John Mommers

A Practical Recycle of a Ligand-Free Palladium Catalyst for Heck Reactions

Ligand-free palladium can be recovered almost quantitatively from Heck reaction mixtures by filtration after its deposition on a carrier such as silica or celite. Subsequently, it is re-activated to its original activity by adding a small amount of iodine or bromine prior to the next reaction cycle. The catalyst results in excellent yields and selectivities, even for the less reactive aryl bromides. A catalytic cycle based on anionic palladium intermediates is proposed.

Quantitative analysis of morphine in dried blood spots by using morphine-d3 pre-impregnated dried blood spot cards

Two different internal standard dried blood spot (DBS) pre-impregnation procedures (prior to blood spotting) were investigated. In the first procedure DBS pre-impregnation is performed by immersing the DBS card fully into an internal standard solution. In the second procedure pre-impregnation is performed by pipetting a certain volume of an internal standard solution onto the DBS card. Morphine-d3 was used as the model compound for all experiments. The pre-impregnation procedure by immersing was further investigated with respect to homogeneity of impregnation, influence of different blood spotting techniques and the influence of spotting different blood volumes on the internal standard distribution, calibration and stability of pre-impregnated cards. Finally, the immersing procedure was used for the analysis of morphine in dried blood spots and the results were compared to the conventional procedure in which the internal standard morphine-d3 was added to the extraction solvent. The new pre-impregnated cards couple simplicity of operation and convenient use in the field to results equivalent to the conventional procedure.

Low-molecular-weight model study of peroxide cross-linking of ethylene-propylene (-diene) rubber using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry: I. Combination reactions of alkanes

The combination reaction of linear and branched alkanes, initiated by dicumylperoxide, has been studied as a model for the combination cross-linking reaction of peroxide-cured terpolymerised ethylene, propylene and diene monomer. Both gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and comprehensive two-dimensional GC-MS (GCxGC-MS) analyses have been employed to analyse the isomeric reaction products. The identification of these products based on their MS fragmentation patterns is quite complex, due to the high tendency of random rearrangements. Careful elucidation of the high-mass ions at optimised ionisation energy (55eV) has resulted in proposed structures for the different isomeric reaction products. The structure assignment by MS is in agreement with the GCxGC elution pattern and with the result of a theoretical model to predict the boiling points and, thus, the GC retention times. In addition, a model that provided a direct correlation between chemical structure and retention times was developed and this was found to provide a useful fit. Quantification of the identified reaction products by GC separation and flame ionization detection allows classification according to the hydrogen abstraction sites for the alkanes by dicumylperoxide. The selectivity for hydrogen abstraction generally follows the expected order, but a higher reactivity was observed for the methylene group next to a primary methyl group, while a reduced reactivity of the methylene group next to ethyl and to methyl groups was observed. The used approach proved to be a very powerful tool to enhance our understanding of the mechanism of peroxide cross-linking of (branched) alkanes.

Alignment and clustering strategies for GC×GC–MS features using a cylindrical mapping

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry is a powerful tool to analyze complex samples. For application of the technique in studies like biomarker discovery in which large sets of complex samples have to be analyzed, extensive preprocessing is needed to align the data obtained in several injections (analyses). We developed new alignment and clustering algorithms for this type of data. New in the current procedures is the consistent way in which the phenomenon referred to as wrap-around is treated. The data analysis problems associated with this phenomenon are solved by treating the 2D display as the surface of a three-dimensional cylinder. Based on this transformation we developed a new similarity metric for features as a function of both the cylindrical distance (reflecting similarity in chromatographic behavior) and of the mass spectral correlation (reflecting similarity in chemical structure). The concepts are used in warping and clustering, and include a protection against greedy warping. The methods were applied - for the purpose of an example - to the analysis of 11 replicates of a human urine sample concentrated by solid phase extraction. It is shown that the alignment is well protected against greedy warping which is important with respect to analytical qualities as robustness and repeatability. It is also demonstrated that chemically similar features are clustered together. The paper is organized as follows. First a brief introduction is provided addressing the background of the GC×GC-MS data structure followed by a theoretical section with a conceptual description of the procedures and details of the algorithms. Finally an example is given in the experimental section, illustrating the application of the procedures.

A new DBS card with spot sizes independent of the hematocrit value of blood

BACKGROUND DBS cards have been a big promise for decades. However, blood with low hematocrit (Ht) values results on regular cellulose-based DBS cards in larger spot sizes, compared with blood with high Ht-values. A new material has been developed to solve this problem. RESULTS This material, based on hydrophilic-coated woven polyester fibers, shows spot sizes independent of the Ht-value of blood. Homogeneity over the spot is within 10% RSD. CONCLUSION Quantitative measurements over a broad Ht range show nonbiased results compared with whole spot analysis. The cards are experienced as reproducible, robust and easy to use on aspects of punchability and extractability.

