A combined experimental and theoretical study was performed to understand how the pore size of packing materials with pores 60-300 angstrom in size affects the separation of 5-50-mer oligonucleotides. For this purpose, we developed a model in which the solutes were described as thin rods to estimate the accessible surface area of the solute as a function of the pore size and solute size. First, an analytical investigation was conducted in which we found that the selectivity increased by a factor of 2.5 when separating 5- and 15-mer oligonucleotides using packing with 300 angstrom rather than 100 angstrom pores. We complemented the analytical investigation by theoretically demonstrating how the selectivity is dependent on the column's accessible surface area as a function of solute size. In the preparative investigation, we determined adsorption isotherms for oligonucleotides using the inverse method for separations of a 9- and a 10-mer. We found that preparative columns with a 60 angstrom-pore-size packing material provided a 10% increase in productivity as compared with a 300 A packing material, although the surface area of the 60 angstrom packing is as much as five time larger.

Abstract A rigorous processing of adsorption data from quartz crystal microbalance technology was successfully combined with the data obtained by partial filling affinity capillary electrophoresis and molecular dynamics for the clarification of the temperature effect on the interaction of a major glycosaminoglycan chain chondroitin-6-sulfate (C6S) of proteoglycans with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and with a peptide fragment of apolipoprotein B-100 (residues 3359–3377 of LDL, PPBS). Two experimental techniques and computational atomistic methods demonstrated a nonlinear pattern of the affinity of C6S at temperatures above 38.0 °C to both LDL and PPBS. The temperature affects the interaction of C6S with LDL and PPBS by influencing the structural behavior of glycosaminoglycan C6S and/or that of LDL.

In this study, the extraction and CE-ESI-TOF-MS analysis of tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) drugs imipramine, desipramine, clomipramine and norclomipramine in human plasma has been optimized. The CE capillaries were modified with omega-iodo-alkyl ammonium salt (M7C4I coating) to reduce analyte adsorption to the silica wall. The use of a strong cation exchange (SCX) solid-phase extraction (SPE) column specifically designed for the extraction of basic drug species from biofluids gave very clean extracts with high and reproducible recoveries. The extraction recoveries were ranging between 87 and 91% with % RSD values of 0.5-1.7% (n = 3). The obtained strong cation exchange-SPE extracts of the TCA in human plasma only contained the analytes of interest. The optimized CE separation conditions were obtained by adding ACN and acetic acid to the sample while using an aqueous BGE. The CE-ESI-TOF-MS analysis was performed within 6 min for all TCA analytes under the optimized condition with peak efficiencies up to 1.4 x 10(5) plates/m and an average % RSD of the migration times of the analytes of 0.3% (n = 5). The presented method can readily be used for the extraction and quantification of basic drug species in human biological fluids and in pharmaceutical formulations.

