Knut Irgum

Fast Ion-Exchange HPLC of Proteins Using Porous Poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) Monoliths Grafted with Poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid)

Porous poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐co‐ethylene dimethacrylate) monoliths with different porous properties grafted with poly(2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐1‐propanesulfonic acid) chains using cerium(IV) initiated free‐radical polymerization have been prepared and used for the separation of proteins in ion‐exchange HPLC mode. Because of the presence of the large pores that are typical of monolithic separation media which allow easy flow of all of the mobile phase, the efficiency of the columns does not deteriorate even at high flow velocities as a result of the specific morphology of the monoliths. Optimization of the chromatographic conditions such as the shape of the mobile phase gradient and the flow rate allows for very fast separation of three proteins in less than 1.5 min.

A Phosphotyrosine‐Imprinted Polymer Receptor for the Recognition of Tyrosine Phosphorylated Peptides

Hyperphosphorylation at tyrosine is commonly observed in tumor proteomes and, hence, specific phosphoproteins or phosphopeptides could serve as markers useful for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. The analysis of such targets is, however, a challenging task, because of their commonly low abundance and the lack of robust and effective preconcentration techniques. As a robust alternative to the commonly used immunoaffinity techniques that rely on phosphotyrosine(pTyr)-specific antibodies, we have developed an epitope-imprinting strategy that leads to a synthetic pTyr-selective imprinted polymer receptor. The binding site incorporates two monourea ligands placed by preorganization around a pTyr dianion template. The tight binding site displayed good binding affinities for the pTyr template, in the range of that observed for corresponding antibodies, and a clear preference for pTyr over phosphoserine (pSer). In further analogy to the antibodies, the imprinted polymer was capable of capturing short tyrosine phosphorylated peptides in the presence of an excess of their non-phosphorylated counterparts or peptides phosphorylated at serine.

Water uptake on polar stationary phases under conditions for hydrophilic interaction chromatography and its relation to solute retention

Since water associated with the stationary phase surface appears to be the essence of the retention mechanism in hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC), we developed a method to characterize the water-absorbing capabilities of twelve different HILIC stationary phases. Adsorption isotherms for non-modified and monomerically functionalized silica phases adhered to a pattern of monolayer formation followed by multilayer adsorption, whereas water uptake on polymerically functionalized silica stationary phases showed the characteristics of formation and swelling of hydrogels. Water accumulation was affected by adding ammonium acetate as buffer electrolyte and by replacing 5% of the acetonitrile with tertiary solvents capable of hydrogen bonding such as methanol or tetrahydrofuran. The relationship between water uptake and retention mechanism was investigated by studying the correlations between retention factors of neutral analytes and the phase ratios of HILIC columns, calculated either from the surface area (adsorption) or the volume of the water layer enriched from the acetonitrile/water eluent (partitioning). These studies made it evident that adsorption and partitioning actually coexist as retention promoters for neutral solutes in the water concentration regime normally encountered in HILIC. Which factors that dominates is dependent on the nature of the solute, the stationary phase, and the eluting conditions.

Separation and detection of neuroactive steroids from biological matrices

This review is based on a selection of research papers published mainly in the last decade and it describes various analytical aspects of separation and detection of neuroactive steroids in biological matrices.

Fast hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic separations on bonded zwitterionic stationary phase

Separation science is an art of obtaining adequate resolution of the desired compounds in minimum time, and with minimum effort in terms of sample preparation and data evaluation. In LC, where selectivity is a main driving force for separation, the availability of different separation modes capable of operating at high flow rates is a way to make combined optimal use of selectivity, efficiency, and speed. The separation of polar and hydrophilic compounds is problematic in RP LC due to the poor retention. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) is a more straightforward separation mode to address this problem. Herein, it is shown that separations in HILIC mode are equally efficient as for RP, providing a potential for very fast separations on short columns. This is not only facilitated by the low viscosity of the mobile phase compositions used, compared to typical RP eluents, but also due to higher column permeability. To exemplify this, baseline separations of uracil and cytosine are shown in less than 4 s and of Tamiflu and its main metabolite in less than 40 s, both under isocratic conditions. HILIC must therefore be considered having potential for high throughput purposes, and being an attractive candidate as the second separation dimension in 2-D HPLC.

