Overview of the Analytical Lifecycle of Supercritical Fluid Chromatography Methods

In recent times, the overall interest over Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC) is truly growing within various domains but especially for pharmaceutical analysis. However, in the best of our knowledge modern SFC is not yet applied for drug quality control in the daily routine framework. Among the numerous reported SFC methods, none of them could be found to fully satisfy to all steps of the analytical method lifecycle. Thereby, the present contribution aims to provide an overview of the current and past achievements related to SFC techniques, with a targeted attention to this lifecycle and its successive steps. The included discussions were therefore structured accordingly and emphasizing the analytical method lifecycle in accord with the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH). Recent and important scientific outputs in the field of analytical SFC, as well as instrumental evolution, qualification strategies, method development methodologies and discussions on the topic of method validation are reviewed.

Simultaneous determination of amino acids in different teas using supercritical fluid chromatography coupled with single quadrupole mass spectrometry

Tea is a widely consumed beverage and has many important physiological properties and potential health benefits. In this study, a novel method based on supercritical fluid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (SFC-MS) was developed to simultaneously determine 11 amino acids in different types of tea (green teas, Oolong tea, black tea and Pu-erh tea). The separation conditions for the analysis of the selected amino acids including the column type, temperature and backpressure as well as the type of additive, were carefully optimized. The best separation of the 11 amino acids was obtained by adding water (5%, v/v) and trifluoroacetic acid (0.4%, v/v) to the organic modifier (methanol). Finally, the developed SFC-MS method was fully validated and successfully applied to the determination of these amino acids in six different tea samples. Good linearity (r ≥ 0.993), precision (RSDs≤ 2.99%), accuracy (91.95%-107.09%) as well as good sample stability were observed. The limits of detection ranged from 1.42 to 14.69 ng/mL, while the limits of quantification were between 4.53 and 47.0 ng/mL. The results indicate that the contents of the 11 amino acids in the six different tea samples are greatly influenced by the degree of fermentation. The proposed SFC-MS method shows a great potential for further investigation of tea varieties.

Advances of supercritical fluid chromatography in lipid profiling

Supercritical fluid chromatography(SFC) meets with great favor due to its high efficiency, low organic solvent consumption, and the specialty for the identification of the isomeric species. This review describes the advances of SFC in targeted and untargeted lipid profiling. The advancement of the SFC instruments and the stationary phases are summarized. Typical applications of SFC to the targeted and untargeted lipid profiling are discussed in detail. Moreover, the perspectives of SFC in the lipid profiling are also proposed. As a useful and promising tool for investigating lipids in vitro and in vivo, SFC will predictably obtain further development.

Review: Isomer Separation, Chiral Resolution, and Structure Elucidation Analyses Are the Future of Analytical Supercritical Fluid Chromatography—Mass Spectrometry

In 1822, almost 200 years ago, Baron Charles Cagniard de Latour (1777-1859) discovered the critical phenomena or critical state [1] [2]. At that time, it was described as a curiosity. However, it is now used as an advanced extraction and analytical technology in industry and research. Extraction with supercritical fluids (SFs) was welcome from the very beginning. In the present paper, the application to chromatography of the critical phenomena of compressed gases or overheated liquids as supercritical fluids will be discussed. Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC) received an uneasy welcome, mainly because of the lack of commercially available analytical instruments. Even today, only a small number of industrial companies are manufacturing SFC instrumentation. A very small spectrum of columns is manufactured specially for SFC. SFC is not accepted by Pharmacopeia committees for the analysis of drugs and medical forms to the same extent as Gas Chromatography, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography or even Thin Layer Chromatography. The present status and future perspectives for SFC will be discussed.

Separation of Enantiomers of Clopidogrel on Chiral Stationary Phases by Packed Column Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

A packed column supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) method for the separation of clopidogrel enantiomers on a chiral stationary phase and CO2 with modifier as mobile phase has been developed at an analytical scale. Among 11 different 2 stationary phases the Chiral cel OD-H column showed by far the best separation properties. The influence of different modifiers, injection solvents, temperature, and pressure, and density of the fluid, respectively, on the separation behaviour has been studied. It was found that the separation behaviour strongly depends on the type of modifier and the modifier content. Temperature and pressure are of less influence.

