Aruna B. Wijeratne

A fundamental study on electrowetting by traditional and multifunctional ionic liquids: possible use in electrowetting on dielectric-based microfluidic applications.

Water or aqueous electrolytes are the dominant components in electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD)-based microfluidic devices. Low thermal stability, evaporation, and a propensity to facilitate corrosion of the metal parts of integrated circuits or electronics are drawbacks of aqueous solutions. The alternative use of ionic liquids (ILs) as electrowetting agents in EWOD-based applications or devices could overcome these limitations. Efficient EWOD devices could be developed using task-specific ILs. In this regard, a fundamental study on the electrowetting properties of ILs is essential. Therefore electrowetting properties of 19 different ionic liquids, including mono-, di-, and tricationic, plus mono- and dianionic ILs were examined. All tested ILs showed electrowetting of various magnitudes on an amorphous flouropolymer layer. The effects of IL structure, functionality, and charge density on the electrowetting properties were studied. The enhanced stability of ILs in electrowetting on dielectric at higher voltages was studied in comparison with water. Deviations from classical electrowetting theory were confirmed. The physical properties of ILs and their electrowetting properties were tabulated. These data can be used as references to engineer task-specific electrowetting agents (ILs) for future electrowetting-based applications.

Manipulation of protein charge states through continuous flow-extractive desorption electrospray ionization: a new ambient ionization technique.

Manipulation of protein charge states in electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has implications for the study of intact proteins, protein-protein interactions, post-translational modifications, and protein sequencing. Control of these protein charge states is often difficult to achieve with conventional methods of analysis. A novel ambient ionization configuration, continuous flow-extractive desorption electrospray ionization (CF-EDESI), is presented as a means to control the charge state distribution of proteins. A key feature of the CF-EDESI technique is the continuous flow needle, which is a hypodermic needle presented orthogonal to the electrospray source and delivers a solvent flow containing analytes for extractive desorption ionization. With this source design, the successful manipulation of cytochrome c and lysozyme charge states with the use of different additives, such as acetic acid and sulfolane, was demonstrated. Results were compared to data obtained with conventional electrospray ionization. Good agreement with previously reported studies of cytochrome c unfolding/folding studies, performed by conventional ESI-MS, is evident. In addition to the protein analysis presented, the CF-EDESI-MS technique should be applicable for analyzing atypical analyte and solvent systems by mass spectrometry while maintaining optimal electrospray source conditions.

Influence of Chiral Ionic Liquids on Stereoselective Fluorescence Quenching by Photoinduced Electron Transfer in a Naproxen Dyad

In a previous study of a naproxen dyad in a pair of N-methylimidazoliummethyl menthylether-NTf(2) chiral ionic liquids (J. Phys. Chem. B 2008, 112, 7555), we observed that though intramolecular electron transfer was impeded, a consistent small stereodifferentiation in the fluorescence lifetime of the dyad was obtained. We proposed that this discrimination was purely electronic in nature and did not arise from geometrical effects, which can influence nonradiative rate processes, such as intramolecular electron transfer. In our present work, we have studied the interaction of the same chiral naproxen dyad molecule in both the previously studied menthyl-based NTf(2) ionic liquids and also in bis(tertrabutylphosphonium) (TBP) d-,l-tartrate ionic liquids. Unlike in the menthyl-based IL pair, the amount of quenching is different in the bis(TBP) tartrate enantiomeric liquids and the tartrate enantiomers have a different temperature dependence on the nonradiative rate of the dyad. This chiral discrimination most likely arises from the steric effects of the different conformations of the chiral molecules. We have shown that the viscosity and polarity of the solvents can influence the rate of electron transfer. On the other hand, no such electron transfer quenching is observed in the menthyl-based NTf(2) IL solvents. To our knowledge, this is the first example of chiral ionic liquids inducing a stereoselective fluorescence quenching by photoinduced, intramolecular electron transfer.

Molecular recognition properties of tartrates and metal-tartrates in solution and gas phase

Solution phase and gas phase chiral molecular recognition properties of tartrates (salts or esters of tartaric acid) and metal tartrates (binuclear tartrato(4-)-metal-bridged complexes) are reviewed in conjunction with their applications in enantiomeric separation science and their mass spectrometric chiral discrimination properties.