Fluorescence and chemiluminescence properties of newly developed lophine analogues

Abstract The fluorescence and chemiluminescence properties of lophine analogues, viz. 2-substituted-4,5-di(2-pyridyl)imidazole, 2-substituted-4,5-di(2-furyl)imidazole and 2-substituted- 4(or 5)-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)-5(or 4)-phenylimidazole, were examined and compared with those of lophine (2,4,5-triphenylimidazole). The fluorescence excitation and emission maxima of the derivatives were at 310–370 nm and 385–565 nm, respectively, in methanol. The compounds carrying a 2-furyl group showed strong fluorescence intensities, while those having 2-pyridyl group gave very weak intensities. The chemiluminescence intensities obtained by the flow-injection method showed that 4-[4(or 5)-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)-5(or 4)phenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl]benzoyl chloride ( 3i ) has the largest intensity; about 40% of that of lophine. 2-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-4,5-di(2-furyl)imidazole ( 2b ) and 2-(4-methylphenyl)-4,5-di(2-furyl)imidazole ( 2d ) also gave stronger chemiluminescence intensities. Compounds having 2-pyridyl group showed very weak chemiluminescence intensities which were 0.1–0.3% of that of lophine. Chemiluminescence spectra of some compounds which showed relatively large intensities were measured and the wavelengths of the emission maxima were found to be 530–540 nm.

A 2H nuclear magnetic resonance study of the state of water in neat silica and zwitterionic stationary phases and its influence on the chromatographic retention characteristics in hydrophilic interaction high-performance liquid chromatography

2H NMR has been used as a tool for probing the state of water in hydrophilic stationary phases for liquid chromatography at temperatures between -80 and +4 °C. The fraction of water that remained unfrozen in four different neat silicas with nominal pore sizes between 60 and 300 Å, and in silicas with polymeric sulfobetaine zwitterionic functionalities prepared in different ways, could be determined by measurements of the line widths and temperature-corrected integrals of the 2H signals. The phase transitions detected during thawing made it possible to estimate the amount of non-freezable water in each phase. A distinct difference was seen between the neat and modified silicas tested. For the neat silicas, the relationship between the freezing point depression and their pore size followed the expected Gibbs-Thomson relationship. The polymeric stationary phases were found to contain considerably higher amounts of non-freezable water compared to the neat silica, which is attributed to the structural effect that the sulfobetaine polymers have on the water layer close to the stationary phase surface. The sulfobetaine stationary phases were used alongside the 100 Å silica to separate a number of polar compounds in hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) mode, and the retention characteristics could be explained in terms of the surface water structure, as well as by the porous properties of the stationary phases. This provides solid evidence supporting a partitioning mechanism, or at least of the existence of an immobilized layer of water into which partitioning could be occurring.

Alternative organic solvents for HILIC separation of cisplatin species with on-line ICP-MS detection

Several low volatile organic solvents were evaluated as organic modifiers in eluents for HILIC separations of cisplatin species to optimize the on-line coupling of HILIC to inductively coupled plasma MS (ICP-MS). The aim was to identify a solvent giving low solvent vapor loading of the ICP, to maximize analyte sensitivity and minimize carbon depositions on instrumental parts, while retaining chromatographic performance. The best overall performance of the HILIC-ICP-MS system for the analysis of cisplatin was achieved using 1,4-dioxane as eluent, yielding high retention and an HILIC type retention mechanism, at the expense of a 50% drop in column efficiency due to the higher viscosity of 1,4-dioxane compared to the more commonly used HILIC solvent ACN. Using 1,4-dioxane as solvent in HILIC provides the best compromise between carbon deposition and separation efficiency among a series of high-boiling water-miscible solvents tested.

Heterocyclic compounds as catalysts in the peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence reaction of bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)oxalate

Substituted imidazoles and leaving groups known from other areas of chemistry have been tested for catalytic efficiency in the peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence (PO-CL) reaction, using bis(2,4,6-tric ...

Functionalization of epoxy‐based monoliths for ion exchange chromatography of proteins

Macroporous epoxy-based monoliths prepared by emulsion polymerization have been modified for use in ion exchange chromatography (IEC) of proteins. Strong anion exchange functionality was established by iodomethane quaternization of tertiary amine present on the monolith surface as a part of the polymer backbone. The modification pathway to cation exchange materials was via incorporation of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) brushes which were coated using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Strong (SO(3)(-)) and weak (COO(-)) cation exchange groups were thereafter introduced onto the GMA-grafted monoliths by reactions with sodium hydrogen sulfite and iminodiacetic acid, respectively. Grafting was confirmed by XPS, gravimetric measurement, and chromatographic behavior of the modified materials toward model proteins. In incubation experiments the proteins were recovered quantitatively with no obvious signs of unfolding after contact with the stationary phase for >2 h. Chromatographic assessments on the functionalized columns as well as problems associated with flow-through modification by ATRP are discussed.