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Electroosmotic flow significantly impacts the resolution of separations in capillary electrophoresis and its modification is often necessary. Coating of the inner capillary surface either dynamically or permanently offers a way to alter the electroosmotic flow, potentially reducing the adsorption of analytes, in our case liposomes, to the capillary wall. At first, we measured fluorescently labeled liposomes in an uncoated capillary by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection. We used a special procedure of the electrophoretic experiment allowing us to observe the development of peak shape at the early stages of migration. We proved that the liposomes were adsorbed to the capillary wall, which led to a very quick and severe dispersion of their peak during their electromigration. For this reason, we used a commercially coated capillary with polyvinyl alcohol, where at the same separation conditions, we observed the peak of the liposome with a stable shape during the migration. However, this capillary is costly, thus four simple dynamic coating methods were tested for four polymers, namely Pluronic F-127, polyvinyl pyrrolidone K30, polyethylene glycol, and polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride. Among them, we chose a method where we flushed the capillary with a 10% solution of polyvinyl pyrrolidone K30 before the first measurement. In addition, in-house made permanent coating with linear polyacrylamide was investigated, which has led to effective suppression of the electroosmotic flow and stable liposome peak, not dispersed during its migration. Liposome separation using this coating fully confirmed that the studied liposomes are negatively charged and migrate in the anodic direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stereospecific capillary electrophoresis method was developed for the separation of the novel, antipsoriatic agent, apremilast (APR). Six anionic cyclodextrin (CD) derivatives were screened for their ability to discriminate between the uncharged enantiomers. Only succinyl-β-CD (Succ-β-CD) presented chiral interactions; however, the enantiomer migration order (EMO) was unfavorable, and the eutomer, S-APR, migrated faster. Despite the optimization of all possible parameters (pH, cyclodextrin concentration, temperature, and degree of substitution of CD), the method was unsuccessful for purity control due to the low resolution and the unfavorable enantiomer migration order. Changing the direction of electroosmotic flow (EOF) by the dynamic coating of the inner surface of the capillary with poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride or polybrene resulted in EMO reversal, and the developed method could be applied for the determination of R-APR as the enantiomeric purity. Thus, the application of the dynamic capillary coating offers a general opportunity for enantiomeric migration order reversal in particular cases when the chiral selector is a weak acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The choice between capillary electrophoresis (CE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is not easy and depends on many factors. An attempt to facilitate this choice is this work, in which both techniques have been confronted on the basis of the RGB model, offering a transparent and pictorial way to compare individual parameters as well as the overall analytical potential of each tool. To ensure the universal nature of the comparison, a simple in composition and chemically diverse model sample was used, accompanied by the data processing method reducing the potential impact of analyte selection. Moreover, permanent coating of the inner surface of the capillary and addition of a surfactant to the separation buffer were considered as the additional factors that may affect the assessment of the CE technique. The presented analysis can be valuable in any discussions about the intrinsic advantages and disadvantages of CE and HPLC, and divagations on how they affect the overall potential and usability of each. We also provide access to the Excel worksheets used for the assessment, which can be easily modified to reevaluate the methods with a different selection of variables, and analyze other possible scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electrochromatographic capillary was modified with graphene oxide (GO), and the coating was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, and Fourier transform infrared spectra. By utilizing maltodextrin (MD) as the chiral selector, the basic chiral drugs nefopam (NEF), amlodipine (AML), citalopram hydrobromide (CIT), econazole (ECO), ketoconazole (KET) and cetirizine hydrochloride (CET) can be enantiomerically separated on this CEC. Compared with an uncoated silica capillary, the resolutions are markedly improved (AML: 0.32 → 1.45; ECO: 0.55 → 1.89; KET: 0.88 → 4.77; CET: 0.81 → 2.46; NEF: 1.46 → 2.83; CIT: 1.77 → 4.38). Molecular modeling was applied to demonstrate the mechanism of enantioseparation, which showed a good agreement with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Preparation of covalently connected capillary coatings for CE separation of protein. • Self-assembled photosensitive diazo-P(VA- b -St) was used as a coating agent. • Conversion of ionic bonding into covalent bonding under UV light irradiation. • Formation of a covalent bond between silica capillary and diazo-P(VA- b -St). • Baseline separation of three proteins i.e, RNase A, Lyz and BSA by utilizing CE. In this paper, we have developed a novel method for the preparation of covalently connected capillary coatings in which diazotized poly (vinyl alcohol- b -styrene) (diazo-P(VA- b -St)) was used as a photosensitive coating agent. Firstly, the diazo-P(VA- b -St) coating was self-assembled on the inner surface of the capillary, and then irradiated by ultraviolet (UV) light to convert the ionic bonding into covalent bonding through the unique photochemical reaction of diazo groups. The covalently connected coatings inhibited the protein adsorption on the inner surface of the capillary, as a result, the baseline protein separation of ribonuclease A (RNase A), lysozyme (Lyz) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were attained by utilizing the capillary electrophoresis (CE). The covalently connected diazo-P(VA- b -St) capillary coatings have greater CE separation performance with magnificent repeatability and enhanced stability, when compared with non-covalently coated or bare capillaries. This strategy to synthesize photosensitive diazo-P(VA- b -St) capillary coatings for their use in capillary electrophoresis separation of proteins is highly environment-friendly as it does not involve the use of extremely noxious and moisture penetrating coatings of silane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In capillary electrophoresis (CE), the inner surface of fused-silica capillaries is commonly covalently modified with liquid silanes to control electroosmotic flow (EOF). This liquid phase deposition (LPD) approach is challenging for long and narrow-diameter capillaries (≥1 m, ≤25 μm ID) inhibiting commercial production. Here, we use chemical vapour deposition (CVD) to covalently modify capillaries with different silanes. Using a home-built CVD device, capillaries were modified with neutral (3-glycidyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (GPTMS), the weak base (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS), the weak acid 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) and the neutral hydrophobic