Influence of chiral ionic liquids on the excited-state properties of naproxen analogs

The synthesis and decolorization of chiral room-temperature ionic liquids based upon 1-methyl imidazole and chloromethyl menthyl ether is reported. The excellent optical quality of these solvents permits the investigation of the effects of the two enantiomers on the excited-state photophysics of (S)-N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinemethyl 2(S)-(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl)propionate [(S,S)-NPX-PYR]. Whereas in conventional bulk polar solvents such as acetonitrile, (S,S)-NPX-PYR is known to execute excited-state intramolecular electron transfer and to form exciplexes, in these chiral solvents these nonradiative processes are absent. The chiral solvents do, however, induce a small but reproducible (approximately 10%) stereodifferentiation in the fluorescence lifetime of (S,S)-NPX-PYR as well as in the parent compound, (S)-naproxen. To our knowledge, this is the first example of chiral ionic liquids inducing such an effect on photophysical properties.

Affinity Mesh Screen Materials for Selective Extraction and Analysis of Antibiotics Using Transmission Mode Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

The extraction of active compounds from natural sources has shown to be an effective approach to drug discovery. However, the isolation and identification of natural products from complex extracts can be an arduous task. A novel approach to drug discovery is presented through the use of polymer screens functionalized with an l-lysine-d-alanine-d-alanine (Kaa) peptide to create new affinity capture mesh screen materials. The Kaa sequence is a well-characterized specific binding site for antibiotics that inhibit cell wall synthesis in Gram-positive bacteria. The detailed synthesis and characterization of these novel screen materials are presented in this work. Polypropylene mesh screens were first coated with a poly(acrylic acid) film by pulsed plasma polymerization. The synthesized Kaa peptide was then covalently attached to carboxylic acid groups through a condensation reaction. An analysis of captured compounds was performed in a rapid fashion with transmission-mode desorption electrospray ionization (TM-DESI) mass spectrometry. A proof of principle was demonstrated to show the ability of the novel affinity capture materials to select for a macrocyclic antibiotic, vancomycin, over a negative control compound, spectinomycin. With further development, this method may provide a rapid screening technique for new antibacterial compounds, for example, those extracted from natural product sources having a limited supply. Here, we show that the screen can capture vancomycin preferentially over spectinomycin in a spiked extract of tea leaves.

Antimony(III)-D, L-Tartrates Exhibit Proton-Assisted Enantioselective Binding in Solution and in the Gas Phase

The negative ion mode ESI mass spectral analysis of antimony(III)-D- and -L-tartrate (“tartar emetic”), in association with leucine enantiomeric isotopomers, revealed remarkable proton-assisted enantioselective molecular recognition phenomena. The current study infers that recognition of amino acids by antimony(III)-D,L-tartrate complexes requires that the chiral selector associate a proton to become enantioselective. The dianionic selector itself failed to show enantiomeric discrimination capacity. This observation was shown to be consistent both in solution-phase targeting full scan and gas-phase targeting collision threshold dissociation (CTD) experiments. Importantly, this disparity in enantioselective binding capacity between the dianionic and the protonated monoanionic representatives of antimony(III)-D- and-L-tartrates could only be clearly revealed by ESI-MS and tandem mass spectrometry experiments as described herein. This finding urges a more in-depth study of mechanisms associated with exhibited enantiomeric resolving capacity of antimony tartrates in HPLC and CE applications, as well as in former ESI-MS association studies.