An approach for reliable transfer from analytical to preparative scale supercritical fluid chromatography was evaluated. Here, we accounted for the conditions inside the columns as well as to the fact that most analytical instruments are volume-controlled while most preparative scale units are mass-controlled. The latter is a particular problem when performing pilot scale experiments and optimizations prior to scaling up to production scale. This was solved by measuring the mass flow, the pressure and the temperature on the analytical unit using external sensors. Thereafter, it was revealed with a design of experiments approach that the methanol fraction and the pressure are the two most important parameters to control for preserved retention throughout the scale-up; for preserved selectivity the temperature was most important in this particular system. Using this approach, the resulting chromatograms from the preparative unit agreed well with those from the analytical unit while keeping the same column length and particles size. A brief investigation on how the solute elution volume varies with the volumetric flow rate revealed a complex dependency on pressure, density and apparent methanol content. Since the methanol content is a parameter of great importance to control during the scale up, we must be careful when changing operational and column design conditions which generates deviations in pressure, density and methanol content between different columns. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Oligonucleotide drugs represent an emerging area in the pharmaceutical industry. Solid-phase synthesis generates many structurally closely related impurities, making efficient separation systems for purification and analysis a key challenge during pharmaceutical drug development. To increase the fundamental understanding of the important preparative separation step, mass-overloaded injections of a fully phosphorothioated 16mer, i.e., deoxythymidine oligonucleotide, were performed on a C18 and a phenyl column. The narrowest elution profiles were obtained using the phenyl column, and the 16mer could be collected with high purity and yield on both columns. The most likely contribution to the successful purification was the quantifiable displacement of the early-eluting shortmers on both columns. In addition, the phenyl column displayed better separation of later-eluting impurities, such as the 17mer impurity. The mass-overloaded injections resulted in classical Langmuirian elution profiles on all columns, provided the concentration of the ion-pairing reagent in the eluent was sufficiently high. Two additional column chemistries, C4 and C8, were also investigated in terms of their selectivity and elution profile characteristics for the separation of 520mers fully phosphorothioated deoxythymidine oligonucleotides. When using triethylamine as ion-pairing reagent to separate phosphorothioated oligonucleotides, we observed peak broadening caused by the partial separation of diastereomers, predominantly seen on the C4 and C18 columns. When using the ion-pair reagent tributylamine, to suppress diastereomer separation, the greatest selectivity was found using the phenyl column followed by C18. The present results will be useful when designing and optimizing efficient preparative separations of synthetic oligonucleotides.

Computer-assisted optimization of chromatographic separations requires finding the numerical solution of the Equilibrium-Dispersive (ED) mass balance equation. Furthermore, the competitive adsorption isotherms needed for optimization are often estimated numerically using the inverse method that also solves the ED equations. This means that the accuracy of the estimated adsorption isotherm parameters explicitly depends on the numerical accuracy of the algorithm that is used to solve the ED equations. The fast and commonly used algorithm for this purpose, the Rouchon Finite Difference (RFD) algorithm, has often been reported not to be able to accurately solve the ED equations for all practical preparative experimental conditions, but its limitations has never been completely and systematically investigated. In this study, we thoroughly investigate three different algorithms used to solve the ED equations: the RFD algorithm, the Orthogonal Collocation on Finite Elements (OCFE) method and a Central Difference Method (CDM) algorithm, both for increased theoretical understanding and for real cases of industrial interest. We identified discrepancies between the conventional RFD algorithm and the more accurate OCFE and CDM algorithms for several conditions, such as low efficiency, increasing number of simulated components and components present at different concentrations. Given high enough efficiency, we experimentally demonstrate good prediction of experimental data of a quaternary separation problem using either algorithm, but better prediction using OCFE/CDM for a binary low efficiency separation problem or separations when the compounds have different efficiency. Our conclusion is to use the RFD algorithm with caution when such conditions are present and that the rule of thumb that the number of theoretical plates should be greater than 1000 for application of the RFD algorithm is underestimated in many cases

Computer assisted process optimization of chromatographic separations requires the selection of computer algorithms and measurement of relevant parameters. In this study, we will investigate how the choice of algorithms and the number of performed initial experiments affect the estimated optimal separations conditions. We will focus on conditions typically encountered for slurry packing coated 20 µm CSP in large-scale columns used for pharmaceutical intermediate purification.Probably the most essential for parameters in this context are the adsorption isotherm parameters for the components. The rapid "inverse method" is commonly used and this method requires that one numerically solve the mass balance equations describing the chromatographic process. Here we thoroughly investigate how different algorithms that solve the Equilibrium-Dispersive (ED) mass balance equations will affect the estimated adsorption isotherm parameters.Furthermore, we will investigate and compare how different strategies affect the prediction of the optimal separation conditions. First, we will use a more rapid approach that requires a minimum of experiments and uses standard algorithms to estimate optimal conditions. Secondly, we will use a more exact approach that requires more experiments and uses more advanced simulation- and optimization algorithms