trichloro(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl) silane (PFOCTS). Gas-phase modification of GPTMS with acid and ammonia allowed further modification of the surface prior to molecular layer deposition (MLD) of poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA) using the self-limiting sequential reaction between terephthalaldehyde (TA) and p-phenylenediamine (PD) vapours. Capillaries coated with GPTMS by CVD showed a greater reduction in EOF at all pH values than the conventional LPD. APTMS showed a reduction of the EOF at pH 9, with EOF reversal observed below pH 6. MPTMS provided a slightly lower EOF than an unmodified capillary at high pH, and a slightly higher EOF at lower pH. PFOCTS provided the most consistent EOF as a function of pH. The deposition of successive layers of PPTA resulted in increased surface coverage of the polymer and a greater reduction in EOF at pH higher than 5. The stability of a 10 μm ID GPTMS coated capillary was tested at pH 8.8 in a 200 mM CHES/Tris BGE for the separation of inorganic anions. Over 1.5 months of continuous operation (≈4130 runs), the reproducibility of the apparent mobilities for chloride, nitrite, nitrate and sulfate were 2.43%, 2.56%, 2.63% and 3.05%, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day column-to-column reproducibility and batch-to-batch reproducibility for all the coated capillaries ranged between 0.34% and 3.95%. The study demonstrates the superior performance of CVD coating for suppressing the EOF compared to LPD allowing the easy modification of long lengths of narrow capillary. The variation in silane, and the ability of MLD to modify and control the surface chemistry, provides a simple and facile method for surface modification. The stability of these coatings will allow long-term capillary electrophoresis monitoring of water chemistry, such as for monitoring fertiliser run-off in natural waters. [Display omitted] • A homemade instrument was built for coating narrow-diameter capillaries. • The instrument uses chemical vapour deposition (CVD) for coating the capillaries. • Capillaries initially coated with alkoxysilane, then with in-situ polymer growth. • The capillaries showed better surface coverage than traditional coating methods. • The capillaries were used to continuously monitor inorganic anions via portable CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covalent capillary coatings of diazoresin (DR) and rapamycin (RAPA) were prepared by a layer-by-layer self-assembly. DR worked as the coupling agent. Under ultraviolet light, the corsslinking was carried out by covalent bonds between DR and RAPA. The covalent capillary coatings could suppress protein adsorption. The baseline separation of lysozyme (Lys), cytochrome c (Cyt-c), bovine serum albumin (BSA) and myoglobin (Mb) could be achieved within 17 minutes by using capillary electrophoresis (CE). The covalent capillary coatings exhibited good chemical stability and repeatability. In the synthesis, highly toxic moisture-sensitive silane has been replaced by DR. The method provides an environmentally friendly way to prepare the covalent capillary coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capillary electrophoresis and electrokinetic chromatography are typically carried out in unmodified fused-silica capillaries under conditions that result in a strong negative zeta potential at the capillary wall and a robust cathodic electroosmotic flow. Modification of the capillary wall to reverse the zeta potential and mask silanol sites can improve separation performance by reducing or eliminating analyte adsorption, and is essential when conducting electrokinetic chromatography separations with cationic latex nanoparticle pseudo-stationary phases. Semipermanent modification of the capillary walls by coating with cationic polymers has proven to be facile and effective. In this study, poly([2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride) polymers were synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization and used as physically adsorbed semipermanent coatings for capillary electrophoresis and electrokinetic chromatography separations. An initial synthesis of poly([2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride) polymer coating produced strong and stable anodic electroosmotic flow of -5.7 to -5.4 × 10−4 cm2/V⋅s over the pH range of 4-7. Significant differences in the magnitude of the electroosmotic flow and effectiveness were observed between synthetic batches, however. For electrokinetic chromatography separations, the best performing batches of poly([2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride) polymer performed as well as the commercially available cationic polymer polyethyleneimine, whereas polydiallylammonium chloride and hexadimethrine bromide did not perform well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A poor repeatability of migration times caused by the fluctuations of electroosmotic flow (EOF) is an inherent weakness of capillary electrophoresis. Most researchers endeavor to prevent this problem using relative migration times or various capillary coatings which are expensive and not easy in comparison. Herein, we present an original approach to this problem: we apply a model sample designed to induce significant EOF instability, in order to critically compare ten capillary types with different physicochemical characteristics. Moreover, we accompany capillary modification with the evaluation of various criteria of peak identification: migration time, migration times ratio, and electrophoretic mobility. Our results show a great effectiveness of a dynamic coating in the stabilization of migration times, with the average RSD(%) value reduced from 3.5% (bare silica capillary) down to 0.5%. The good outcomes were also obtained for the surfactant-modified silica and amine capillaries. For the capillaries exhibiting significant instability of EOF, electrophoretic mobility turned out to be a more universal and reliable criterion of peak identification than relative migration time. It can be explained by an intrinsic dependency of migration times ratio on EOF change, which should always be considered during the selection of an internal standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A precursor solution to the metal–organic framework (MOF), Cd(1,4,7,10-tetrakis(4-carboxybenzyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane), was aged in a surface-functionalised 250 μm-diameter capillary, to generate a film containing the constituents of the bulk phase crystalline material. EDX analysis revealed a higher ratio of ligand elements (C, N and O) to Cd in the capillary coated phase compared to that achieved from bulk synthesis in a vial. Separation performance of the coated capillary for gas chromatography (GC) was compared to the performance of the original MOF crystals packed in tips for liquid elution chromatography (LEC) towards the separation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and small probe analytes with different properties. This study showed that different retention mechanisms were observed for the same set of analytes in gas and liquid phases. Independently of the trend of vapour pressure difference, the GC result showed less specific size selective retention, but with stronger retention towards larger PAHs. A linear solvation energy relationship correlation further revealed enhanced retention contributions (positive stationary phase descriptor values) by cavity formation/dispersion interactions and H-bonding with acid functionality of the probe analytes in both GC and LEC (though stronger in LEC), whilst H-bonding with basic