0000000000021707
AUTHOR
T. Alvarez-segura
showing 9 related works from this author
Study of the performance of a resolution criterion to characterise complex chromatograms with unknowns or without standards
2017
The search for best conditions in liquid chromatography is routinely carried out with information provided by chemical standards. However, sometimes there are samples with insufficient knowledge about their chemical composition. In other cases, identities of the components are known, but there are no standards available, and in other cases the identities of peaks in chromatograms taken under different conditions are ambiguous. Most resolution criteria used to measure separation performance cannot be applied to these samples. In this work, a global resolution function valid for all situations was developed based on automatic measurements of peak prominences (area fraction exceeding the line …
Stationary phase modulation in liquid chromatography through the serial coupling of columns: A review
2016
Liquid chromatography with single columns often does not succeed in the analysis of complex samples, in terms of resolution and analysis time. A relatively simple solution to enhance chromatographic resolution is the modulation of the stationary phase through the serial coupling of columns. This can be implemented with any type of column using compatible elution conditions and conventional instruments. This review describes the key features of column coupling and published procedures, where two or more columns were coupled in series to solve separation problems. In all reports, the authors could not resolve their samples with single columns, whereas significant enhancement in chromatographi…
Analysis of amino acids using serially coupled columns.
2017
Single conventional columns in reversed-phase LC are insufficient for analysing the isoindoles of primary amino acids, due to their limited functionality. An interesting possibility for increasing the separation power is the combination of several columns of different nature, where the length is modified by coupling small segments. This approach may require a considerable investment to have multiple lengths for each stationary phase. However, the combination of only two columns of fixed length can be enough to resolve satisfactorily relatively complex mixtures, provided that an optimised gradient program is applied. In this work, a mixture of 19 primary amino acid isoindoles found in protei…
A chromatographic objective function to characterise chromatograms with unknown compounds or without standards available
2015
Abstract Getting useful chemical information from samples containing many compounds is still a challenge to analysts in liquid chromatography. The highest complexity corresponds to samples for which there is no prior knowledge about their chemical composition. Computer-based methodologies are currently considered as the most efficient tools to optimise the chromatographic resolution, and further finding the optimal separation conditions. However, most chromatographic objective functions (COFs) described in the literature to measure the resolution are based on mathematical models fitted with the information obtained from standards, and cannot be applied to samples with unknown compounds. In …
An approach to evaluate the information in chromatographic fingerprints: Application to the optimisation of the extraction and conservation condition…
2015
A new approach is reported for high-performance liquid chromatography to measure the level of information in fingerprints. For this purpose, the concept of peak prominence, which is the protruding part of each visible peak with regard to the valleys that delimit it, was used. The peaks in the fingerprints are ranked according to the areas of the peak prominences, and a threshold is established to discriminate between the significant peaks and those that are irreproducible. The approach was applied to evaluate the impact of several extraction conditions (solvent nature and composition, time and temperature of the treatment, amount of sample, and time and temperature of conservation of the ex…
Multi-scale optimisation vs. genetic algorithms in the gradient separation of diuretics by reversed-phase liquid chromatography
2019
Abstract Multi-linear gradients are a convenient solution to get separation of complex samples by modulating carefully the gradient slope, in order to accomplish the local selectivity needs for each particular solute cluster. These gradients can be designed by trial-and-error according to the chromatographer experience, but this strategy becomes quickly inappropriate for complex separations. More evolved solutions imply the sequential construction of multi-segmented gradients. However, this strategy discards part of the search space in each step of the construction and, again, cannot deal properly with very complex samples. When the complexity is too large, the only valid alternative for fi…
Updating chromatographic predictions by accounting ageing for single and tandem columns.
2018
The most efficient optimization methodologies in liquid chromatography are based on the modeling and prediction of the chromatographic behavior for each compound in the sample. However, when the column suffers some ageing after the modeling process, predictions may differ significantly from the actual separation. Repeating the modeling is especially troublesome when several columns are involved, as is the case of coupled columns. We propose a shortcut to correct the time and peak profiles in these situations, after evaluating the effects of ageing. The original models are corrected by introducing parameters accounting for column ageing, obtained using the data of a small subset of compounds…
Study of the column efficiency using gradient elution based on Van Deemter plots.
2018
Performance of chromatographic columns is of major importance in the development of more efficient separation methods. So far, a common practice is to study the column behavior in isocratic elution by modifying the flow rate and fitting the theoretical plate height values versus the mobile phase linear velocity, according to the Van Deemter equation. In this work, an approach is presented to extend the measurement of efficiency to linear gradient elution, where the mean retention factor is kept constant at each assayed flow. This avoids a possible source of uncertainty due to the change in the distribution equilibria profile, and makes the mean interactions with the stationary phase in grad…
Serial versus parallel columns using isocratic elution: a comparison of multi-column approaches in mono-dimensional liquid chromatography.
2015
Abstract When a new separation problem is faced with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the analysis is addressed conventionally with a single column, trying to find out a single experimental condition aimed to resolve all compounds. However, in practice, the system selectivity may be insufficient to achieve full resolution. When a separation fails, the usual practice consists of introducing drastic changes in the chromatographic system (e.g. use of another column, solvent or pH). An alternative solution is taking benefit of the combined separation capability of two or more columns, which can be attained in multiple ways, such as diverse modalities of two-dimensional HPLC, or mo…