Liquid chromatography Flashcards
LC
- LC is emerging as an important separation technique in forensic toxicology and analysis of drugs
- Complements GC
- Need to know how to optimise separations
High performance liquid chromatography
- Stationary phase – solid
Contained in a column of fixed dimensions - Mobile phase – liquid
Pumped through the system at high pressure at a fixed flow rate
what is LC
- Separate non-volatile organic compounds
- Analyte in liquid solution
- Suitable for thermally labile, polar compounds
how big are the columns
- short (5-30 cm)
what does the mobile phase consist of
- phase often a combination of water and organic solvent
what is separation based on
polarity, electrical charge and molecular size
organic molecules are sorted into classes
- according to the principal functional groups each contains
for polarity
- the chromatographic retention of different kinds of molecules if largely determined by the nature and location of these functional groups
look at ppt
stationary phase- normal phase HPLC
– Based on polar silica (SiO2) – stationary phase
– Uses non-polar or less polar mobile phase
– Robust – can stand high P
– Microspheres ~3 – 10 μm
– Packed in stainless steel columns
– Less polar compounds eluted before polar ones
drawback of normal phase
very polar solvents bond to silica makes column useless
Reverse-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) – most common
– Silica has been functionalised
– Long chain hydrocarbon bonded to silica
– C-8 or C-18 chains
– Later known as ‘octodecylsilyl’ or ODS
– Make stationary phase non-polar
– Can use mobile phases with a range of polarities
– More polar compounds eluted before less polar ones
– Can be used with a variety of compound types
– Separation depends on mobile phase composition
RP-HPLC
look on ppt at graph
mobile phase commonest solvents are
– Water - polar
– Methanol - polar
– Acetonitrile - moderately polar
– Tetrahydrofuran (THF) – moderately polar
generally mobile phases are made up of mixtures of solvents of
- different polarities
– Water with acetonitrile or THF or methanol
mixtures in mobile phase remain
- constant – isocratic
composition can change over time- gradient
- In RP-HPLC start with a less polar mix and move towards a more polar mix
- Mix may include a pH buffer (instead of water)
- Will ionise or un-ionise compounds depending on nature
Where are the reverse phase solvents are by convention installed where
- the HPLC channels A and B
‘A’ solvent
- the aqueous solvent (water or a buffer)
- generally HPLC grade water
‘B’ solvent
- the organic solvent (acetonitrile, methanol, THF).
- generally an HPLC grade organic solvent such as acetonitrile or methanol.
- Sometimes acid (0.1%) is used in each to the improve the chromatographic peak shape
what is more polar
mobile phase is more polar than stationary
mobile phase can have a range of polarities
stationary phase
hydrophobic group chemically bonded to silica
the two phases
- Analyte ‘partitions’ between the two phases depending upon its chemistry (hydrophobicity)
- Increasing the % organic in the mobile phase increases the ‘elution power’ of the mobile phase
- Retention and Selectivity are altered by changing the chemistry of the stationary phase, mobile phase and the temperature
- Most analytes tests are likely to have a weak polarity
increase the polarity of the MP (water)
- this will increasingly repel the hydrophobic (non-polar) sections of the analyte molecules into the stationary phase
- Be retained longer.