functional groups slightly increased retention in GC; retention was strengthened by dipole–dipole/dipole–induced dipole interactions only in LEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strategic modification of acidity (p K values) by the non-covalent host-guest interactions is one of the most promising concepts in current supramolecular chemistry. This work is aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of capillary electrophoresis (CE) in determination of p K shifts caused by such interactions and their thermal dependencies crucial in a deep thermodynamic description. We show how to (i) minimize the systematic errors related to Joule heating, (ii) minimize the influence of a voltage ramp time, (iii) speed up p K shift identification and estimation, (iv) interpret thermal effects related to two overlapped dynamic equilibria, and (v) determine p K shifts by an alternative spectrophotometric method (CE-DAD). The proposed solutions were implemented to examine the supramolecular p K shifts of several coumarin derivatives, caused by a variety of structurally different cyclodextrins. It was revealed that a specific host substitution pattern determines the magnitude of apparent p K shifts. Accordingly, heptakis(2,6-di- O-methyl)-β-cyclodextrin induces the much stronger shifts than both non-methylated-β-cyclodextrin and heptakis(2,3,6-tri- O-methyl)-β-cyclodextrin applied at the same concentration. We also show that insofar as the complexation of 4-hydroxycoumarin and its derivative (coumatetralyl) are similarly exothermic, the thermal effects accompanying the deprotonation process are remarkably different for both molecules. The p K shift induced by complexation with calixarene was also for the first time determined by a CE method. These observations throw a new light on the background of acidity modification and confirm the applicability of CE as an analytical tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capillary coatings effectively improve the separation performance of proteins in capillary electrophoresis, mainly by reducing protein adsorption onto the inner capillary wall and by regulating the electroosmotic flow (EOF) to accommodate the separation problem in hand. In the first part of this review the newest trends in dynamic and permanent capillary coatings are summarized and discussed in detail. In the second part the application of nanomaterials as novel capillary coating materials is conversed. Nanomaterials have great potential in capillary coating preparations based on their advantageous properties such as large surface-to-volume ratios and a wide variety of chemistry options. Finally, some future prospective of capillary coatings in the emerging field of proteomics are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statically, chitosan-coated capillaries were simply dynamically coated with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) coaggregated with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The capillary electrophoresis method was used to separate natural antioxidants in plant and beverage samples. In this way, a great improvement in the electrophoretic resolution was achieved when the running buffer was composed of 50 mM SDS and 10 mM sodium borate with 6.0 μg/mL of SDS-coated MWNTs, at pH 8.0, with an applied voltage of 30 kV. Under the optimal conditions, the limits of detection and quantitation for the target analytes were in the range of 0.14-0.82 μg/mL and of 0.47-2.75 μg/mL, respectively. The mean recovery values of 83.9-106.2 % were obtained for the spiked chrysanthemum samples. This proposed method was successfully applied for determining 12 phenolic compounds in complex chrysanthemum samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The choice between bare and coated capillaries is a key decision in the development and use of any methods based on capillary electrophoresis. In this work several permanently and dynamically coated capillaries were successfully implemented in a previously developed micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) assay of the plant membrane enzyme chlorophyllase. The results obtained demonstrate the rationale behind the use of capillary coating, which is crucial for successful optimization of both the off-line mode and the on-line/electrophoretically mediated microanalysis assay mode. The application of an amine permanently coated capillary (eCAP) is a simple way to significantly increase the repeatability of migration times and peak areas, and to ensure a strong electroosmotic flow that considerably decreases the overall analysis time. A dynamic coating (CEofix) allows one to apply an on-line incubation to control the reaction progress inside the capillary, and to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and peak efficiency. The dynamic coating is possible with use of both the normally applied uncoated silica capillary and the precoated amine capillary, which ensures more repeatable migration times. The strong points of the uncoated silica capillary are its attractive price and wide range of pH that can be applied. The characteristics presented may simplify the choice of capillary modification, especially in the case of hydrophobic analytes, MEKC-based separations, and other enzymatic assays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review focuses on the capillary electrophoresis (CE) of yeasts and filamentous molds. After brief introduction and theoretical basis of the CE, it describes surface properties of fungal cells in relation to their charge, major difficulties regarding CE of fungal species along with the approaches to overcome these difficulties. Some advances in fungal CE are also presented. • The importance of fungal analysis briefly is introduced. • Fundamentals of CE including CE of microbial cells are given. • Fungal cell properties are described in regard to their charge. • Difficulties regarding CE of fungal species are covered. • Important achievements in CE of fungi are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A relatively fast and reproducible CE separation was developed for the glycoform analysis of α 1 -acid glycoprotein (AGP). Factors that were considered included the pH for this separation and various techniques for coating the capillary and/or to minimize electroosmotic flow and protein adsorption. Optimum resolution of the AGP glycoforms was obtained at pH 4.2 with a running buffer containing 0.1% Brij 35 and by using static and dynamic coatings of PEO on the capillary. These conditions made it possible to separate nine AGP glycoform bands in about 20 min. The limit of detection (based on absorbance measurements) ranged from 0.09 to 0.38 μM for these AGP glycoform bands, and the linear range extended up to a total AGP concentration of at least 240 μM. The migration times for the glycoform bands had typical within-day and day-to-day precisions of ±0.16–0.23% or less, respectively, on a single treated capillary and the variation between capillaries was ±0.56% or less. A charge ladder approach was employed to examine the mass or charge differences in the glycoforms that made up these bands, giving a good fit to a model in which the neighboring bands differed by one charge (e.g., from a sialic acid residue) and had an average mass difference of approximately 0.7–0.9 kDa. The approaches used to develop this separation method are not limited to AGP but could be extended to the analysis of other glycoproteins by CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new capillary isotachophoresis (cITP) method for lipoprotein profiling with superior lipoprotein coverage compared to