A biotechnological route via enzymatic esterification was proposed as an alternative way to synthesize the problematic anti-oxidant eugenyl benzoate. The new method overcomes the well-known drawbacks of the chemical route in favor of a more sustainable reaction process. The present work reports a Box-Behnken design (BBD) optimization process to synthesize eugenyl benzoate by esterification of eugenol and benzoic acid catalyzed by the chitosan-chitin nanowhiskers supported Rhizomucor miehei lipase (RML-CS/CNWs). Effects of four reaction parameters: reaction time, temperature, substrate molar ratio of eugenol: benzoic acid and enzyme loading were assessed. Under optimum conditions, a maximum conversion yield as high as 66% at 50°C in 5h using 3mg/mL of RML-CS/CNWs, and a substrate molar ratio (eugenol: benzoic acid) of 3:1. Kinetic assessments revealed the RML-CS/CNWs catalyzed the reaction via a ping-pong bi-bi mechanism with eugenol inhibition, characterized by a Vmax of 3.83mMmin-1. The Michaelis-Menten constants for benzoic acid (Km,A) and eugenol (Km,B) were 34.04 and 138.28mM, respectively. The inhibition constant for eugenol (Ki,B) was 438.6mM while the turnover number (kcat) for the RML-CS/CNWs-catalyzed esterification reaction was 40.39min-1. RML-CS/CNWs were reusable up to 8 esterification cycles and showed higher thermal stability than free RML.
In this study, caged calcium alginate-caged multiwalled carbon nanotubes dispersive microsolid phase extraction was described for the first time for the extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from water samples prior to gas chromatographic analysis. Fluorene, phenanthrene and fluoranthene were selected as model compounds. The caged calcium alginate-caged multiwalled carbon nanotubes was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and thermal gravimetry analyses. The effective parameters namely desorption solvent, solvent volume, extraction time, desorption time, the mass of adsorbent and sample volume were optimized. Under the optimum extraction conditions, the developed method showed good linearity in the range of 0.5-50 ng mL-1 (R2 ≥ 0.996), low limits of detection and quantification (0.42-0.22 ng mL-1) (0.73-1.38 ng mL-1) respectively, good relative recoveries (71.2-104.2%) and reproducibility (RSD 1.8-12.4%, n = 3) for the studied PAHs in water sample. With high enrichment factor (1,000), short extraction time (<30 min), low amounts of adsorbent (100 mg) and low amounts of solvent (0.1 mol) have proven that the microsolid phase extraction method based on calcium alginate-caged multiwalled carbon nanotubes are environmentally friendly and convenient extraction method to use as an alternative adsorbent in the simultaneous preconcentration of PAHs from environmental water samples.
Realising the need to devise a simple, sensitive, and reliable detection method, this study investigated the development of a dual-stacking transient isotachophoresis (t-ITP) and sweeping in micellar electrokinetic chromatography with diode array detector (t-ITP/sweeping-MEKC-DAD) for the determination of selected non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); ketoprofen, diclofenac and naproxen from aqueous matrices. Prior to the system setup, various parameters were optimised to assess the potential use of the t-ITP paired with the sweeping stacking technique in micellar background electrolyte for dual preconcentration and separation of trace amounts of NSAIDs. Once the optimum conditions have been established, the method performance was validated and applied to 17 environmental water samples. Based on the results, the combined t-ITP and sweeping approach significantly improved the stacking and separation sensitivity. A large volume of samples could also be introduced and subsequently separated by MEKC with greater focusing effects due to the sweeping. Under optimised conditions, the developed method exhibited excellent linearity at a high range (0.1-500 ng/mL, r2 ≥ 0.998), low limits of detection (LODs) of 0.01-0.07 ng/mL, and a remarkable relative recovery (RR) of 99.6-101.9% with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.4-8.6% (n = 9). Ultimately, the sensitivity enhancement factors improved up to 666-fold using the optimised method. Therefore, the proposed method presents a simplified yet effective and suitable for the determination of NSAIDs from aqueous matrices.
A simple and sensitive preconcentration strategy using sequential electrokinetic and hydrodynamic injection modes in micellar electrokinetic chromatography with diode array detection was developed and applied for the separation and determination of anticancer agent, 5-fluorouracil and its metabolite, 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine, in human plasma. Sequential injection modes with increased analyte loading capacity using the anionic pseudo-stationary phase facilitated collection of the dispersed neutral and charged analytes into narrow zones and improved sensitivity. Several important parameters affecting sample enrichment performance were evaluated and optimized in this study. Under the optimized experimental conditions, 614- and 643-fold and 782- and 803-fold sensitivity improvement were obtained for 5-fluorouracil and its metabolite when compared with normal hydrodynamic and electrokinetic injection, respectively. The method has good linearity (1-1,000 ng/ml) with acceptable coefficient of determination (r2 > 0.993), low limits of detection (0.11-0.14 ng/ml) and satisfactory analyte relative recovery (97.4-99.7%) with relative standard deviations of 4.6-9.3% (n = 6). Validation results as well as the application to analysis of human plasma samples from cancer patients demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method to clinical studies.
One of the most cited limitations of capillary and microchip electrophoresis is the poor sensitivity. This review continues to update this series of biannual reviews, first published in Electrophoresis in 2007, on developments in the field of online/in-line concentration methods in capillaries and microchips, covering the period July 2016-June 2018. It includes developments in the field of stacking, covering all methods from field-amplified sample stacking and large-volume sample stacking, through to isotachophoresis, dynamic pH junction, and sweeping. Attention is also given to online or in-line extraction methods that have been used for electrophoresis.