The development of a semiautomated procedure for the synthesis and screening of a large group of molecularly imprinted polymers.

A method for synthesis and evaluation of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) on a semiautomated miniature scale is reported. This technique combines molecular imprinting with the combinatorial chemistry approach, allowing rapid screening and optimizations of libraries of MIPs. The polymers were prepared and evaluated in situ by rebinding utilizing powder dispensing and liquid handling systems.

An automated mobile phase preparation workstation.

An automated solvent dispensing workstation capable of delivering volumes ranging from 10 mL to 4.5 L for the preparation of solutions/mobile phases was developed and implemented into the industrial R&D laboratory. The workstation was designed to address business, safety, and compliance needs while meeting or exceeding the precision and accuracy of current manual methods of preparation.

Very high pressure HPLC with 1 mm id columns.

Theoretical calculations and experimental data indicate that very high pressure HPLC can be performed using 1 and 1.5 mm id columns, and contrary to previous beliefs, the frictional heating generated does not appear to be detrimental to the separation.

Powder dispensing robot for sample preparation.

An automated powder dispensing station capable of transferring milligram quantities (1-100 mg) of powder for sample preparation was developed and integrated into a commercial robotic workstation (Zymark Prelude). The system's performance was optimized with respect to vacuum flow rate and powder transfer tube cross sectional area, and shown to possess excellent powder dispensing accuracy (RSD = < or = 0.1% for target weights < or = 15 mg) and precision (RSD = 3.

Comparing cyclodextrin derivatives as chiral selectors for enantiomeric separation in capillary electrophoresis.

A total of 26 different cyclodextrin (CD) derivatives with different functional groups and degrees of substitution were tested against 35 basic pharmaceutical compounds in an effort to investigate their effectiveness as chiral selectors for enantiomeric separation in capillary electrophoresis (CE). Testing was performed under the same conditions using a low pH buffer (25 mM phosphate buffer at pH approximately 2.5).