previous methods has been developed, resolving twice as many lipoprotein species (18 peaks/fractions) in serum or plasma in less than 9.5 min. For this, a novel mixture of 24 spacers, including amino acids, dipeptides and sulfonic acids, was developed and fine-tuned, using predictive software (PeakMaster) and testing of spiked serum samples. Lipoprotein peaks were identified by serum-spiking with reference lipoproteins. Compatibility with common lipophilic stains for selective lipoprotein detection with either UV/Vis or laser-induced fluorescence was demonstrated. A special new capillary with a neutral coating (combining water-compatible OV1701-OH deactivation and methylation) was used for the first time for electrodriven separations, allowing very stable separations in a pH 8.8–9.4 gradient system, being functional for more than 100 injections. Excellent reproducibility was achieved, with coefficients of variation lower than 2.6% for absolute migration times. Comparison was performed with human plasma samples analyzed by NMR, leading to similar results with cITP after multivariate statistics, regarding group-clustering and lipoprotein species correlation. The new cITP method was applied to the analysis of serum samples from a LDL receptor knock-out mice model fed either a normal diet or a western-type diet. Differences in the lipoprotein levels and in the sublipoprotein types were detected, showing a shift to more atherogenic particles due to the high cholesterol diet. In summary, this novel method will allow more detailed and informative profiling of lipoprotein particle subtypes for cardiovascular disease research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method for the fabrication of covalently cross-linked capillary coatings of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) is described using diazotized PEG (diazo-PEG) as a new photosensitive coating agent. The film of diazo-PEG depends on ionic bonding and was first prepared on the inner surface of capillary by self-assembly, and ionic bonding was converted into covalent bonding after reaction of ultraviolet light with diazo groups through unique photochemical reaction. The covalently bonded coating impedance adsorption of protein on the central surface of capillary and hence the four proteins ribonuclease A, cytochrome c, bovine serum albumin, and lysosome can be baseline separated by using capillary electrophoresis (CE). The covalently cross-linked diazo-PEG capillary column coatings not only improved the CE separation performance for proteins compared to non-covalently cross-linked coatings or bare capillary but also showed a remarkable chemical solidity and repeatability. Because photosensitive diazo-PEG took the place of the highly noxious and silane moisture-sensitive coating reagents in the fabrication of covalent coating, this technique shows the advantage of being environment-friendly and having a high efficiency for CE to make the covalently bonded capillaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel concept for stable coating in capillary electrophoresis, based on recrystallization of surface layer proteins on hydrophobized fused silica capillaries, was demonstrated. Surface layer protein A (SlpA) from Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria was extracted, purified and used for coating pre-silanized glass substrates presenting different surface wettabilities (either hydrophobic or hydrophilic). Contact angle determination on SlpA-coated hydrophobic silica slides showed that the surfaces turned to hydrophilic after coating (53 ± 5°), due to a protein monolayer formation by protein-surface hydrophobic interactions. Visualization by atomic force microscopy demonstrated the presence of a SlpA layer on methylated silica slides displaying a surface roughness of 0.44 ± 0.02 nm. Additionally, a protein layer was visualized by fluorescence microscopy in methylated silica capillaries coated with SlpA and fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled. The SlpA-coating showed an outstanding stability, even after treatment with 20 mM NaOH (pH 12.3). The electroosmotic flow in coated capillaries showed a partial suppression at pH 7.50 (3.8 ± 0.5 10 −9 m 2 V −1 s −1 ) when compared with unmodified fused silica (5.9 ± 0.1 10 −8 m 2 V −1 s −1 ). To demonstrate the potential of this novel coating, the SlpA-coated capillaries were applied for the first time for electrophoretic separation, and proved to be very suitable for the isotachophoretic separation of lipoproteins in human serum. The separations showed a high degree of repeatability (absolute migration times with 1.1–1.8% coefficient-of-variation (CV) within a day) and 2–3% CV inter-capillary reproducibility. The capillaries were stable for more than 100 runs at pH 9.40, and showed to be an exceptional alternative for challenging electrophoretic separations at long-term use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work capillary electrophoresis has been used to determine acid dissociation constant of 20 structurally diverse coumarin derivatives. For a majority of compounds p K a value has been determined for the first time. The obtained values vary between 4.16–9.10 pH unit, pointing to the interesting structure-acidity relationships. The amine permanently coated capillary has been applied for that purpose, because it has turned out to be more effective in p K a determination than the bare silica and other coated capillaries, ensuring good precision and shorter migration times. A traditional methodology relying on measurements in a broad pH range and fitting of a sigmoidal function has been compared to an alternative simplified approach, reported for the first time, where only two electrophoretic mobility values suffice for p K a estimation. The first value corresponds to the partially ionized form and it is measured experimentally, while the second one to the totally ionized form − it is measured experimentally (two-values method) or estimated directly from molecular mass (one-value method). We show that despite a limited measurements number, the alternative approach may be consistent with the traditional methodology, yielding the relatively low p K a deviation. Its reliability has also been confirmed by the analytical predictions, comprising resolution, migration order, migration times and peaks overlapping. Therefore, combination of the amine capillary with the simplified calculation method is an attractive tool for fast and reliable p K a estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The five different commercially offered capillaries, bare silica, one dynamically and three permanently coated, have been tested with respect to the three distinct bioanalytical issues: (i) achiral and chiral separation of small mass molecules, warfarin and its six isomeric hydroxy-derivatives; (ii) ultraselective separation of transferrin and albumin including differentiation between the diferric, two monoferric and iron-free forms of transferrin; and (iii) pioneering identification of albumin-induced shifts of acid dissociation constant by using CE instrumentation, revealed for warfarin and six hydroxywarfarins. As a result all of these pharmacologically and biochemically-relevant purposes have been reached, but using different capillaries. The dynamically coated silica capillary has allowed for the first time to separate warfarin from its six main hydroxy-metabolites by CE with high resolution. The bare silica capillary has performed well in cyclodextrin-assisted enantioseparation of these compounds. The neutral capillary has provided excellent resolution and performance in separation