Chiral Separation of Ibuprofen by Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

The separation method using chiral stationary phase （CSP） for the preparation of enantioselective compound was widely used. In this work, supercritical fluid chromatography（SFC） was proposed to resolve the chiral mixtures. To determine the optimum operating conditions for the chiral separation of the racemic ibuprofen, the retention factors and resolutions with the change in pressure, temperature and the content of IPA （%, by volume） in supercritical CO2 were investigated. Experiments showed that the retention factor decreased with the increase of pressure and decrease in temperature. The retention factor was also influenced by the content of IPA in mobile phase, as the content of IPA in the supercritical fluid increased, the retention factor decreased. The resolution of the enantiomers became worse with the increase of IPA in the supercritical fluid. Through optimizing the experimental conditions, a SFC procedure with 13MPa, 311.15K and 4% IPA in CO2 was obtained. The peak shape of the enantiomers was symmetric with supercritical fluid chromatography when compared to the asymmetric peak shape obtained by the conventional liquid chromatography. This work demonstrated that the developed supercritical fluid chromatography procedure was suitable for the chiral separation of ibuprofen enantiomers.

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with supercritical fluid extraction and chromatography（SFE／SFC）

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Fast analysis of derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil by ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography after supercritical fluid extraction enrichment

An efficient and environment-friendly method for simultaneous determination of 13 typical derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon(PAH)in petroleum-polluted soil with nitro-,oxy-and alkylfunctional group was developed using supercritical fluid extraction(SFE)followed by ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography(UHPSFC).Parameters of UHPSFC,including type of stationary phase and mobile phase modifiers,gradient elution process,backpressure,column temperature,and the flow rate of mobile phase,were systematically optimized,achieving a fast separation within4.2 min.Limits of detection(LOD)were 0.005-0.1μg mL^(-1)or 0.1-2.0 ng g^(-1),respectively,with a good repeatability(RSD<5.0%).Before UHPSFC-PDA analysis,the PAH-derivatives in soil samples were effectively enriched in 15.0 min using SFE with an online carbon nanotubes(CNTs)collection trap.The soil samples were analyzed by the proposed method and the results were verified by GC-MS.Thus,SFE equipped with an online CNTs trap followed by UHPSFC-PDA analysis,which only consumed about2.0 mL organic solvent for a whole run,has been demonstrated to be an efficient way for screening and quantitative analysis of trace-level PAH-derivatives in soil samples.

Packed Supercritical Fluid Chromatography for the Analyses and Preparative Separations of Palm Oil Minor Components

This paper depicts a brief review on the applications of packed supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) in palm oil analyses and purifications from early 1990s to date. Packed SFC has been used for the analyses of various palm oil components. The analytical separations have also been scaled up to preparative scale that leads to the recovery of high value components from palm oil. This review encompasses both analytical and preparative SFC in the oil palm processing.

THEORY FOR STEP AND PULSE METHOD OF SUPERCRITICAL FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

The paper presents a general retention formula for supercritical fluid chromatography at finite concentration. A new chromatographic rate theory based on the fugacities of solutes instead of concentrations is developed, thus relieving the restrictions of linear isothermal distribution and infinite dilution. An expression for retention values of a N component system including solvent is obtained by combining the rate theory with the mass balance equation of solutes in chromatography. It is shown that there are N-1 characteristic retention peaks for N components and the retention time can be calculated directly from the equilibrium properties of the components in both mobile phase and stationary phase at the given conditions. The theory can be reduced to the well known formula for infinite dilution and to the result of step-pulse theory in gas chromatography under low pressure at finite concentration. Supercritical fluid chromatography may eventually prove itself to be a useful reseach tool in the field of phase equilibrium and thermodynamic properties of supercritical fluid system.

Influence of Modifiers on Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC) and Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE), Part I

It is important to understand the mechanism and implications of different modifiers on analytical and preparative processes under chromatography with supercritical fluids (SFs) and under extraction with SFs. Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) and supercritical fluid extraction are generally carried out with neat supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) or with SCCO2 containing modifiers (or cosolvents), especially for strongly polar compounds. For example, methanol is added as a cosolvent/modifier to SCCO2 for the extraction/separation of polar compounds. This paper discusses the influence of the modifier on the colligative properties of the principal mobile phase, which may define the situation in the total mobile phase in a chromatography column or in parts of a column under SFC. No colligative behavior of solutions reflects individual properties of the solutes. Their cross-interactions with solvents are discussed.

