Xavier Subirats

On the Effect of Organic Solvent Composition on the pH of Buffered HPLC Mobile Phases and the pK a of Analytes—A Review

Abstract A review about the analyte pK a and buffer pH variations in RP‐HPLC mobile phases with the changes in the organic modifier content (acetonitrile or methanol) is presented. A model to accurately predict the pH of particular mobile phases for several commonly used buffers (acetic, citric and phosphoric acid and ammonia systems) in acetonitrile‐water and methanol‐water mixtures is described. Linear relationships are also presented for several families of acid‐base compounds (aromatic and aliphatic carboxylic acids, phenols, amines and pyridines) to estimate pK a values of analytes in methanol‐water and acetonitrile‐water from their corresponding aqueous pK a. From both, the estimated pH of the mobile phase and the estimated pK a of acid‐base analytes, it is possible to predict their degree of ionization and, therefore, the analyte chromatographic retention.

Retention models for ionizable compounds in reversed-phase liquid chromatography: Effect of variation of mobile phase composition and temperature

General models in reversed-phase liquid chromatography that have been extended to relate retention of ionizable compounds to mobile phase composition, pH and/or temperature are reviewed. In particular, the fundamentals and applications of the solvation parameter model, the polarity parameter model and several classical models based on empirical equations are presented and compared. A main parameter in all these models is the degree of ionization of the acid-base compound, which depends on both the pH of the mobile phase and the acid-base constant of the compound. Thus, on one hand, the different procedures for pH measurement in the mobile phase and their influence on the performance of the models are outlined. On the other hand, equations that relate the variation of the pH of the buffer and the pK(a) of the compound with the mobile phase composition and/or temperature are reviewed and their applicability to the retention models critically discussed.

Recent developments in capillary and chip electrophoresis of bioparticles: Viruses, organelles, and cells.

In appropriate aqueous buffer solutions, biological particles usually exhibit a particular electric surface charge due to exposed charged or chargeable functional groups (amino acid residues, acidic carbohydrate moieties, etc.). Consequently, these bioparticles can migrate in solution under the influence of an electric field allowing separation according to their electrophoretic mobilities or their pI values. Based on these properties, electromigration methods are of eminent interest for the characterization, separation, and detection of such particles. The present review discusses the research papers published between 2008 and 2010 dealing with isoelectric focusing and zone electrophoresis of viruses, organelles and microorganisms (bacteria and yeast cells) in the capillary and the chip format.

Liposomal Nanocontainers as Models for Viral Infection: Monitoring Viral Genomic RNA Transfer through Lipid Membranes

ABSTRACT After uptake into target cells, many nonenveloped viruses undergo conformational changes in the low-pH environment of the endocytic compartment. This results in exposure of amphipathic viral peptides and/or hydrophobic protein domains that are inserted into and either disrupt or perforate the vesicular membranes. The viral nucleic acids thereby gain access to the cytosol and initiate replication. We here demonstrate the in vitro transfer of the single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome of human rhinovirus 2 into liposomes decorated with recombinant very-low-density lipoprotein receptor fragments. Membrane-attached virions were exposed to pH 5.4, mimicking the in vivo pH environment of late endosomes. This triggered the release of the RNA whose arrival in the liposomal lumen was detected via in situ cDNA synthesis by encapsulated reverse transcriptase. Subsequently, cDNA was PCR amplified. At a low ratio between virions and lipids, RNA transfer was positively correlated with virus concentration. However, membranes became leaky at higher virus concentrations, which resulted in decreased cDNA synthesis. In accordance with earlier in vivo data, the RNA passes through the lipid membrane without causing gross damage to vesicles at physiologically relevant virus concentrations.

Characterization of rhinovirus subviral A particles via capillary electrophoresis, electron microscopy and gas-phase electrophoretic mobility molecular analysis: Part I.

During infection, enteroviruses, such as human rhinoviruses (HRVs), convert from the native, infective form with a sedimentation coefficient of 150S to empty subviral particles sedimenting at 80S (B particles). B particles lack viral capsid protein 4 (VP4) and the single‐stranded RNA genome. On the way to this end stage, a metastable intermediate particle is observed in the cell early after infection. This subviral A particle still contains the RNA but lacks VP4 and sediments at 135S. Native (150S) HRV serotype 2 (HRV2) as well as its empty (80S) capsid have been well characterized by capillary electrophoresis. In the present paper, we demonstrate separation of at least two forms of subviral A particles on the midway between native virions and empty 80S capsids by CE. For one of these intermediates, we established a reproducible way for its preparation and characterized this particle in terms of its electrophoretic mobility and its appearance in transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, the conversion of this intermediate to 80S particles was investigated. Gas‐phase electrophoretic mobility molecular analysis (GEMMA) yielded additional insights into sample composition. More data on particle characterization including its protein composition and RNA content (for unambiguous identification of the detected intermediate as subviral A particle) will be presented in the second part of the publication.