of proteins. The amine capillary, in turn, has occurred to be the best choice for identification of albumin-induced p K a shifts occurring in vivo, omitting capillary clogging and providing better sensitivity than the neutral capillary. This work reveals specific predispositions and shows that there is no universal capillary which may be applied to all issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of its high hydrophilicity, linear polyacrylamide (LPA) has often been used as a coating to suppress electroosmotic flow (EOF) in capillary electrophoresis (CE); however, its stability and effectiveness in acidic media, with or without organic modifiers, surfactants or ionic liquids is not well documented. In this work, the adequacy of LPA coating to suppress EOF in those different conditions was studied. It was shown that electroosmotic mobilities (µ EO ) did not change for at least 70 h of non-stopped operation in all the tested conditions and the coating was stable. It was also shown that LPA coating efficiently suppresses EOF in acidic media (pH 4.0, 3.1, and 2.3) with or without organic modifiers (50% methanol or acetonitrile, ACN), as measured µ EO values were between 18 and 84 times lower than those obtained with bare fused-silica capillaries. In acidic media with anionic surfactant (50 mM sodium dodecylsulfate, SDS), ionic liquid (25 mM dodecyldimethylimidazolium bromide) or both SDS and ACN (buffer pH 2.1/ACN (8:2, v/v)+50 mM SDS) EOF was reduced to a magnitude lower than with bare fused-silica capillaries, even though slight adsorptions of these surfactants were observed. LPA showed its superiority to hydroxypropyl cellulose, for which marked adsorption occurred because of its lower hydrophilicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-assembled and covalently linked capillary coatings of carboxyl fullerenes (C 60 -COOH) were prepared using photosensitive diazoresin (DR) as a coupling agent. Layer by layer (LBL) self-assembled DR/C 60 -COOH coatings based on ionic bonding was fabricated first on the inner surface of silica capillary, and subsequently converted into covalent bonding after treatment with UV light through a unique photochemistry reaction of DR. The covalently bonded coatings had the ability of suppressing protein adsorption on the inner surface of silica capillary, and thus the baseline separation of lysozyme (Lys), cytochrome c (Cyt-c), bovine serum albumin (BSA) and myoglobin (Mb) was achieved within 13 min by using capillary electrophoresis (CE). The covalently linked DR/C 60 -COOH capillary coatings presented good chemical stability and repeatability. The reproducibility of the separation of proteins was less than 1%, 2.5%, and 3.5%, respectively, for run-to-run, day-to-day, capillary-to-capillary, respectively; and the RSD of migration time for the proteins are all less than 2.5% after a continuous 100 times running in a coating column. Compared with DR/graphene oxide (GO) coatings prepared by the same method, the DR/C 60 -COOH capillary coatings showed excellent protein separation performance due to a self-lubrication based anti-fouling mechanism. Because of the replacement of highly toxic and moisture sensitive silane coupling agent by DR in the covalent coating preparation, this method may provide an environmentally friendly and simple way to prepare the covalently coated capillaries for CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proteomic analysis using capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) typically is performed with linear polyacrylamide (LPA) coated capillaries. These capillaries both minimize the adsorption of peptides and proteins to the inner wall of the capillary and decrease electroosmosis, which increases the separation capacity. LPA coating protocols were first reported by Hjerten in 1985. Conventional LPA production is based on the use of tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED) to catalyze the free-radical polymerization that couples acrylamide to a capillary wall that has been pretreated with γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane. The treated capillary is filled with a mixture of monomer, TEMED, and ammonium persulfate; free radical polymerization forms the LPA coating. Over many years, we have observed significant variation in the electroosmotic properties of commercial LPA coated capillaries both along the capillary length and between lots. We believe this variation is due to differences in the time between initiation of the reaction and the filling of the capillary. Here, we report a simple method for the generation of very stable and reproducible coatings. In this protocol, the monomer mixture and an ammonium persulfate initiator are introduced into the capillary without TEMED initiator. The mixture is stable and does not begin polymerization at room temperature. The filled capillary is then heated in a water bath to initiate polymerization in a well-controlled manner. A mixture of four standard proteins was used to evaluate the coating performance. Compared with commercialized LPA capillaries, our LPA capillaries generate much better separation performance and superior protein peak shape in CZE analysis. We also analyzed an intact antibody (MW 150 K) by CZE–MS with the new LPA capillary in triplicate runs. The intact antibody generated a Gaussian-shaped electrophoresis peak with 1.2% relative standard deviation in migration time and 8.5% in base peak intensity. An automated CZE–MS system was used to generate 97 successive separations of a BSA tryptic digest over a 145-h period. Separation efficiency averaged over 100,000 theoretical plates across this period with no systematic variation. The LPA coating protocol had excellent batch-to-batch reproducibility with relative standard deviation in migration time<7%, and in separation window<1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-tube solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is ideally suited to developing green extraction by combining miniaturization, automation and reduction of solvent consumption. SPME has been used for the analysis of environmental, biological, and food samples, and numerous works have shown the benefits of using SPME. However, for full development of in-tube SPME, effort is still needed to overcome limitations, such as low extraction efficiency, selectivity and mechanical stability. To achieve these objectives, research on in-tube SPME is mainly focused in two scenarios: (1) the coupling of in-tube SPME with new chromatographic modalities, such as miniaturized liquid chromatography; and, (2) the preparation of new extractive phases. This review describes the recent advances in in-tube SPME coupled to different chromatographic systems and their main applications. Moreover, we give an overview of the developments in the preparation of new in-tube SPME extractive phases, highlighting the principal areas of application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfonylureas (SUs) are one of the most widely used herbicides to control weeds in crops. Herein, capillary electrophoresis (CE) was used to determine four sulfonylureas in natural waters, namely chlorsulfuron (CS), iodosulfuron methyl (IM), metsulfuron methyl (MSM) and mesosulfuron methyl (MSS). First of all, a bare silica capillary was chosen with 10 mM of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (bminBF4) as electrophoretic buffer (pH 9.6) containing 2 mg L −1 of surfactant-coated single-wall carbon nanotubes (SC-SWCNTs). A dramatic deviation in migration times was observed. Therefore, a poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride (PDADMAC) statically coated cationic capillary was used to improve repeatability and to alter the selectivity of the separation. The electroosmotic flow (EOF) measurement revealed that the SC-SWCNTs were strongly adsorbed at the surface of the PDADMAC coating even in the absence of the surfactant-coated nanotubes in the electrolyte buffer. Consequently, a stable strong cathodic EOF and excellent repeatabilities were obtained with relative standard deviations (RSDs) on migration times and on corrected peak areas below 0.9 and 1.5%, respectively. The separation of the SUs was conducted in only 6 min. No regeneration of the coating between analyses was necessary, and high peak efficiencies up to 173,000 theoretical plates were obtained. The bi-layer coating was subsequently used to analyze sulfonylureas in tap water, in several mineral waters as well as in underground waters spiked with SUs and directly injected into the CE capillary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with UV detection has been widely used for the determination of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), an indirect marker of the chronic alcohol consumption (≥60-80 g/day). A commercially available method (CEofix™ CDT kit), containing a bilayer anionic coating, allows for the analysis of CDT with a high resolution between transferrin (Tf) glycoforms with reduced protein adsorption onto the capillary wall. Although widely used in routine analysis, this procedure presents some limitations in terms of selectivity and sensitivity which may be overcome with mass spectrometry (MS). However, the available method is not MS-compatible due to the non-volatile coating as well as the phosphate and borate buffers present in the background electrolyte (BGE). This study firstly consisted in developing MS-compatible separation conditions, i.e., coating and BGE compositions. Numerous cationic, neutral, and anionic coatings were evaluated in combination with BGEs covering a broad range of pH values. A bilayer coating composed of a cationic layer of 10% polybrene (m/v) and an anionic layer of 10% dextran sulfate (m/v) combined with a BGE composed of 20 mM ammonium acetate at pH 8.5 provided the best results in terms of glycoforms' resolution, efficiency, adsorption reduction, migration times' repeatability, and coating stability. The method was then transferred to CZE-MS after investigations of the electrospray ionization (ESI) source, equipped with a sheath-flow interface, and the time-of-flight (TOF/MS) parameters. A successful MS detection of tetrasialo-Tf was obtained during infusion, while the experiments highlighted the challenges and issues encountered with intact glycoprotein analysis by CZE-ESI-MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, capillary electrophoresis was applied to protein profiling of fractionated extracts of maize. A comparative study on the application of uncoated fused-silica capillaries and capillaries modified with hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, ω-iodoalkylammonium salt and a commercially available neutral capillary covalently coated with polyacrylamide is presented. The coating stability, background electrolyte composition, and separation efficiency were investigated. It was found that for zeins separation, the most stable and efficient was the capillary coated with polyacrylamide. Finally, the usefulness of these methods was studied for the differentiation of zein fraction in transgenic and nontransgenic maize. Zeins extracted from maize standards containing 0 and 5% m/m genetic modification were successfully separated, but slight differences were observed in terms of the zein content. Albumin and globulin fractions were analyzed with the use of unmodified fused-silica capillary with borate buffer pH 9 and the capillary coated with polyacrylamide with phosphate buffer pH 3. In the albumin fraction, additional peaks were found in genetically modified samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A laboratory-made INSTCoated fused-silica capillary has been newly used for CE separation of four mixtures of proteins in sodium phosphate BGEs at pH 3.0 and 2.5, respectively. The obtained separation efficiencies range from 145 000 theoretical plates per meter for myoglobin to 1 216 000 m−1 for lysozyme. A total of 49-89% of the number of theoretical plates was obtained in a commercial polyvinyl alcohol coated capillary compared to the INSTCoated capillary under the same experimental conditions, 0-86% was obtained in a laboratory polyacrylamide-coated capillary, and only 0-6% was obtained in an uncoated fused-silica capillary. The RSD values for the intraday repeatability for an INSTCoated capillary were 0.1-1.0% (migration time) and 0.3-2.4% (peak area); RSD values for the interday repeatability in the same capillary are 0.6-1.4% (migration time) and 2.4-5.5% (peak area); RSD values for interday repeatability between different capillaries equaled 1.7-2.1% (migration time) and 2.8-10.9% (peak area). The INSTCoated capillary has been further used for rapid determination of globin chains isolated from red blood cells. A separation of α and β chains prepared from adult blood has been completed in 3 min with a peak resolution of 1.3, and the separation of α and Gγ chains prepared from newborn blood took 3 min with a peak resolution of 3.6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Phosphorylcholine (PC) based phospholipid bilayers have proven useful as capillary coating materials due to their inherent resistance to non-specific protein adsorption. The primary limitation of this important class of capillary coatings remains the limited long-term chemical and physical stability of the coatings. Recently, a method for increasing phospholipid coating stability in fused silica capillaries via utilization of polymerized, synthetic phospholipids was reported. Here, we expand upon these studies by investigating polymerized lipid bilayer capillary coatings with respect to separation performance including run-to-run, day-to-day and column-to-column reproducibility and long-term stability. In addition, the effects of pH and capillary inner diameter on polymerized phospholipid coated capillaries were investigated to identify optimized coating conditions. The coatings are stabilized for protein separations across a wide range of pH values (4.0–9.3), a unique property for capillary coating materials. Additionally, smaller inner diameter capillaries (≤50μm) were found to yield marked enhancements in coating stability and reproducibility compared to wider bore capillaries, demonstrating the importance of capillary size for separations employing polymerized phospholipid coatings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Microorganisms are well known for their positive, as well as negative, effects on health, which mean that there is a great need for methods of discovery, identification and determination of microorganisms. In the past decade, capillary electrophoresis (CE) began to be an interesting tool for analysis of microorganisms, interestingly sometimes with similar dimensions for the separation capillary and the microorganisms. This review focuses on the use of CE in the analysis of microorganisms. First, it looks at the origin of microbial surface charge and then describes key points in the analysis of microbes by capillary zone electrophoresis [first approaches using poly(ethylene oxide), covalent modification of the inner capillary wall, reversed electroosmotic flow, advances in detection, and on-line preconcentration] and capillary isoelectric focusing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In