Simultaneous enantioseparation and simulation studies of atenolol,metoprolol and propranolol on Chiralpak^■IG column using supercritical fluid chromatography

Enantioseparation of threeβ-blockers,i.e.,atenolol,metoprolol and propranolol,was studied on amylose tris(3-chloro-5-methylphenylcarbamate)immobilized chiral stationary phase using supercritical fluid chromatography(SFC).The effect of organic modifiers(methanol,isopropanol and their mixture),column temperature and back pressure on chiral separation ofβ-blockers was evaluated.Optimum chromatographic separation with respect to resolution,retention,and analysis time was achieved using a mixture of CO_(2) and 0.1%isopropyl amine in isopropanol:methanol(50:50,V/V),in 75:25(V/V)ratio.Under the optimized conditions,the resolution factors(Rs)and separation factors(a)were greater than3.0 and 1.5,respectively.Further,with increase in temperature(25-45℃)and pressure(100-150 bars)there was corresponding decrease in retention factors(k),a and Rs.However,a reverse trend(a and Rs)was observed for atenolol with increase in temperature.The thermodynamic data from van’t Hoff plots revealed that the enantioseparation was enthalpy driven for metoprolol and propranolol while entropy driven for atenolol.To understand the mechanism of chiral recognition and the elution behavior of the enantiomers,molecular docking studies were performed.The binding energies obtained from simulation studies were in good agreement with the elution order found experimentally and also with the free energy values.The method was validated in the concentration range of 0.5-10μg/m L for all the enantiomers.The limit of detection and limit of quantitation ranged from 0.126 to 0.137μg/m L and 0.376-0.414μg/m L,respectively.The method was used successfully to analyze these drugs in pharmaceutical preparations.

Rapid Separation of Five Cyclosporin Analogs by Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in cyclic peptides due to their therapeutic advantages in terms of potency, permeability, proteolytic stability, and unique selectivity relative to traditional smaller drug molecules. Cyclosporin is a family of cyclic peptides widely used as autoimmune suppression agents. Cyclosporin analogs consist of eleven amino acids with the main difference lying at the side chain of its amino acid residues. In this study, a single step separation method was developed utilizing Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC) to resolve five naturally occurring cyclosporin analogs (Cyclosporin A, B, C, D, and H) on a bare silica-packed column. The optimized method involved use of ethanol-modified carbon dioxide as mobile phase on a bare silica column at 80 °C and UV detection at 220 nm. Although column temperature and back pressure generally had insignificant effect on SFC separation, it was found in our study that increasing temperature and pressure greatly improved peak shape and resolution.

Separation of substituted phenylpiperazine derivatives with immobilized polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases by supercritical and subcritical fluid chromatography

Six newly synthesized racemic 1-（substituted phenyl）-4-[3-（indole-4-yl-oxy）-2-hydroxypropyl]-piperazine 1-6 were successfully resolved by carbon dioxide supercritical fluid chromatography （SFC） on an analytical scale column packed with immobilized polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases （CSPs）. We found that separation on the Chiralpak IA CSP was superior to the other two immobilized CSPs （Chiralpak IB and Chiralpak IC）, and isopropanol （IPA） was a superior modifier compared to the other five solvents including ethanol, methanol, tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile and dichloromethane. The effects of organic modifier composition, back pressure, and column temperature for enantioseparation of all six compounds were studied. Of the physical parameters studied, modifier composition had the greatest impact on retention. Changing temperature generally had less impact on retention but produced the greatest selectivity changes. The optimum condition was found as follows： Chiralpak IA column, column temperature 35 ~C, back pressure 120 bar, 35% IPA containing 0.1% diethylamine （v/v） in mobile phase, flow rate of mobile phase 3.0 mL/min, UV detection 283 nm. Separation of all six racemic compounds was completed within 10 rain and excellent resolution was obtained. Thus, SFC was found to be the methodology of choice for resolving the enantiomers of this class of compounds.

Supercritical fluid extraction and gas chromatography analysis of arsenic species from solid matrices

A method in combination with derivatization-supercritical fluid extraction（SFE） and gas chromatography（GC） for the speciation and quantitative determination of dimethylarsinate（DMA）, monomethylarsonate（MMA） and inorganic arsenic in solid matrices was investigated. Thioglycolic acid methyl ester（TGM） and thioglycolic acid ethyl ester（TGE） were evaluated as derivatization reagents. The effects of pressure, temperature, flow rate of supercritical CO_2, extraction time, modifier and microemulsion on the efficiency of extraction were systematically investigated. The procedure was applied to the analysis of real soil and sediment samples. Results showed that TGE was more effective for arsenic speciation as a derivatization reagent. Modifying supercritical CO_2 with methanol can greatly improve the extraction efficiency. Further, the addition of microemulsion containing surfactant Triton X-100 can further enhance recoveries of arsenic species. The optimum extraction conditions were 100 ℃, 30 MPa, 10 min static and 25 min dynamic extraction with 5%（v/v） methanol, and surfactant modified supercritical CO_2. Detection limits in solid matrices were 0.15, 0.3 and 1.2 mg/kg for DMA, MMA and inorganic arsenic,respectively. The method was validated by the recovery data. The resulting method was fast, easy to perform and selective in the extraction and detection of various arsenic species in solid matrices.