Predicting the band profiles of typical chromatographic separations using the approach of the inverse method (IM) [2] requires finding the numerical solution of the Equilibrium-Dispersive (ED) mass balance equation [1]. The accuracy of the determination of the competitive adsorption isotherms is therefore explicitly dependent on the choice of algorithm to solve the ED model. Earlier studies have shown that the well known RFD algorithm [3] has limitations in its accuracy for certain simulated conditions such as column efficiency and adsorption isotherm type [5]. In this study, we thoroughly investigate three different algorithms, the rapid and well known Rouchon Finite Difference (RFD) algorithm [3], the Orthogonal Collocation on Finite Elements (OCFE) method [4] and the Central Difference Method (CDM) algorithm developed by us. Firstly, a systematic investigation is made, comparing the different algorithms under a broad range of different synthetic conditions. Secondly, we apply all three algorithms using the IM on real experimental systems; (I) one high efficiency quaternary separation and (II) one pharmaceutical industry application with a chiral intermediate separation. We have found discrepancies between the conventional (RFD) and the more accurate (OCFE and CDM) algorithms for several synthetic conditions such as low efficiency, increasing number of simulated components and components present at different concentrations. Given high enough efficiency, we experimentally demonstrate good prediction of experimental data of a quaternary separation problem using either algorithm but better prediction of OCFE/CDM for a binary low efficiency separation problem. Our conclusion is to use the RFD algorithm with caution when any of the particular conditions we have investigated is valid. When the highest accuracy is sought, there is no doubt that OCFE or CDM should be the algorithms of choice. However, given the computational speed of RFD, we also recommend it for preliminary parameter fitting. For conditions where we have shown the algorithms to produce practically identical solutions, RFD can be applied with greater certainty. It remains to be thoroughly investigated the effect on the particular shape of the adsorption isotherm on the obtained solution, for example type III having inflection points.

Abstract In this study we will demonstrate the potential of modern integrated commercial analytical SFC-systems for rapid and reliable acquisition of thermodynamic data. This will be done by transferring the following adsorption isotherm determination methods from liquid chromatography (LC) to supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC): Elution by Characteristic Points (ECP), the Retention Time Method (RTM), the Inverse Method (IM) and the Perturbation Peak (PP) method. In order to transfer these methods to SFC in a reliable, reproducible way we will demonstrate that careful system verification using external sensors of mass flow, temperature and pressure are needed first. The adsorption isotherm data generated by the different methods were analyzed and compared and the adsorption isotherms ability to predict new experimental elution profiles was verified by comparing experiments with simulations. It was found that adsorption isotherm data determined based on elution profiles, i.e., ECP, IM and RTM, were able to accurately predict overloaded experimental elution profiles while the more tedious and time-consuming PP method, based on small injections on concentration plateaus, failed in doing so.

Short interfering RNA (siRNA) represents a rapidly expanding class of marketed oligonucleotide therapeutics. Due to its double-stranded nature, the characterization of siRNA is twofold: (i) at the single-strand (denaturing) level for impurity profiling and (ii) at the intact (nondenaturing) level to confirm duplex formation and quantify excess single strands (including single strand-derived impurities). While denaturing analysis can be carried out using conventional ion-pair reversed-phase liquid chromatography (IP-RPLC), nondenaturing characterization of siRNA is a significantly less straightforward task. Typical IP-RPLC conditions have an intrinsic denaturing effect on siRNA, thereby limiting the development of viable approaches for the intact duplex analysis. In this study, we demonstrate, through the design of experiments of siRNA melting temperatures and chromatography analyses, that the simple addition of salts, such as phosphate-buffered saline and ammonium acetate, to eluents enhances the suitability of IP-RPLC for the nondenaturing analysis of siRNA during both UV- and mass spectrometry-based analysis. This work represents a milestone in overcoming the challenges associated with nondenaturing analysis of siRNAs by IP-RPLC and offers a fresh angle for exploring IP-RPLC of siRNAs.