chiral and non-chiral electrophoretic resolution of basic drugs, adsorption of analytes to negatively charged capillary wall could lead to poor repeatability of migration time and peak area. In addition, chiral resolutions of basic drugs are commonly performed in low pH buffers. Therefore, longer analysis time due to suppression of electroosmotic flow (EOF) is another dilemma. In this work the improvement effect of polybrene (PB), a cationic polymer, on chiral separation of a model basic drug, amlodipine (AML), was investigated. PB both as a semi-permanent coating agent and as an additive in the running buffer was utilized. Better results were obtained with PB as a buffer additive. Compare to untreated bare silica without using PB in running buffer, addition of 0.0005% PB to buffer decreased analysis time downed to 3 folds; efficiency improved up to 5 folds; limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) downed to 8 folds and within-day migration time and peak area repeatabilities, in terms of relative standard deviations (RSD) downed to 5 and 20 folds, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Cellobiohydrolase (CBH) is an important enzyme for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol. This work separated the glycoforms of CBH possessing different numbers of neutral mannoses using capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) in a 50mM, pH 7.5 phosphate buffer. The method analysed CBH in an intact form using a polyacrylamide coated fused silica capillary without requiring additives or labelling of the enzyme. The migration time of the major peak was found to be 21.6±0.1min (n =3) and the approach is suitable for testing of batch-to-batch consistency of CBH. Ease-of-use, automation and speed are the other benefits due to which the use of CZE for analysing glycoforms of CBH was concluded to be ideal. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The design of novel stationary phases is a permanent demanding challenge in chromatographic and electrophoretic separation science to enable analysis with enhanced selectivity, specificity and speed. Therefore, the characterization of chemical and physical properties is next to calculation of chromatographic parameters essential. Conventionally, column performance is checked by a test run which only enables to prove efficiency column by column. Chemical parameters including surface coverage is normally analyzed by burning combustion or frontal analysis, physical parameters including particle size, pore size, pore volume and surface area by SEM, mercury intrusion porosimetry and Brunauer Emmett Teller. All these methods are extremely time consuming, invasive and require, beside special equipment, some specially trained lab staff. In order to enable a fast high-throughput control of chemical and physical parameters we introduced near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS, 4,000-10,000 cm) as a non-invasive, easy-to-handle technology enabling simultaneous analysis within only a few seconds at higher precision than the conventional applied methods. The method is applicable to porous/non-porous silica gel, carbon-based nano-materials (e.g. fullerenes), polymer beads, monoliths for solid-phase extraction, liquid chromatography, micro-liquid chromatography, material-enhanced laser desorption ionization and coated capillaries for capillary electrophoresis and capillary electrochromatography. Different carriers themselves and their kind of chemical derivatization (reversed-phase, normal-phase, ion-exchanger, immobilized affinity chromatography, affinity, endcapping) can be determined by applying principal component analysis of spectra recorded. Partial least square regression enables the determination of physical parameters particle size, pore size, pore volume, porosity, total porosity and surface area with one single measurement in an established quantitative model. For a detailed investigation NIRS imaging, which benefits from the combination of a NIR spectrometer with a microscope, allows to analyze materials of interest with resolution down to 4 μm. For the optimized design of polymeric phases real-time in situ monitoring to control polymerization progress can be highly helpful. In this article, the advantages of this novel infrared-based method for the fast high-throughput quality control are introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel noncovalently bilayer-coated capillary using cationic polymer polybrene (PB) and anionic polymer (sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) as coatings was prepared. This PB–PSS coating showed good migration-time reproducibility for proteins and high stability in the range of pH 2–10 and in the presence of 1M NaOH, acetonitrile and methanol. Capillary electrophoresis with PB–PSS coated capillaries was successfully applied to quantitatively investigate the stability of bovine serum albumin, ovomucoid, β-lactoglobulin and lysozyme in simulated gastrointestinal fluids. β-lactoglobulin A and β-lactoglobulin B were both stable in simulated gastric fluid with degradation percentages of 34.3% and 17.2% after 60min of incubation, respectively. Bovine serum albumin, ovomucoid and lysozyme were stable in simulated intestinal fluid with degradation percentages of 17.7%, 23.4% and 22.8% after 60min of incubation, respectively. The superiority of the proposed method over sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and capillary electrophoresis with untreated fused silica capillaries was demonstrated and emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry (CE–MS) method using sheath liquid electrospray ionization interfacing was studied and optimized for the analysis of intact basic proteins. To prevent protein adsorption, capillaries with a noncovalent positively charged coating were utilized. Capillaries were coated by subsequent rinsing with solutions of Polybrene, dextran sulfate and Polybrene. The coating proved to be fully compatible with MS detection, causing no background signals and ionization suppression. The composition of the sheath liquid and BGE was optimized using the model proteins α-chymotrypsinogen A, ribonuclease A, lysozyme and cytochrome c. A sheath liquid of isopropanol–water–acetic acid (75:25:0.1, v/v/v) at 2μLmin−1 resulted in optimal signal intensities for most proteins, but caused dissociation of the heme group of cytochrome c. Optimum protein responses were obtained with a BGE of 50mM acetic acid (pH 3.0), which allowed a baseline separation of the test protein mixture. Several minor impurities present in the mixture could be detected and provisionally identified using accurate mass and a protein modification database. The selectivity of the CE–MS system was investigated by the analysis of acetylated lysozyme. Eight highly related species, identified as non-acetylated lysozyme and lysozyme acetylated in various degrees, could be distinguished. The CE–MS system showed good reproducibility yielding interday (three weeks period) RSDs for migration time and peak area within 2% and 10%, respectively. With the CE–MS system, determination coefficients (R 2) for protein concentration and peak area were higher than 0.996, whereas detection limits were between 11 and 19nM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The adsorption of macrocyclic antibiotic eremomycin on the capillary wall has been studied and concentration of EOF reversion has been determined. The combination of coupled chitosan coating and macrocyclic antibiotic as run buffer additive has been proposed for chiral separation. The advantages (time analysis and efficiency) of