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Germany) and Fluka (Buchs, Switzerland), respectively. All other of E and PE was achieved in a range of 1.00 –100 mg/L with cor-
reagents were obtained from Kelong Chemical Reagents Factory relation coefficients of 0.9980 and 0.9976, respectively. The de-
(Chengdu, China). The herb sample, Ephedra sinica, was tection limits of E and PE were 0.7 and 0.6 mg/L, respectively,
obtained from a local pharmaceutical store. and the sensitivity was sufficient for determination without
The stock solutions of E and PE at a concentration of using expensive instruments, such as LIF (20–22) or MS (4, 5, 9).
1.0 mg/mL, 80 mM of NaH2PO4 and 3% of HPMC were prepared The precision of the method was investigated by determining
in DDW and stored at 48C in a refrigerator. The standard solu- the intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) of
tions were prepared by stepwise dilution of the stock solutions. the migration time and peak area for five repeated injections. All
The buffer solutions were adjusted to obtain the desired pH by results are listed in Table II; RSDs for E and PE migration times
1.0 M phosphoric acid or sodium hydroxide. varied from 0.49 to 2.53%, and RSDs of peak areas for the two
compounds fell in the range of 3.81 –7.64%.
The enhancement ability of FASI-CE was evaluated by a com-
Effect of BGE pH
The pH value of the BGE plays an important role in the separ-
Table III ation of compounds. On one hand, the inherent electroosmotic
Results of the Determination of Alkaloids in Ephedra sinica and Recovery Values (n ¼ 3)
flow (EOF) of CE will change when the pH increases or
Sample E PE decreases; on the other hand, the ionization efficiency of com-
Added Determined Recovery Added Determined Recovery pounds maintains a close link with the pH value of the buffer. In
content content (mg/ (%) content content (mg/ (%) this work, the research was conducted from pH 3.0 to 6.0 by
(mg/L) L + RSD, %) (mg/L) L + RSD, %)
adjusting 80 mM of NaH2PO4 with 1 mM of NaOH and 1 mM of
Diluted 40.8 + 3.1 19.7 + 1.9 HCl. The result in Figure 3 showed that with a decreased pH
Ephedra
(200
value, the analysis time was extended and the resolution of E and
times) PE was increased. Therefore, the pH at 3.0 was the final choice.
Spiked 20.0 61.3 + 2.7 102.6 20.0 37.9 + 2.2 90.9
sample
Diluted 8.4 + 1.8 4.2 + 0.9 Effect of HPMC
Ephedra
(1,000 The addition of an EOF modifier can result in the reduction of
times) the reaction between analytes and the inner wall of the capillary
Spiked 5.0 13.1 + 2.4 94.3 5.0 8.5 + 1.3 86.2
sample to obtain fine separation efficiency in a biological field (28).
Cellulose and its derivations, such as HPMC, are often applied to
the buffer solution with the purpose of decreasing the migration
velocity of EOF (29). This experiment also found the same phe-
Discussion
nomenon with the addition of HPMC. As a consequence, a series
Optimization of separation conditions for the alkaloids of buffers with different concentrations of HMPC were chosen
to study on the inhibitory effect of EOF. With increased concen-
Selection of BGE trations of HMPC in the buffer solution, the migration times of E
Phosphate buffer is one of the most commonly used BGEs in the and PE gradually became longer, which resulted in a smaller
contemporary practice of CZE. Thus, NaH2PO4 was chosen as EOF. The neutral molecule thiourea was added into sample as
the BGE in this work. Unfortunately, because of structural simi- the indicator under the buffer with 0.3% of HMPC, but it was not
larity, E and PE could not be completely separated in such a detected until 90 min after injection. The results show that the
buffer solution, even after changing the concentration of EOF could be satisfactorily suppressed by a low concentration of
Determination of Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine by Field-Amplified Sample Injection Capillary Electrophoresis 359
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Figure 4. Effect of water plug injection time on FASI stacking. Sample: 0.05 mg/mL
of E and PE; buffer solution: 80 mM NaH2PO4, 15 mM b-CD and 0.3% HMPC; injection
voltage: 6 KV; electrokinetic injection time: 30 s; separation voltage: 9 KV.
Development of injection parameters for FASI Effect of electrokinetic injection time and voltage
Injection time is another important condition of FASI-CE.
Effect of buffer conductivity In electrokinetic injection mode, the injection voltage directly
Buffer solution conductivity (solution concentration) is an im- plays the decisive role in the sampling volume of the analyte,
portant factor for the stacking effect. A higher concentration of thus affecting the enrichment effect. The peak heights of E and
the buffer solution could achieve a larger electrical conductivity, PE were sharply enhanced in a certain range of injection voltage
which resulted in better enrichment effects and peak profiles of (5 to 30 s), and they were slowly increased by the injection time
the compounds. However, a higher concentration of the buffer at 40 s (Figure 5). The longer the electrokinetic injection time,
solution produced a greater ionic strength and a higher current the more analytes were introduced into the columns. When the
in the electrophoretic running, and generated more Joule heat, sampling time was extended to 50 and 60 s, a decline appeared
which led to instability of the baseline and broadening of peaks. of peak height and peak broadening for E and PE. Because of the
Based on this, 80 mM of NaH2PO4 was a reasonable choice boundary between the low conductivity zone and the buffer so-
in this work. lution of high conductivity, the analyte still showed electromi-
gration behavior. Although a water plug can inhibit migration in
Effect of water plug a certain period of time, if the injection time is too long, the pre-
In FASI mode, as long as the conductivity of the sample solution viously stacked ions might move across the pseudostationary
is lower than the conductivity of the background buffer solution, boundary from the water zone into the buffer area, resulting in
the field amplification effect could be generated. The sample an imperfect sample stacking process and peak broadening.
ions were introduced by electric injection mode and generated Thus, the electrokinetic injection time of 40 s was considered.
aggregation in the capillary end, which changed the interface Similarly, sampling voltage also affected the amount of sam-
strength of the electric field and weakened the field amplifica- pling and showed the same changing trend as injection time.
tion effect. The introduction of a low conductivity zone may The effect of sample injection voltage on peak heights was
Determination of Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine by Field-Amplified Sample Injection Capillary Electrophoresis 361
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