We investigated and compared the robustness of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) separations of the peptide gramicidin, using either isocratic or gradient elution. This was done using design of experiments in a design space of co-solvent fraction, water mass fraction in co-solvent, pressure, and temperature. The density of the eluent (CO2-MeOH-H2O) was experimentally determined using a Coriolis mass flow meter to calculate the volumetric flow rate required by the design. For both retention models, the most important factor was the total co-solvent fraction and water mass fraction in co-solvent. Comparing the elution modes, we found that gradient elution was more than three times more robust than isocratic elution. We also observed a relationship between the sensitivity to changes and the gradient steepness and used this to draw general conclusions beyond the studied experimental system. To test the robustness in a practical context, both the isocratic and gradient separations were transferred to another laboratory. The gradient elution was highly reproducible between laboratories, whereas the isocratic system was not. Using measurements of the actual operational conditions (not the set system conditions), the isocratic deviation was quantitatively explained using the retention model. The findings indicate the benefits of using gradient elution in SFC as well as the importance of measuring the actual operational conditions to be able to explain observed differences between laboratories when conducting method transfer.

A B S T R A C T Here it was investigated how oligonucleotide retention and selectivity factors are affected by electrostatic and non-electrostatic interactions in ion pair chromatography. A framework was derived describing how selectivity depends on the electrostatic potential generated by the ion-pair reagent concentration, co-solvent volume fraction, charge difference between the analytes, and temperature. Isocratic experiments verified that, in separation problems concerning oligonucleotides of different charges, selectivity increases with increasing surface potential and analyte charge difference and with decreasing co-solvent volume fraction and temperature. For analytes of the same charge, for example, diastereomers of phosphorothioated oligonucleotides, selectivity can be increased by decreasing the co-solvent volume fraction or the temperature and has only a minor dependency on the ion-pairing reagent concentration. An important observation is that oligonucleotide retention is driven predominantly by electrostatic interaction generated by the adsorption of the ion-pairing reagent. We therefore compared classical gradient elution in which the co-solvent volume fraction increases over time versus gradient elution with a constant co-solvent volume fraction but with decreasing ion-pair reagent concentration over time. Both modes decrease the electrostatic potential. Oligonucleotide selectivity was found to increase with decreasing ion pairing reagent concentration. The two elution modes were finally applied to two different model anti sense oligonucleotide separation problems, and it was shown that the ion-pair reagent gradient increases the selectivity of non-charge & ndash;based separation problems while maintaining charge-difference & ndash;based selectivity. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

Support vector regression models are created and used to predict the retention times of oligonucleotides separated using gradient ion-pair chromatography with high accuracy. The experimental dataset consisted of fully phosphorothioated oligonucleotides. Two models were trained and validated using two pseudo orthogonal gradient modes and three gradient slopes. The results show that the spread in retention time differs between the two gradient modes, which indicated varying degree of sequence dependent separation. Peak widths from the experimental dataset were calculated and correlated with the guanine cytosine content and retention time of the sequence for each gradient slope. This data was used to predict the resolution of the n - 1 impurity among 250 0 0 0 random 12-and 16-mer sequences; showing one of the investigated gradient modes has a much higher probability of exceeding a resolution of 1.5, particularly for the 16-mer sequences. Sequences having a high guanine-cytosine content and a terminal C are more likely to not reach critical resolution. The trained SVR models can both be used to identify characteristics of different separation methods and to assist in the choice of method conditions, i.e. to optimize resolution for arbitrary sequences. The methodology presented in this study can be expected to be applicable to predict retention times of other oligonucleotide synthesis and degradation impurities if provided enough training data.

