Elise Lemasson

An improved classification of stationary phases for ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography

Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) has recently benefited of new instrumentation, together with the availability of many ultra-high performance columns (sub -2μm fully porous particles or sub -3μm superficially porous particles), rendering it more attractive than ever. Most of these columns commonly used in SFC were initially developed for HPLC use, with an increasing number of stationary phases specifically designed for SFC. While the availability of different stationary phase chemistries is an advantage to achieve successful SFC separations, selecting a column for method development remains difficult. For this reason, we have previously developed a classification of stationary phases dedicated to SFC use. It is based on linear solvation energy relationships (LSER) with Abraham descriptors (for neutral species). While current interest in SFC is strong in the pharmaceutical industry, the need to take account of interactions occurring with ionisable species is pressing. We have previously shown how a modified version of the solvation parameter model, adapted to take account of ionic and ionizable species, could be applied to the characterization of SFC systems. In the present paper, based on this modified LSER model, and on the analysis of 109 neutral and ionisable species, we propose an improved classification of 31 ultra-high performance stationary phases to facilitate method development with SFC.

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 UPC(2) 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 UPC(2) ACQUITY UPC(2) 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 UPC(2) HSS C18 SB and BEH columns. 20mM ammonium acetate in methanol with 2% water was finally selected as the best co-solvent composition.

Development of an achiral supercritical fluid chromatography method with ultraviolet absorbance and mass spectrometric detection for impurity profiling of drug candidates. Part II. Selection of an orthogonal set of stationary phases.

Impurity profiling of organic products that are synthesized as possible drug candidates requires complementary analytical methods to ensure that all impurities are identified. Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is a very useful tool to achieve this objective, as an adequate selection of stationary phases can provide orthogonal separations so as to maximize the chances to see all impurities. In this series of papers, we have developed a method for achiral SFC-MS profiling of drug candidates, based on a selection of 160 analytes issued from Servier Research Laboratories. In the first part of this study, focusing on mobile phase selection, a gradient elution with carbon dioxide and methanol comprising 2% water and 20mM ammonium acetate proved to be the best in terms of chromatographic performance, while also providing good MS response [1]. The objective of this second part was the selection of an orthogonal set of ultra-high performance stationary phases, that was carried out in two steps. Firstly, a reduced set of analytes (20) was used to screen 23 columns. The columns selected were all 1.7-2.5μm fully porous or 2.6-2.7μm superficially porous particles, with a variety of stationary phase chemistries. Derringer desirability functions were used to rank the columns according to retention window, column efficiency evaluated with peak width of selected analytes, and the proportion of analytes successfully eluted with good peak shapes. The columns providing the worst performances were thus eliminated and a shorter selection of columns (11) was obtained. Secondly, based on 160 tested analytes, the 11 columns were ranked again. The retention data obtained on these columns were then compared to define a reduced set of the best columns providing the greatest orthogonality, to maximize the chances to see all impurities within a limited number of runs. Two high-performance columns were thus selected: ACQUITY UPC(2) HSS C18 SB and Nucleoshell HILIC.

Comparison of ultra-high performance methods in liquid and supercritical fluid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization – mass spectrometry for impurity profiling of drug candidates ☆

Impurity profiling of organic products synthesized as possible drug candidates represents a major analytical challenge. Complementary analytical methods are required to ensure that all impurities are detected. Both high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) can be used for this purpose. In this study, we compared ultra-high performance HPLC (UHPLC) and ultra-high performance SFC (UHPSFC) using a large dataset of 140 pharmaceutical compounds. Four previously optimized methods (two on each technique) were selected to ensure fast high-resolution separations. The four methods were evaluated based on response rate, peak capacity, peak shape and capability to detect impurities (UV). The orthogonality between all methods was also assessed. The best UHPLC method and UHPSFC methods provided comparable quality for the 140 compounds included in this study. Moreover, they were found to be highly orthogonal. At last, the potential of the combined use of UHPLC and UHPSFC for impurity profiling is illustrated with practical examples.

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.

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.