Supercritical Fluid Chromatography and Its Application in Lipid Isomer Separation

Supercritical fluid chromatography(SFC),which uses supercritical fluid with higher diffusivity and lower viscosity than liquid as its mobile phase,can provide fast,green,high-throughput and good performance methods for the analysis of complicated samples.It is an advantageous alternative for the separation of polar and nonpolar compounds,and even chiral isomers.As an important constituent of living organisms,lipids and the related lipidomics researches have attracted dramatic attention during the past years.The separation and identification of lipids and lipid isomers are of great significance and remain challenging.In this mini-review,the principle of SFC and its applications in lipid isomer separation are summarized.

Construction of on-line supercritical fluid extraction with reverse phase liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of capsaicin

A novel on-line system composed of supercritical fluid extraction(SFE), dilution line and reverse phase liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry(RPLC/MS) was constructed for on-line extraction and reverse phase separation of some fat-soluble components in foods. Three columns including a trap column,concentration column and analytical column were used for trapping the fat-soluble components, on-line enrichment and reverse phase separation, respectively. Capsaicinoids were on-line extracted by a CO_2 supercritical fluid, then concentrated and separated by using the C_(18) columns, finally detected by mass spectrometry(MS). Capsaicin eluted at 10.1 min and limit of detection(LOD, S/N=3) for the standard solution is 0.55pg. The linearity was calculated with a value of coefficient of determination(R^2)≥0.998 in the range of 1.1–8.5 ng. Concentrations of capsaicin in the green, yellow, and red bell peppers were determined to be 60.33 ng/g, 31.79 ng/g, 35.38ng/g, respectively.

Retention behaviour of carboxylic acid methyl esters in supercritical fluid chromatography

The study on retention behavior in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is necessary to understand the mechanism of the various interactions in SFC. The retention of SFC in carboxylic acid methyl ester/polymethylsiloxane/CO2 system was studied systematically and the retention behavior of this kind of compounds under various typical operation conditions was described using the method of an alternative unified theory of chromatographic retention. The results illustrated that expression: Ink.= a + b/T + cp + dp/T + ep2/T can be used to describe quantitatively the retention behavior of carboxylic acid methyl ester/polymethylsiloxane/CO2 system in the ranges of reduced density from 0.549 to 1.411. It was also found that the entropy of solute in stationary phase is dependent on the density of supercritical fluid (SF) under typical operating conditions of SFC.

A crosslinked chiral stationary phase for the separation of enantiomers by gas and supercritical fluid chromatography

Crosslinking experin(?)tnts for the chiral stationary phase OV-225-L-Val-t-butylamide within both fused silica and glass capillary columns have been carried out.Amino acid enantiomers were separated on crosslinked columns by、both GC and SFC methods.In SFC,the α values of amino acid enantiomers are independent of the density of the mobile phase,and they are hig her than those obtained by GC for the tested enantiomers with the same column due to the lower column tempera- ture used in SFC.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis on compounds in volatile oils extracted from Yuan Zhi(Radix Polygalae) and Shi Chang Pu(Acorus Tatarinowii) by supercritical CO_2

OBJECTIVE:To analyze the constituents of volatile oils extracted from Yuan Zhi(Radix Polygalae),Shi Chang Pu(Acorus Tatarinowii),and a mixture of the two herbs.METHODS:The volatile oils were extracted using supercritical fluid extraction(SFE) with CO 2,and the constituents of the volatile oil extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS).The relative content of each component was calculated using peak area normalization.RESULTS:The optimized SFE conditions were 45 MPa at 35℃ for 2 h.Twenty-four compounds were identified in the extract from the Yuan Zhi(Radix Polygalae) and Shi Chang Pu(Acorus Tatarinowii) mixture,and six of these had relative contents >1.These compounds were 1,2-dimethoxy-4-(2-propenyl)-benzene;1,2,3-trimethoxy-5-(2-propenyl)-benzene;β-asarone;(Z,Z) 9,12-octadecadienoic acid;(Z) 6-octadecenoic acid;and ethyl oleate.Combination of the herbs increased the number of pharmacologically active substances in the extract and decreased the number of compounds with one benzene ring compared with the extracts from the individual herbs.CONCLUSION:These results indicate there is a synergistic relationship among the compounds in these herbs.