This study presents a systematic investigation of factors influencing the chromatographic separation of diastereomers of phosphorothioated pentameric oligonucleotides as model solutes. Separation was carried out under ion-pairing conditions using an XBridge C18 column. For oligonucleotides with a single sulfur substitution, the diastereomer selectivity was found to increase with decreasing carbon chain length of the tertiary alkylamine used as an ion-pair reagent. Using an ion-pair reagent with high selectivity for diastereomers, triethylammonium, it was found the selectivity increased with decreased ion-pair concentration and shallower gradient slope. Selectivity was also demonstrated to be dependent on the position of the modified linkage. Substitutions at the center of the pentamer resulted in higher diastereomer selectivity compared to substitutions at either end. For mono-substituted oligonucleotides, the retention order and stereo configuration were consistently found to be correlated, with Rp followed by Sp, regardless of which linkage was modified. The type of nucleobase greatly affects the observed selectivity. A pentamer of cytosine has about twice the diastereomer selectivity of that of thymine. When investigating the retention of various oligonucleotides eluted using tributylammonium as the ion-pairing reagent, no diastereomer selectivity could be observed. However, retention was found to be dependent on both the degree and position of sulfur substitution as well as on the nucleobase. When analyzing fractions collected in the front and tail of overloaded injections, a significant difference was found in the ratio between Rp and Sp diastereomers, indicating that the peak broadening observed when using tributylammonium could be explained by partial diastereomer separation.

The adsorption equilibria of racemic methyl mandelate on a tris-(3,5-dimethylphenyl)carbamoyl cellulose chiral stationary phase (CSP) was investigated. This separation has previously been performed and analyzed on a methylcellulose tribenzoate coated CSP. In that case, both enantiomers could be described with a bi-Langmuir adsorption isotherm, convex upwards (type I). In our case, two fundamentally different properties were observed. First, the elution order was reversed. Furthermore, only the less retained enantiomer shows type I adsorption behavior, while the adsorption isotherm of the more retained compound contained an inflection point at low concentration. To analyze these differences, adsorption isotherms were determined and further analyzed using Scatchard plots and adsorption energy distribution calculations. The less retained enantiomer was best described by Tóth adsorption isotherm while the second enantiomer was best described with a bi-Moreau adsorption isotherm. The Moreau model is an extension of the Langmuir model including non-ideal adsorbate-adsorbate interactions; here the unusual model provided an explanation to the non-ideal adsorption of the more retained enantiomer. Furthermore, the possibility of using the Moreau model as a local model for adsorption in AED calculations was evaluated by synthetically generated raw adsorption slope data. It was demonstrated that the AED accurately could predict the number of adsorption sites for the generated data. The adsorption behavior of both enantiomers was also studied at several different temperatures and it was found to be exothermic; in addition, the non-idealadsorbate-adsorbate interaction strength decreases with increasing temperature. Stochastic analysis of the adsorption process could identify a single kinetic site for each enantiomer. The average amount of adsorption/desorption events increases and the sojourn time decreases with increasing temperature.

A strategy to match any retention shifts due to increased or decreased pressure drop during supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) method transfer is presented. The strategy relies on adjusting the co-solvent molarity without the need to adjust the back-pressure regulator. Exact matching can be obtained with minimal changes in separation selectivity. To accomplish this, we introduce the isomolar plot approach, which shows the variation in molar co-solvent concentration depending on the mass fraction of co-solvent, pressure, and temperature, here exemplified by CO2-methanol. This plot allowed us to unify the effects of the co-solvent mass fraction and density on retention in SFC. The approach, which was verified on 12 known empirical retention models for each enantiomer of six basic pharmaceuticals, allowed us to numerically calculate the apparent retention factor for any column pressure drop. The strategy can be implemented either using a mechanistic approach if retention models are known or empirically by iteratively adjusting the co-solvent mass fraction. As a rule of thumb for the empirical approach, we found that the relative mass fraction adjustment needed is proportional to the relative change in the retention factor caused by a change in the pressure drop. Different proportionality constants were required to match retention in the case of increasing or decreasing pressure drops.

