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Alberto Cavazzini

Publications and source records attributed to Alberto Cavazzini.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Stochastic theory of size exclusion chromatography by the characteristic function approach.

A general stochastic theory of size exclusion chromatography (SEC) able to account for size dependence on both pore ingress and egress processes, moving zone dispersion and pore size distribution, was developed. The relationship between stochastic-chromatographic and batch equilibrium conditions are discussed and the fundamental role of the 'ergodic' hypothesis in establishing a link between them is emphasized. SEC models are solved by means of the characteristic function method and chromatographic parameters like plate height, peak skewness and excess are derived. The peak shapes are obtained by numerical inversion of the characteristic function under the most general conditions of the exploited models. Separate size effects on pore ingress and pore egress processes are investigated and their effects on both retention selectivity and efficiency are clearly shown. The peak splitting phenomenon and peak tailing due to incomplete sample sorption near to the exclusion limit is discussed. An SEC model for columns with two types of pores is discussed and several effects on retention selectivity and efficiency coming from pore size differences and their relative abundance are singled out. The relevance of moving zone dispersion on separation is investigated. The present approach proves to be general and able to account for more complex SEC conditions such as continuous pore size distributions and mixed retention mechanism.

Chromatography, Gel↗

Modeling of preparative reversed-phase HPLC of insulin.

The adsorption isotherms of three recombinant proteins, human insulin, porcine insulin, and Lispro, were measured by frontal analysis on a YMC-ODS C18 column with an aqueous solution at 31% acetonitrile (0.1% TFA) as the mobile phase. The retention behavior of insulin, its related molecular structure, its conformation, and its aggregation in this phase system are discussed. The experimental isotherm data were fitted to the Langmuir, the Langmuir-Freundlich, and the Toth models. The results allow for a quantitative comparison of the saturation capacities, the equilibrium constants, and the exponents that represent the heterogeneity of the stationary phase obtained for the different insulin variants studied. The Toth model provided the best fit of the experimental data. The overloaded band profiles were calculated using the lumped pore diffusion and the equilibrium-dispersive model of chromatography. An excellent agreement between calculated and experimental profiles was demonstrated.

Adsorption↗

True and apparent temperature dependence of protein adsorption equilibrium in reversed-phase HPLC.

The adsorption behavior of bovine insulin on a C(8)-bonded silica stationary phase was investigated at different column pressures and temperatures in isocratic reversed-phase HPLC. Changes in the molar volume of insulin (deltaV(m)) upon adsorption were derived from the pressure dependence of the isothermal retention factor (k'). The values of deltaV(m) were found to be practically independent of the temperature between 25 and 50 degrees C at -96 mL/mol and to increase with increasing temperature, up to -108 mL/mol reached at 50 degrees C. This trend was confirmed by two separate series of measurements of the thermal dependence of ln(k'). In the first series the average column pressure was kept constant. The second series involved measurements of ln(k') under constant mobile-phase flow rate, the average column pressure varying with the temperature. In both cases, a parabolic shape relationship was observed between ln(k') and the temperature, but the values obtained for ln k' were higher in the first than in the second case. The relative difference in ln(k'), caused by the change in pressure drop induced by the temperature, is equivalent to a systematic error in the estimate of the Gibbs free energy of 12%. Thus, a substantial error is made in the estimates of the enthalpy and entropy of adsorption when neglecting the pressure effects associated with the change in the molar volume of insulin. This work proves that the average column pressure must be kept constant during thermodynamic measurements of protein adsorption constants, especially in RPLC and HIC. Our results show also that there is a critical temperature, T(c) approximately equals 53 degrees C, at which ln(k') is maximum and the insulin adsorption process changes from an exothermic to an endothermic one. This temperature determines also the transition point in the molecular mechanism of insulin adsorption that involves successive unfolding of the protein chain.

Adsorption↗

Combining synthetic and analytical strategies for preparative HPLC enantioseparation of monastrol racemic mixture.

Large-scale resolution of racemic monastrol has been carried out by normal-phase mode HPLC on an amylose-based chiral stationary phase. Because monastrol solubility, in media of proper compositions for normal-mode HPLC separations (in terms of retention factors and selectivity), was significantly low and impractical for preparative scopes, racemic monastrol was transformed into the corresponding O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl derivative. The tert-butyldimethylsilyl group was chosen as a suitable derivatizing agent because it induced approximatively a six-times higher solubility and allowed for an almost quantitative recovery of pure monastrol from the derivatization-deprotection sequence. The competitive isotherms of the O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl compounds, measured through frontal analysis, were fitted to competitive Langmuir and four-parameter bi-Langmuir models. The equilibrium dispersive model of chromatography was used for modeling the nonlinear separation of the racemate and to optimize the experimental conditions for collection of highly concentrated fractions of pure (R,S)-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl compounds, from which significant amounts of the corresponding enantiomers of monastrol (about 100 mg of each enantiomer with 30 runs on an analytical-scale column) were obtained by quantitative back-derivatization.

Algorithms↗