Retention of ionisable compounds on high-performance liquid chromatography XVIII: pH variation in mobile phases containing formic acid, piperazine, tris, boric acid or carbonate as buffering systems and acetonitrile as organic modifier

In the present work dissociation constants of commonly used buffering species, formic acid, piperazine, tris(hydroxymethyl)-aminomethane, boric acid and carbonate, have been determined for several acetonitrile-water mixtures. From these pK(a) values a previous model has been successfully evaluated to estimate pH values in acetonitrile-aqueous buffer mobile phases from the aqueous pH and concentration of the above mentioned buffers up to 60% of acetonitrile, and aqueous buffer concentrations between 0.005 (0.001 mol L(-1) for formic acid-formate) and 0.1 mol L(-1). The relationships derived for the presently studied buffers, together with those established for previously considered buffering systems, allow a general prediction of the pH variation of the most commonly used HPLC buffers when the composition of the acetonitrile-water mobile phase changes during the chromatographic process, such as in gradient elution. Thus, they are an interesting tool that can be easily implemented in general retention models to predict retention of acid-base analytes and optimize chromatographic separations.

Liposomal Leakage Induced by Virus-Derived Peptides, Viral Proteins, and Entire Virions: Rapid Analysis by Chip Electrophoresis

Permeabilization of model lipid membranes by virus-derived peptides, viral proteins, and entire virions of human rhinovirus was assessed by quantifying the release of a fluorescent dye from liposomes via a novel chip electrophoretic assay. Liposomal leakage readily occurred upon incubation with the pH-sensitive synthetic fusogenic peptide GALA and, less efficiently, with a 24mer peptide (P1-N) derived from the N-terminus of the capsid protein VP1 of human rhinovirus 2 (HRV2) at acidic pH. Negative stain transmission electron microscopy showed that liposomes incubated with the rhinovirus-derived peptide remained largely intact. At similar concentrations, the GALA peptide caused gross morphological changes of the liposomes. On a molar basis, the leakage-inducing efficiency of the P1 peptide was by about 2 orders of magnitude inferior to that of recombinant VP1 (from HRV89) and entire HRV2. This underscores the role in membrane destabilization of VP1 domains remote from the N-terminus and the arrangement of the peptide in the context of the icosahedral virion. Our method is rapid, requires tiny amounts of sample, and allows for the parallel determination of released and retained liposomal cargo.

Retention of ionisable compounds on high-performance liquid chromatography XIX. pH variation in mobile phases containing formic acid, piperazine and tris as buffering systems and methanol as organic modifier.

In previous works a model to estimate the pH of methanol-aqueous buffer mobile phases from the aqueous pH and concentration of the buffer and the fraction of organic modifier was developed. This model was successfully applied and validated for buffers prepared from ammonia, acetic, phosphoric and citric acids. In the present communication this model has been extended to formic acid, piperazine and tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffers. Prior to the modelling work, the pK(a) values of the studied buffers at several methanol-water compositions were determined.

High-throughput logPo/w determination from UHPLC measurements: Revisiting the chromatographic hydrophobicity index.

A fast and accurate lipophilicity determination is fundamental in the drug discovery process, as long as it is a relevant property in the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET) of a potential drug substance. In the present work, different models based on chromatographic retention values for a large set of compounds and some of their molecular descriptors (calculated by ACD/Labs or CODESSA programs) have been examined in order to establish reliable equations for logPo/w determination from fast chromatographic hydrophobicity index (CHI) measurements. This appears to be a very interesting high-throughput methodology for screening purposes, since CHI values can be measured by UHPLC in very short runs (<4min) and molecular descriptors can be easily computed from the structure of any compound. The selected final descriptors were Abrahams hydrogen-bond acidity (A) and excess molar refraction (E) from ACD/Labs, and hydrogen-bond acidity HDCA-1/TMSA and HOMO-LUMO polarizability descriptors from CODESSA software. The proposed equations allow an accurate determination of logPo/w with standard errors in the range of 0.4 units.

Microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography as a suitable tool for lipophilicity determination of acidic, neutral, and basic compounds.

In the present work, several MEEKC systems are studied to assess their suitability for lipophilicity determination of acidic, neutral, and basic compounds. Thus, several microemulsion compositions over a wide range of pH values (from 2.0 to 12.0), containing heptane, 1−butanol and different types and amounts of surfactant (SDS or sodium cholate: from 1.3 to 3.3%) are characterized using Abrahams solvation model. The addition of acetonitrile (up to 10%) is also studied, since it increases the resolution of the technique for the most lipophilic compounds. The system coefficients obtained are very similar to those of the 1−octanol/water, used as the reference lipophilicity index, allowing simple and linear correlations between the 1−octanol/water partition values (log Po/w) and MEEKC mass distribution ratios (log kMEEKC). Variations in the microemulsion composition (aqueous buffer, surfactant, concentration of ACN) did not significantly affect the similarity of the MEEKC systems to log Po/w partition.