The adsorption equilibria of racemic methyl mandelate on a tris-(3,5- dimethylphenyl)carbamoyl cellulose chiral stationary phase (CSP) was investigated. The following were observed, the less retained enantiomer shows “Langmuirian” (type I) adsorption behavior, while the adsorption isotherm of the more retained compound contained an inflection point at low concentration. To analyze these differences, adsorption isotherms were determined and further analyzed using Scatchard plots and adsorption energy distribution (AED) calculations. The less retained enantiomer was best described by heterogeneous unimodal adsorption model (Tóth) while the second enantiomer was best described with a heterogeneous adsorption model with adsorbate-adsorbate interactions (bi-Moreau). The adsorption behavior of both enantiomers was also studied at several different temperatures and it was found to be exothermic; in addition, the non-idealadsorbate-adsorbate interaction strength decreases with increasing temperature. Stochastic analysis of the adsorption process could identify a single kinetic site for each enantiomer. The average amount of adsorption/desorption events increases and the sojourn time decreases with increasing temperature. This is an industrial – academic cooperation in the Fundamental Separation Science Group www.separationscience.se

The adsorption equilibria of racemic methyl mandelate on a tris-(3,5-dimethylphenyl)carbamoyl cellulose chiral stationary phase (CSP) was investigated. This separation has previously been performed and analyzed on a methylcellulose tribenzoate coated CSP. In that case, both enantiomers could be described with a bi-Langmuir adsorption isotherm, convex upwards (type I). In our case, two fundamentally different properties were observed. First, the elution order was reversed. Furthermore, only the less retained enantiomer shows type I adsorption behavior, while the adsorption isotherm of the more retained compound contained an inflection point at low concentration.

To analyze these differences, adsorption isotherms were determined and further analyzed using Scatchard plots and adsorption energy distribution calculations. The less retained enantiomer was best described by Tóth adsorption isotherm while the second enantiomer was best described with a bi-Moreau adsorption isotherm. The Moreau model is an extension of the Langmuir model including non-ideal adsorbate-adsorbate interactions; here the unusual model provided an explanation to the non-ideal adsorption of the more retained enantiomer. Furthermore, the possibility of using the Moreau model as a local model for adsorption in AED calculations was evaluated by synthetically generated raw adsorption slope data. It was demonstrated that the AED accurately could predict the number of adsorption sites for the generated data. The adsorption behavior of both enantiomers was also studied at several different temperatures and it was found to be exothermic; in addition, the non-idealadsorbate-adsorbate interaction strength decreases with increasing temperature.

Stochastic analysis of the adsorption process could identify a single kinetic site for each enantiomer. The average amount of adsorption/desorption events increases and the sojourn time decreases with increasing temperature.

Ion-pair chromatography is the de facto standard for separating oligonucleotides and related impurities, particularly for analysis but also often for small-scale purification. Currently, there is limited understanding of the quantitative modeling of both analytical and overloaded elution profiles obtained during gradient elution in ion-pair chromatography. Here we will investigate a recently introduced gradient mode, the so-called ion-pairing reagent gradient mode, for both analytical and overloaded separations of oligonucleotides. The first part of the study demonstrates how the electrostatic theory of ion-pair chromatography can be applied for modeling gradient elution of oligonucleotides. When the ion-pair gradient mode is used in a region where the electrostatic surface potential can be linearized, a closed-form expression of retention time can be derived. A unified retention model was then derived, applicable for both ion-pair reagent gradient mode as well as co-solvent gradient mode. The model was verified for two different experimental systems and homo- and heteromeric oligonucleotides of different lengths. Quantitative modeling of overloaded chromatography using the ion-pairing reagent gradient mode was also investigated. Firstly, a unified adsorption isotherm model was developed for both gradient modes. Then, adsorption isotherms parameter of a model oligonucleotide and two major synthetic impurities were estimated using the inverse method. Secondly, the parameters of the adsorption isotherm were then used to investigate how the productivity of oligonucleotide varies with injection volume, gradient slope, and initial retention factor. Here, the productivity increased when using a shallow gradient slope combined with a low initial retention factor. Finally, experiments were conducted to confirming some of the model predictions. Comparison with the conventional co-solvent gradient mode showed that the ion-pairing reagent gradient leads to both higher yield and productivity while consuming less co-solvent.

