Desenvolvimento de colunas monolíticas poliméricas para extração em fase sólida de metais e separação de neurotransmissores por nanocromatografia de interação hidrofílica

Abstract

In this two parts work, polymeric monolithic columns were applied in solid phase extraction and in capillary nanochromatography, two of their most important applications. In the first part, a monolith for solid phase extraction of Cd(II), Pb(II) and Cu(II) metals was developed and coupled online with electrochemical detection with the aid of sequential injection analysis instrumentation (SIA). The column used as a solid support for solid phase extraction was obtained by copolymerization between the crosslinker ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) and the functional monomer glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), prepared from a reaction mixture composed of 30% GMA, 10% EDMA, 5% H2O, 35% n-propanol and 20% 1,4-butanediol, heated at 60 ° C for 24 hours. This composition and polymerization conditions favored monolith's permeability, which was required for the SIA coupling. After obtaining the base monolith, it was modified by reaction of the epoxy ring of the GMA group with the iminodiacetic acid (IDA) to guarantee metals chelating properties and increase adsorption capacity for the column. The monolith was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and extraction capacity was 4.4 ± 0.3 mg Cu(II) m -1 , obtained from breakthrough curves. The method for online determination of metals operated by SIA, which performed the steps of sample loading, column cleaning, analyte elution and reconditioning of active sites had a sampling throughput of 6.8 injections per hour. The limits of detection (LD) and quantification (LQ) for the method were, respectively, 1.0 and 3.3 µg L -1 for Cd(II), 0.7 and 2.2 µg L -1 for the Pb(II) and 0.5 and 1.8 µg L -1 for Cu(II). The method was applied for the determination of metals in different natural water matrices, finding Cu(II) in some samples. The accuracy of the method was evaluated with addition and recovery studies in these waters, finding recoveries between 75.5 and 116.6%. In the second part of the work, a polar column composed of the zwitterionic sulfobetaine N,N-dimethyl-N-methacryloyloxyethyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium betaine (MEDSA) and the cross-linker dioxyethyl dimethacrylate (DiEDMA) was used in Hydrophilic Interaction Nanocromatography (HILIC) to separate Dopamine, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine, ʟ-DOPA, Tyramine, DOPAC and Homovanilic Acid, neurotransmitters, some of its metabolites and precursors, which are polar compounds of low molecular mass. The chromatographic selectivity of the column was highly dependent on the composition of the aqueous:organic mobile phase, showing a minimum retention at the transition from the HILIC to the reverse phase (RP) mechanism. By adjusting the experimental data of retention factors as a function of mobile phase composition with the double retention model it was possible to predict which mobile phase composition would promote the separation of the mixed analytes, which was achieved around 85% acetonitrile and 15% H2O. The column was modified with the 2-methacryloyl oxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) zwitterionic group by UV grafting and the m...