical proteomics setting.

Analytical method for the determination of atrazine and its dealkylated chlorotriazine metabolites in water using SPE sample preparation and GC-MSD analysis.

A method is reported for the determination of atrazine and its dealkylated chlorotriazine metabolites in ground, surface, and deionized water. Water samples are adjusted to pH 3-4 prior to loading onto two SPE cartridges in series: C-18 and C-18/cation exchange mixed-mode polymeric phases. The analytes are eluted from each of the two cartridges separately, and the pooled and concentrated fraction is analyzed using gas chromatography-mass selective detection in the selected ion monitoring mode. The lower limit of method validation is 0.10 micrograms/L (ppb) for 2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isopropylamino)-s-triazine (atrazine), 2-amino-4-chloro-6-(isopropylamino)-s-triazine (G-30033, deethylatrazine), 2-amino-4-chloro-6-(ethylamino)-s-triazine (G-28279, deisopropylatrazine), and 2,4-diamino-6-chloro-s-triazine (G-28273, didealkyatrazine). The overall mean procedural recoveries (and standard deviations) are 96 (6.9), 96 (5.5), 95 (6.8), and 100% (10%) for atrazine, G-30033, G-28279, and G-28273, respectively (n = 49). The method validation study was conducted under U.S. EPA FIFRA Good Laboratory Practice Guidelines 40 CFR 160. The reported procedure accounts for residues of G-28273 in water.