Ionic liquids (ILs) are salts that are liquid at low temperatures, usually including the region around room temperature. They are under intense investigation, especially as replacement solvents for reactions and separations, since they exhibit negligible vapor pressure and would not, therefore, contribute to air pollution. Clearly, basic thermophysical properties are vital for design and evaluation for these applications. We present density as a function of temperature, melting temperatures, glass-transition temperatures, decomposition temperatures, and heat capacities as a function of temperature for a series of 13 of the popular imidazolium-based ILs. The ionic liquids investigated here are 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)methide, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, 2,3-dimethyl-1-ethylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, 2,3dimethyl-1-propylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, and 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate. The properties follow quite reasonable trends. For instance, density decreases as the length of the alkyl chain on the cation increases. For a given cation, the density increases as the molecular weight of the anion increases for the anions studied here. Many of the ILs tend to subcool easily, forming glasses at very low temperatures rather than exhibiting crystallization or melting transitions. The thermal stability increases with increasing anion size, and heat capacities increase with temperature and increasing number of atoms in the IL.

The reference human genome provides an adequate basis for biological researchers to study the relationship between genotype and the associated phenotypes, but a large push is underway to sequence many more genomes to determine the role of various specificities among different individuals that control these relationships and to enable the use of human genome data for personalized and preventative healthcare. The current electrophoretic methodology for sequencing an entire mammalian genome, which includes standard molecular biology techniques for genomic sample preparation and the separation of DNA fragments using capillary array electrophoresis, remains far too expensive ($5 million) to make genome sequencing ubiquitous. The National Human Genome Research Institute has put forth goals to reduce the cost of human genome sequencing to $100,000 in the short term and $1000 in the long term to spur the innovative development of technologies that will permit the routine sequencing of human genomes for use as a diagnostic tool for disease. Since the announcement of these goals, several companies have developed and released new, non-electrophoresis-based sequencing instruments that enable massive throughput in the gathering of genomic information. In this review, we discuss the advantages and limitations of these new, massively parallel sequencers and compare them with the currently developing next generation of electrophoresis-based genetic analysis platforms, specifically microchip electrophoresis devices, in the context of three distinct types of genetic analysis.

Advances in microchannel electrophoretic separation systems for DNA analyses have had important impacts on biological and biomedical sciences, as exemplified by the successes of the Human Genome Project (HGP). As we enter a new era in genomic science, further technological innovations promise to provide other far-reaching benefits, many of which will require continual increases in sequencing and genotyping efficiency and throughput, as well as major decreases in the cost per analysis. Since the high-resolution size- and/or conformation-based electrophoretic separation of DNA is the most critical step in many genetic analyses, continual advances in the development of materials and methods for microchannel electrophoretic separations will be needed to meet the massive demand for high-quality, low-cost genomic data. In particular, the development (and commercialization) of miniaturized genotyping platforms is needed to support and enable the future breakthroughs of biomedical science. In this review, we briefly discuss the major sequencing and genotyping techniques in which high-throughput and high-resolution electrophoretic separations of DNA play a significant role. We review recent advances in the development of technology for capillary electrophoresis (CE), including capillary array electrophoresis (CAE) systems. Most of these CE/CAE innovations are equally applicable to implementation on microfabricated electrophoresis chips. Major effort is devoted to discussing various key elements needed for the development of integrated and practical microfluidic sequencing and genotyping platforms, including chip substrate selection, microchannel design and fabrication, microchannel surface modification, sample preparation, analyte detection, DNA sieving matrices, and device integration. Finally, we identify some of the remaining challenges, and some of the possible routes to further advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing and genotyping technologies.

To realize the immense potential of large-scale genomic sequencing after the completion of the second human genome (Venter's), the costs for the complete sequencing of additional genomes must be dramatically reduced. Among the technologies being developed to reduce sequencing costs, microchip electrophoresis is the only new technology ready to produce the long reads most suitable for the de novo sequencing and assembly of large and complex genomes. Compared with the current paradigm of capillary electrophoresis, microchip systems promise to reduce sequencing costs dramatically by increasing throughput, reducing reagent consumption, and integrating the many steps of the sequencing pipeline onto a single platform. Although capillary-based systems require Ϸ70 min to deliver Ϸ650 bases of contiguous sequence, we report sequencing up to 600 bases in just 6.5 min by microchip electrophoresis with a unique polymer matrix/adsorbed polymer wall coating combination. This represents a two-thirds reduction in sequencing time over any previously published chip sequencing result, with comparable read length and sequence quality. We hypothesize that these ultrafast long reads on chips can be achieved because the combined polymer system engenders a recently discovered ''hybrid'' mechanism of DNA electromigration, in which DNA molecules alternate rapidly between reptating through the intact polymer network and disrupting network entanglements to drag polymers through the solution, similar to dsDNA dynamics we observe in single-molecule DNA imaging studies. Most importantly, these results reveal the surprisingly powerful ability of microchip electrophoresis to provide ultrafast Sanger sequencing, which will translate to increased system throughput and reduced costs.DNA separation mechanism ͉ microchip electrophoresis ͉ entangled polymer solution ͉ DNA imaging

14/08/12 MEB Accepted version attached, emabrago elapsed. OK to publish