coupled chitosan-coated capillary over fused-silica capillary have been shown. The effect of experimental parameters, influencing the enantioseparation, has been investigated. Carboxylic acids bearing α-C*-asymmetric carbon atom (ibuprofen, indoprofen, ketoprofen, fenoprofen, flurbiprofen, mandelic, 3-phenylbutiric, 2-phenoxypropionic, and α-methoxyphenylacetic acids) have been enantioseparated with the separation selectivity being more than 1.04. The analysis time was less than 9 minutes [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An innovative block copolymer capillary coating P(MAn-alt-St)127-b-PSt592, synthesized by maleic anhydride and styrene, was developed as a new kind of coating for capillary electrophoresis. The covalent bond coating was effectively applied in the separation of raw material (4-nitrobenzaldehyde) and production (2-[hydroxy(4-nitrophenyl)methyl]-cyclopent-2-enone) in a Baylis–Hillman reaction using ammonium acetate with 20% tetrahydrofuran (v/v) as the buffer solution. Electroosmotic flow measurement gave an instantly stable value after 70 times continued injection in 5 days and showed that P(MAn-alt-St)127-b-PSt592 coatings could suppress electroosmotic flow effectively compared with the bare capillary. The effects of tetrahydrofuran and the pH of buffer on the separation were investigated. The characteristics of the coatings to form micelles similar to surfactants were detected by atomic force microscopy. Moreover, the superiority of this coating was further applied in the separation of four aromatic amines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Recombinant protein biopharmaceuticals comprise a significant portion of the current drug development landscape. The glycosylation profile of these proteins is a key quality parameter as it can affect their safety, efficacy, and stability. However, glycan analysis is challenging because of the complexity of their structures. To overcome this challenge in achieving accurate glycan identification, cross-identification of N-Glycans by CE-LIF method using two capillary coatings and three labeling dyes was developed in this work. This work explored whether complementary separation capabilities can be achieved using homemade polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coating and commercial Guarant™ (Guarant) coating in the analysis of N-glycans. Similar separation profiles were observed using the two capillary coatings, and hence the N-glycan GU databases generated by these coatings were comparable and complementary. The performance of cross-validation by labeling with three fluorescent dyes indicated that low covariance of APTS and Turquoise™ labeling can be obtained, and hence these two labeling mechanisms provided better accuracy for the identification of glycans. Superior reproducibility with RSDs less than 1% for all target glycan standards was achieved by the internal standards (IS) method using maltodextrin ladders as additives in the separation buffer. The developed CE-LIF analysis method was applied to the identification of N-glycans in IgG samples. [Display omitted] • Accurate N-glycan identification was achieved by CE-LIF. • Two capillary coatings and three labeling dyes was used for cross-validation. • Low covariance of APTS and Turquoise™ labeling was obtained. • These two labeling mechanisms provided better accuracy for identification of glycans. • The developed method was applied to identification of N-glycans in IgG samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionic liquids (ILs) such as imidazole can be used to prevent the sorption of analytes onto the quartz walls of the capillary. Coating the capillary wall with a cation layer increases its surface stability, consequently improving the repeatability of separation process. Currently, examining the effects of dynamic coatings on the capillary wall is an emerging trend in capillary electrophoresis (CE) research. This study uses micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) to evaluate how ILs in the background electrolyte (BGE) affect the separation efficiency of biogenic amines (BAs). Specifically, this research focuses on 12 ILs built from cations containing an imidazole ring with different alkyl substituents and anions, as well as one IL containing a pyridinium cation with tetrafluoroborate anion. All analyzed ILs, which were added to the BGE in concentrations ranging from 1 to 20 mM, were tested for their ability to improve the electrophoretic separation of selected BAs, namely: homovanillic acid (HVA), vanililmandelic acid (VMA), dihydroxyphenylglicol (DHPG), 3-metoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl glicol (MHPG), normetanephrine (NM), metanephrine (M), and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC). The results showed that the most effective ILs added to the BGE were those with a chloride anion (1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [HMIM+Cl−] and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [EMIM+Cl−]) and those with a tetrafluoroborate anion (1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [HMIM + BF 4 −]). Improved separation efficiency was also obtained for the BGE containing 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [HMIM + PF 6 −]. On the other hand, ILs with trifluoromethanesulfonate [OTf−] or bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [NTf 2 -] anions, even at low concentrations in the BGE, disturbed the flow of current through the capillary and worsened the separation process. Overall, this study provides a critical evaluation of the impact of different types and concentrations of ILs on the performance of the MEKC method during the analysis of selected BAs. [Display omitted] • The effect of 13 ILs on the separation efficiency of 7 biogenic amines was tested. • The effect of each IL was evaluated over few concentration ranges added to the BGE. • The impact of IL structure on dynamic modification of capillary wall was evaluated. • ILs with hexyl substituent provided the highest repeatability of t M for tested BAs. • The increase of IL concentration in BGE causes the deterioration of the separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A coated capillary modified with a coupled chitosan (COCH) was developed by using a simple and fast (60min) process that could be easily automated in capillary electrophoresis instrument. The COCH coating was achieved by first attaching chitosan to the capillary inner wall, and then coupling with glutaraldehyde, and rinsing chitosan again to react with glutaraldehyde. The COCH coating was stable and showed amphoteric character over the pH range of 1.8–12.0. When the pH value was lower than 4.5, the capillary surface possessed positive charges, which caused a reversal in the direction of the electroosmotic flow (EOF). The normal EOF direction could be obtained when the pH value was higher than 4.5. The COCH coating showed strong stability against 0.1mol/L HCl, 0.1mol/L NaOH and other solvents compared with conventional chitosan coating. The relative standard deviation of the run-to-run, day-to-day and capillary-to-capillary coating was all below 2% for the determination of EOF. The COCH-modified capillary was applied to acidic and basic proteins analyses and high efficiency could be attained. The comparison between unmodified capillary, chitosan-modified and COCH-modified capillary for the separation of real sample, extract from Elaphglossum yoshinagae with water, was also studied. Better results could be obtained on COCH-modified capillary than the other two capillaries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]