Ross M. Woods

1,3-Dimethylamylamine (DMAA) in supplements and geranium products: natural or synthetic?

1,3-Dimethylamylamine (DMAA) is a stimulant existing in various pre-workout supplements and often labelled as part of geranium plants. The safety and origin of DMAA in these supplements is the subject of intense debate. In this study, the enantiomeric and diastereomeric ratios of two different known synthetic DMAA compounds, as well as the total concentrations of DMAA and its stereoisomeric ratios in 13 different supplements, were determined by gas chromatography. The stereoisomeric ratios of DMAA in the synthetic standards and in all the commercial supplements were indistinguishable. Eight different commercial geranium extracts of different geographical origins (China and the Middle East) were examined for the presence of DMAA by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). No DMAA was detected in any of the eight geranium products with a limit of detection of 10 parts per billion (w/w).

Rapid Analysis of Ethanol and Water in Commercial Products Using Ionic Liquid Capillary Gas Chromatography with Thermal Conductivity Detection and/or Barrier Discharge Ionization Detection

Analysis of ethanol and water in consumer products is important in a variety of processes and often is mandated by regulating agencies. A method for the simultaneous quantitation of ethanol and water that is simple, accurate, precise, rapid, and cost-effective is demonstrated. This approach requires no internal standard for the quantitation of both ethanol and water at any/all levels in commercial products. Ionic liquid based gas chromatography (GC) capillary columns are used to obtain a fast analysis with high selectivity and resolution of water and ethanol. Typical run times are just over 3 min. Examination of the response range of water and ethanol with GC, thermal conductivity detection (TCD), and barrier ionization detection (BID) is performed. Quantitation of both ethanol and water in consumer products is accomplished with both TCD and BID GC detectors using a nonlinear calibration. Validation of method accuracy is accomplished by using standard reference materials.

Enantiomeric separation of functionalized ethano-bridged Tröger bases using macrocyclic cyclofructan and cyclodextrin chiral selectors in high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis with application of principal component analysis

The enantiomeric separation of a series of racemic functionalized ethano-bridged Tröger base compounds was examined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE). Using HPLC and CE the entire set of 14 derivatives was separated by chiral stationary phases (CSPs) and chiral additives composed of cyclodextrin (native and derivatized) and cyclofructan (derivatized). Baseline separations (Rs≥1.5) in HPLC were achieved for 13 of the 14 compounds with resolution values as high as 5.0. CE produced 2 baseline separations. The separations on the cyclodextrin CSPs showed optimum results in the reversed phase mode, and the LARIHC™ cyclofructan CSPs separations showed optimum results in the normal phase mode. HPLC separation data of the compounds was analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA biplot analysis showed that retention is governed by the size of the R1 substituent in the case of derivatized cyclofructan and cyclodextrin CSPs, and enantiomeric resolution closely correlated with the size of the R2 group in the case of non-derivatized γ-cyclodextrin CSP. It is clearly shown that chromatographic retention is necessary but not sufficient for the enantiomeric separations of these compounds.

Enantiomeric separation of isochromene derivatives by high-performance liquid chromatography using cyclodextrin based stationary phases and principal component analysis of the separation data

Isochromene derivatives are very important precursors in the natural products industry. Hence the enantiomeric separations of chiral isochromenes are important in the pharmaceutical industry and for organic asymmetric synthesis. Here we report enantiomeric separations of 21 different chiral isochromene derivatives, which were synthesized using alkynylbenzaldehyde cyclization catalyzed by chiral gold(I) acyclic diaminocarbene complexes. All separations were achieved by high-performance liquid chromatography with cyclodextrin based (Cyclobond) chiral stationary phases. Retention data of 21 chiral compounds and 14 other previously separated isochromene derivatives were analyzed using principal component analysis. The effect of the structure of the substituents on the isochromene ring on enantiomeric resolution as well as the other separation properties was analyzed in detail. Using principal component analysis it can be shown that the structural features that contribute to increased retention are different from those that enhance enantiomeric resolution. In addition, principal component analysis is useful for eliminating redundant factors from consideration when analyzing the effect of various chromatographic parameters. It was found that the chiral recognition mechanism is different for the larger γ-cyclodextrin as compared to the smaller β-cyclodextrin derivatives. Finally this specific system of chiral analytes and cyclodextrin based chiral selectors provides an effective format to examine the application of principal component analysis to enantiomeric separations using basic retention data and structural features.

Development and evaluation of gas and liquid chromatographic methods for the analysis of fatty amines.

In contrast to the plethora of publications on the separation of fatty acids, analogous studies involving fatty amines are scarce. A recently introduced ionic-liquid-based capillary column for GC was used to separate trifluoroacetylated fatty amines focusing on the analysis of a commercial sample. Using the ionic liquid column (isothermal mode at 200 °C) it was possible to separate linear primary fatty amines from C12 to C22 chain length in less 25 min with MS identification. The log of the amine retention factors are linearly related to the alkyl chain length with a methylene selectivity of 0.117 kcal/mol for the saturated amines and 0.128 kcal/mol for the mono-unsaturated amines. The sp2 selectivity for unsaturated fatty amines also could be calculated as 0.107 kcal/mol for the ionic liquid column. The commercial sample was quantified by GC with flame ionization detection (FID). An LC method also was developed with a reversed phase gradient separation using acetonitrile/formate buffer mobile phases and ESI-MS detection. Native amines could be detected and identified by their single ion monitoring chromatograms even when partial coelution was observed. The analysis of the commercial sample returned results coherent with those obtained by GC-FID and with the manufacturers data.