Retention time locking procedure for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

In gas chromatography (GC) reproducible retention times are in many cases highly favorable or in some cases even required. In one-dimensional GC, retention time shifts can be eliminated or minimized using a procedure called retention time locking (RTL). This procedure is based on adjusting the (constant) column head pressure. Unfortunately, this RTL procedure cannot be used in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) given the fact that peaks will shift in both dimensions. Adjusting the column head pressure in GC×GC will only minimize or eliminate the primary retention time shifts. In this paper, a fast and easy to perform, two-step retention time locking procedure for two-dimensional gas chromatography (2D-RTL) is proposed and its feasibility is demonstrated. This 2D-RTL procedure involves adjustment of the column head pressure or constant column flow, followed by the adjustment of the so-called effective secondary column length. The secondary column length is increased or decreased, simply by moving it stepwise through the modulator. It is demonstrated that retention time shifts in both the primary- and secondary-dimension, which may occur after e.g. replacing the column set, can be minimized to less than half peak base width. The proposed 2D-RTL procedure is used successfully for approximately 1 year in our laboratory.

Enantioselective gas chromatographic analysis of aqueous samples by on-line derivatisation: Application to enzymatic reactions

A new gas chromatography (GC) method is presented for analysing both the conversion and the enantiomeric excess (e.e.) of samples from alcohol dehydrogenase reactions. The chiral compounds studied were a series of saturated, straight chain alcohols, ranging from 2-butanol to 2-heptanol. The alcohols were converted to the corresponding trifluoroacetylated derivatives by injecting trifluoroacetic anhydride onto the column shortly after injection of the aqueous samples in split-injection mode (1:100) onto a Chiraldex G-TA capillary GC column. Injecting seven hundred aqueous enzymatic reaction mixtures according to the above-mentioned procedure revealed no noticeable loss of column performance. Using the new GC method, conventional sample work-up procedures such as extraction and off-line derivatisation are eliminated and throughput of samples is significantly enhanced.

Tunable secondary dimension selectivity in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.

In this paper two tunable two-dimensional gas chromatography setups are compared and described in which the secondary dimension consists of two different capillary columns coupled in series. In the first setup the selectivity of the second dimension can be tuned by adjusting the effective column length of the first secondary dimension column, simply by sliding it stepwise back or forward through the GC×GC modulator. In the second setup, in which the first secondary dimension column is installed in a separate GC-oven (oven-2), the overall selectivity of the second dimension can be tuned by adjusting the oven-2 temperature offset with respect to the main oven. The contribution of the first secondary dimension column to the overall secondary dimension separation can be decreased by applying a higher temperature offset. A real-life sample, the headspace of a coffee powder, was used to demonstrate the added value of tunable GC×GC by solving coelutions of some specific aroma compounds. Besides optimizing the overall GC×GC separation, by altering the second dimension column selectivity, these set-ups also offer enhanced possibilities for qualitative analysis. By stepwise altering the selectivity of the second dimension, classes of compounds showing similar retention behavior could be discriminated.

A procedure for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography retention time locked dual detection.

In this paper, a novel, and easy to perform, retention time locking procedure for locking primary and secondary retention times of detector signals in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) dual-detection is proposed and its advantages are demonstrated and discussed. The dual detection retention time locking procedure is a 2-step process for a GCxGC system in which the effluent of the primary column is split, by using a pressure regulated splitter, towards the GCxGC modulator using two identical secondary GC columns of which one is installed in the main GC oven and the other is installed in a secondary GC oven. The first step of the locking procedure is to minimize the secondary retention time difference between both detectors of a compound, which has a retention factor (k) close to 0. This is done by stepwise altering the effective secondary column length, simply by sliding the secondary column, which is installed in the main oven, forwards or backwards through the modulator. The second step is to minimize the secondary retention time difference of a compound which has a significant retention in both dimensions. This is done by stepwise altering the secondary oven temperature rate. This locking procedure was successfully demonstrated for the analysis of a diesel sample by GCxGC coupled to a time of flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) and a nitrogen chemiluminescence detector (NCD) and by GCxGC coupled to a TOFMS and a flame ionization detector (FID). For all compounds the average absolute secondary retention time differences between the NCD or the FID and the TOFMS detectors were 0.03, and 0.07s, respectively, which are significantly less than the average peak widths at half heights, which was 0.2s.

Temperature-tunable selectivity in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

A temperature-tunable two-dimensional gas chromatography setup, consisting of three capillary columns with different selectivity, is described. In this setup the selectivity of the primary dimension can be tuned by adjusting the temperature offset of two in series-coupled capillary columns, both columns being part of the primary dimension and positioned in two separate GC ovens. The overall GC×GC separation can be optimized by altering the selectivity of the primary dimension. Besides tuning selectivity, in order to achieve optimal separation, this 2D-GC setup also offers enhanced opportunities for qualitative analysis. Sequentially altering the selectivity of the primary dimension enables one to identify groups of compounds which show similar chromatographic retention behavior.