Solvent Molecules Undergo Homolytic Cleavage and Radical Recombination Processes during Negative-Mode Electrospray Ionization: Adduct Formation with Antimony(III)-Tartrate Dianion

Negative-ionization mode electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) analysis of antimony(III)-tartrate in frequently used solvent systems, ACN/H(2)O and MeOH/H(2)O, revealed that the antimony(III)-tartrate dianion associates to solvent reaction products generated by radical formation and their subsequent recombination during the negative-mode electrospray process. A systematic increase and decrease in negative spray capillary voltage (SCV) from normal operational voltage ranges of a conventional quadrupole ion trap instrument during these analyses showed initially unobserved adduct ions to correspondingly increase and diminish in relative ion intensity. The identity of the adducted species, including products such as H(2)O(2), NCCH(2)CH(2)CN, and CH(2)(OH)(2), were confirmed by performing similar experiments with deuterated and nondeuterated solvent mixtures. Relative intensity dependence of these adducted ions was monitored as the volume composition of each solvent system was changed. It was clearly observed that the relative intensity of {[Sb(2)-tar(2)][H-O-O-H]}(2-) and {[Sb(2)-tar(2)][NC-CH(2)-CH(2)-CN]}(2-) adduct ions increased with the volume percent of H(2)O and CH(3)CN, respectively. Similarly, an increase in volume percent of CH(3)OH increased the relative intensity of {[Sb(2)-tar(2)][H-O-CH(2)-O-H]}(2-) adducted ions. On the basis of this evidence, it was proposed that homolytic cleavage of C-H bonds for CH(3)CN and CH(3)OH molecules, and O-H bonds for H(2)O molecules, produces a series of radicals during negative-ionization mode ESI, and subsequent self-recombination or cross-recombination of these radicals then occurs to form the neutral solvent products, which are observed in the mass spectra as [Sb(2)-tar(2)]-adducted ionic species. These findings provide new insight into processes, which are relevant to understanding the mechanism of electrospray ionization, a widely used technique.

ESI‐MS investigation of solvent effects on the chiral recognition capacity of tartar emetic towards neutral side‐chain amino acids

The effect of solvent systems on previously-reported ESI-MS based proton-assisted enantioselective molecular recognition phenomena of tartar emetic, L-antimony(III)-tartrate, was evaluated. This was achieved by carrying out a series of competitive binding experiments using chiral selectors, bis(sodium) D- and -L-antimony(III)-tartrates with chiral selectands, neutral side-chain amino acid enantiomeric isotopomers of alanine (Ala), valine (Val), leucine (Leu) and phenylalanine (Phe), in three different solvent systems, ACN/H(2)O (75/25 v/v), H(2)O (100%) and H(2)O/MeOH (25/75 v/v). Observations from these experiments suggest that the effect of solvent systems on previously reported proton-assisted chiral recognition capacity of D,L-antimony(III)-tartrates is small, but not negligible. It was observed that an ACN/H(2)O (75/25 v/v) solvent system facilitates and enhances the chiral discrimination capacity of protonated {[D,L-Sb(2)-tar(2)][H]}(-) ionic species. Further, amino acid enantiomers showed a general trend of increasing selectivity order, Val ≤ Ala < Leu ≈ Phe towards the protonated {[D,L-Sb(2)-tar(2)][H]}(-) ionic species which was independent of the solvent system employed. The lack of enantioselective binding for {[D,L-Sb(2)-tar(2)]}(2-) ionic species was consistently recorded in respective mass spectra from all performed experiments, which suggests that ESI-friendly solvent systems have no effect and do not influence this phenomenon.

Reversed phase liquid chromatography hyphenated to continuous flow-extractive desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry for analysis and charge state manipulation of undigested proteins.

The application of continuous flow–extractive desorption electrospray ionization (CF-EDESI), an ambient ionization source demonstrated previously for use with intact protein analysis, is expanded here for the coupling of reversed phase protein separations to mass spectrometry. This configuration allows the introduction of charging additives to enhance detection without affecting the chromatographic separation mechanism. Two demonstrations of the advantages of CF-EDESI are presented in this work. First, a proof-of-principle is presented to demonstrate the applicability of hyphenation of liquid chromatography (LC) to CF-EDESI. LC-CF-EDESI-MS has good sensitivity compared to LC–electrospray ionization (ESI)–mass spectrometry. Second, the supercharging mechanism investigated in CF-EDESI provides an insight into a highly debated supercharging process in ESI. The results indicate that the mechanism of protein charging seen in HPLC-CF-EDESI is different from supercharging phenomena in conventional ESI. The surface tension mechanism and binding mechanism may both contribute to protein supercharging in ESI.