Interest of achiral-achiral tandem columns for impurity profiling of synthetic drugs with supercritical fluid chromatography

To achieve the most complete impurity profiling of synthetic drugs with a single chromatographic technique, high resolution is required, which may be gained with a combination of high efficiency and versatile selectivity, allowing to separate most similar analytes. Compared to a single-column chromatographic method, coupling complementary stationary phases promises both an increase in efficiency and an increase in selectivity possibilities. With supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), the use of long columns is facilitated by the low viscosity of the mobile phase. In this paper, we investigate the interest of coupling two achiral stationary phases (Acquity UPC2 HSS C18 SB and Nucleoshell HILIC) that were previously observed to have excellent complementarity in SFC to carry out impurity profiling on 25 individual drug substances containing varied numbers and amounts of impurities. The single-column gradient methods are compared to tandem-column gradient methods with the two possible ordering of columns (C18 phase in first or second position) based on selectivity, peak capacity, sensitivity, UV-estimated purity of the active pharmaceutical ingredient and number of impurities detected with UV-estimated concentration >0.04%. It appears that it could be more beneficial to have two columns coupled in a single analysis than two consecutive methods with the single columns. The overall analysis time are nearly the same, but with more informative chromatograms in about 35% cases.

Impurity profiling of drug candidates: Analytical strategies using reversed-phase and mixed-mode high-performance liquid chromatography methods

The development of new active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) requires accurate impurity profiling. Nowadays, reversed-phase HPLC (RPLC) on C18 stationary phase is the method of first choice for this task and usually employed in generic screening methods. However, this method sometimes fails, especially when the target analyte is not sufficiently retained, making impurity analysis difficult or even impossible. In such cases, a second method must be available. In the present paper, we compare the merits of RPLC on C18 phase to those of previously optimized alternative methods, based on the analysis of a large and diverse set of small-molecule drug candidates. Various strategies are considered: RPLC on C18 phase but with different mobile phase composition (acidic or basic), RPLC with a pentafluorophenyl stationary phase, or mixed-mode HPLC with both bimodal and trimodal stationary phases. First, method performances were compared in terms of response rate (proportion of compounds eluted) and peak shapes for a large set of synthetic drugs (140) with structural diversity and their orthogonality was evaluated. Then a subset of compounds (25) containing varied impurity profiles was used to compare the methods based on the capability to detect impurities and evaluate the relative purity of the API.

First inter-laboratory study of a Supercritical Fluid Chromatography method for the determination of pharmaceutical impurities

Graphical abstract Figure. No Caption available. HighlightsInter‐laboratory study was conducted for the first time in SFC.This study involved 19 participating laboratories from 4 continents and 9 different countries.Results consistencies within‐ and between‐laboratories were deeply examined.The method reproducibility was estimated taking into account variances in replicates, between‐days and between‐laboratories.Repeatability and reproducibility variances were found to be similar or better than those described for LC methods. ABSTRACT Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC) has known a strong regain of interest for the last 10 years, especially in the field of pharmaceutical analysis. Besides the development and validation of the SFC method in one individual laboratory, it is also important to demonstrate its applicability and transferability to various laboratories around the world. Therefore, an inter‐laboratory study was conducted and published for the first time in SFC, to assess method reproducibility, and evaluate whether this chromatographic technique could become a reference method for quality control (QC) laboratories. This study involved 19 participating laboratories from 4 continents and 9 different countries. It included 5 academic groups, 3 demonstration laboratories at analytical instrument companies, 10 pharmaceutical companies and 1 food company. In the initial analysis of the study results, consistencies within‐ and between‐laboratories were deeply examined. In the subsequent analysis, the method reproducibility was estimated taking into account variances in replicates, between‐days and between‐laboratories. The results obtained were compared with the literature values for liquid chromatography (LC) in the context of impurities determination. Repeatability and reproducibility variances were found to be similar or better than those described for LC methods, and highlighted the adequacy of the SFC method for QC analyses. The results demonstrated the excellent and robust quantitative performance of SFC. Consequently, this complementary technique is recognized on equal merit to other chromatographic techniques.

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

Abstract2-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.Graphical abstract