Authors: Klaus Jussi Schilling
Source: Online Publication Service of Würzburg University (Würzburg University) (article, 2020-01-01)
Field: Chemistry — Spectroscopy

Liquid chromatographic analysis of weakly- and non-chromophore compounds focusing on Charged Aerosol Detection Liquid chromatography has become the gold standard for modern quality control and purity analytics since its establishment in the 1930s. However, some analytical questions remain very challenging even today. Several molecules and impurities do not possess a suitable chromophore for the application of UV detection or cannot be retained well on regular RP columns. Possible solutions are found in derivatization procedures, but they are time consuming and can be prone to errors. In order to detect non chromophore molecules underivatized, the concept of aerosol based universal detection was established with the introduction of the evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) in the 1970s and the charged aerosol detector (CAD) followed in 2002. These two challenging fields – polar and non chromophore molecules – are tackled in this thesis. An overview of applications of the CAD in the literature and a comparison to its aerosol based competitors and MS is presented, emphasizing on its high sensitivity and robustness. Parameters and techniques to overcome the drawbacks of CAD, such as the use of gradient compensation or adjusted evaporation temperatures are discussed. A consideration of aspects and drawbacks of data transformation such as the integrated power function value (PFV) in the GMP environment is performed. A method for the fatty acid analysis in polysorbate 80 that was developed on HPLC CAD was transferred to UHPLC CAD. Time and eluent savings of over 75% and 40%, respectively, as well as ways to determine the optimal CAD parameters resulted from this investigation. The evaporation temperature was determined as the most crucial setting, which has to be adjusted with care. Optimal signal to noise ratios are found at a compromise between maintaining analyte signal and reducing background noise. The incorporation of semi volatile short chain fatty acids enabled the observation of differences based on volatility of the analyte. E.g. for semi volatiles, an improved linearity by means of adjusting the PFV is achieved at values below 1.0 instead of at elevated PFVs. Using sugars and sugar related antibiotics, a proof-of-concept was given that artificial neural networks can describe correlations between the structure and physicochemical properties of molecules and their response in CAD. Quantitative structure property relationships obtained by design of experiment approaches were able to predict the response of unseen substances and yielded insights on the response generation of the detector, which heavily relies on the formed surface area of the dried particle. Further work can substantiate upon these findings, eventually building a library of diverse eluent compositions, analytes and settings. In order to cope with a chromatographically challenging substances, the application of ion pairing reversed phase chromatography coupled to low wavelength UV detection has been shown as a possible approach for the amino acid L asparagine. A method capable of compendial purity analysis in one single HPLC approach, thus making the utilization of the semi quantitative TLC-ninhydrin analysis obsolete, resulted from this. One cyclic dipeptide impurity (diketoasparagine) that was formerly not assessed, could be identified in several batches and added to the monograph of the Ph.Eur. Studying ibandronate sodium with CAD and ELSD, it was found that randomly occurring spike peaks represent a major flaw of the ELSD when high sample load is present. The research with this non chromophore bisphosphonate drug furthermore shed light on possible drawbacks of mixed mode chromatography methods and ways to overcome these issues. Due to strong adsorption of the analyte onto the column, over ten injections of the highly concentrated test solution were found to be necessary to ensure reproducible peak areas. Preconditioning steps should thus be evaluated for mixed mode approaches during method development and validation. Last, using a ternary mixed mode stationary phase coupled to CAD, a method for the impurity profiling of pamidronate disodium, also applicable to the assessment of phosphate and phosphite in four other bisphosphonate drugs, has been developed. This represents a major advantage over the Ph.Eur. impurity profiling of pamidronate, which requires two different methods, one of which is only a semi quantitative TLC approach. Chromatography detector ; Chromophore ; Detector ; Chemistry ; Chromatography ; Aerosol ; Analytical Chemistry (journal) ; High-performance liquid chromatography ; Optics ; Organic chemistry ; Physics Analytical Chemistry and Chromatography