Characters of the Plateau of Methanol Increment in Frontal Analysis in Reversed Phase Liquid Chromatography

With insulin methanol water, and the ion pairing agent, hydrochloric acid and trifluroacetic acid (TFA), the character of the first plateau (FP) on the elution curve of frontal analysis in reversed phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) was investigated by on line UV spectrometry and identified with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry and mass spectrometry. The profile of the FP is the same as that of a usual elution curve of methanol in frontal analysis (FA). When the insulin concentration was limited to a certain range, the height of the FP was found to be proportional to the insulin concentration in mobile phase and its length companying to shorten. The FP profile on the intersection of two tangents reflects the components of the microstructure in the depth direction of the bonded stationary phase layer and the desorption dynamics of the displaced components. The displaced methanol was quantitatively determined by NMR and on line UV spectrometries. TFA with high UV absorbance can not be used as an ion pairing agent for the investigation of the FP in RPLC, but it can be used as a good marker to investigate the complicated transfer process of components in the stationary phase in RPLC. A stoichiometric displacement process between solute and solvent was proved to be valid in both usual and FA in RPLC. From the point of view of dynamics of mass transfer, the solutes can only contact to the surface of stationary phase in usual RPLC, while solute can penetrate into it in FA of RPLC. The solvation of insulin in methanol and water solution as an example indicating the usage of the FP in the FA was also investigated in this paper.

Determination of Methanol Increment in Mobile Phase Consisting of Methanol and Water by On-line UV Spectrometry in Reversed Phase Liquid Chromatography

An on-line UV spectrometric method for the quantitative determination ofmethanol increment of methanol-water in the mobile phase (i.e., of greater concentration than thatof the mobile phase) by frontal analysis (FA) of insulin in reversed phase liquid chromatography(RPLC) was presented. When the methanol increment concentration ranged from 0.05% to 0.50%,V(CH_3OH)/V(H_2O), a set of elution curves could be obtained at 198 nm by a diode-array detector inthe presence of 47% methanol, V(CH_3OH)/V(H_2O) containing 0.03% hydrochloric acid,V(CH_3OH-H_2O)/V(HCl) in the mobile phase. The plateau height of the elution curves of the methanolincrement was found to be proportional to the methanol increment in the mobile phase. The methanolincrement could be determined on a quantitative basis. When the method was used to investigate theelution curve of insulin by FA in RPLC, a small plateau, being the methanol increment, was detectedbefore the usual insulin plateau of each elution curve. In this case the methanol increment wasfound to vary with insulin concentration in the mobile phase. When that concentration was between0.025 mg/mL and 0.30 mg/mL, the methanol increment could be determined in the range from 0.03% to0.19% with a deviation of ±10%. A nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (NMR) was also employedto confirm the obtained result. A methodology with a very rigorous experimental procedure forobtaining results of such accuracy is also included. The presented result may be used to prove thata displacement process definitely occurs as insulin is adsorbed by the RPLC stationary phase inFA.

Dependence of Elution Curve and Adsorption Isotherms of Insulin on Composition of Mobile Phase of Frontal Analysis in Reversed Phase Liquid Chromatography

With frontal analysis (FA), the dependence of adsorption isotherms of insulin on the composition of mobile phase in reversed phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) has been investigated. This is also a good example to employ the stoichiometric displacement theory (SDT) for investigating solute adsorption in physical chemistry. Six kinds of mobile phase in RPLC were employed to study the effects on the elution curves and adsorption isotherms of insulin. The key points of this paper are: (1) The stability of insulin due to delay time after preparing, the organic solvent concentration, the kind and the concentration of ion pairing agent in mobile phase were found to affect both elution curve and adsorption isotherm very seriously. (2) To obtain a valid and comparable result, the composition of the mobile phase employed in FA must be as same as possible to that in usual RPLC of either analytical scale or preparative purpose. (3) Langmuir Equation and the SDT were employed to imitate these obtained adsorption isotherms. The expression for solute adsorption from solution of the SDT was found to have a better elucidation to the insulin adsorption from mobile phase in RPLC.