Three different, commercially available, Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC) systems were investigated: Thar Super Pure Discovery Series SFC, Waters UPC2 and Agilent 1260 Infinity SFC. The reason for choosing the two analytical systems from Agilent and Waters is that they represent two of the latest commercial systems available while the semi-preparative instrument was added to widen the study to include instruments also used for preparative purposes. With identical operational conditions set these systems were used to acquire analytical retention data and adsorption isotherms from overloaded injections. The investigation was limited to the use of methanol as modifier and operational conditions, temperature and back pressure most typically observed when utilizing SFC to separate polar compounds. The results clearly show that both analytical retention times and elution profiles are system dependent. Since the overloaded elution profiles are system dependent the adsorption isotherm will also be different. However, this do not mean that the adsorption is different, instead this it is due to the fact that identical instrumental settings, especially pressure and modifier composition settings, does not necessarily mean that the conditions inside the column are identical. This means that it is not possible to transfer an established separation method from one system to another, even if one is using the same column and identical instrument settings. Understanding of SFC-systems will be of fundamental importance for successful transfer of methods between systems, reliable adsorption isotherm determination, and analytical quality work and scaling up from analytical to preparative mode. These issues can probably be solved by measuring mass flow, pressure and temperature along the column, together with a sound understanding of the density variations of the mobile phase. However, the work of finding acceptable applications or guidelines to remove the tedious need for these measurements is currently investigated in our lab. This is a contribution from the Fundamental Separation Science Group www.FSSG.se

Recently the pharmaceutical industry has started to replace preparative HPLC with preparative SFC to lower the environmental impact and to increase performance. Reliable characterization of the adsorption processes in SFC is therefore of utmost importance. The key thermodynamic phase system information is obtained by rigorous determination of adsorption isotherm data over a broad concentration range. If properly processed, this data gives not only correct information about the degree of heterogeneity but also the energy of interactions and mono layer capacities of each individual type of adsorption site in the phase system. Ultimately, this can result in identification of the types of interactions, i.e., dipole-dipole, van der Waals interactions etc. In this study we will present transfer of selected adsorption characterization methods, traditionally applied with success in LC, to SFC. We have here transferred all available knowledge from LC – from model selection to validation. We will also, using recent findings, explain the effects of pressure and temperature variations as well as how to accurately measure the volumetric flow rate on a modern analytical SFC system. We will demonstrate how the latest SFC instruments, with some critical modifications; have the potential for rapid and reliable acquisition of thermodynamic data using the ECP method. Finally we will elaborate on how the adsorption depends on density, temperature and modifier content in the mobile phase. This is a contribution from the Fundamental Separation Science Group www.FSSG.se

In this study, omeprazole was used as a model compound. Omeprazole and other related sulfoxidebenzimidazolesare used against gastric ulcersand have been extensively studied regarding chromatographic resolution techniques using several different chiral stationary phases.First, AstraZeneca launched Losec, a racemic mixture of RS-omeprazole. Facing loss of patent, the more potent S-enantiomer was developed and marketed as Nexium. Now the patent of Nexium is close expiration why methods for isolation of the pure S-enantiomer will be of importance for the generic pharmaceutical companies.The experimental model separation system represents a system with good selectivity and high solubility of the solute in the eluent. In this investigation the productivity optima for three different particle sizes (5, 10 and 25 µm) at maximum system pressure ranging from 50 to 400 bars are studied. Two different optimizations cases were studied in depth. First,a process optimization with fixed column geometry is studied. The results clearly show that larger packing materials have higher productivity at low pressure drops on the analytical size column.With increasing allowed pressure drops, over 200 bar, the smaller packing materials have substantially higher productivity. The results also show that smaller packing material will always have much lower solvent consumption compared to larger particles.The second process optimization was performed with a fixed column volume, but the column geometry was variable. The results shows that the productivity obtained for the smaller packing particles materials was higher compared to the large for all allowed pressure drops. The productivity obtained for the small particle compared to the large increased by 25-300 % while maintaining 50-300 % less solvent consumption for the purification of the first enantiomer.The addition of TEA seems to be unfavorable for all tested conditions.In conclusion, the optimization of the enantioseparation of omeprazole has been shown to be dependent on column packing particle size as well as column geometry. It has been demonstrated that all parameters need to be simultaneously optimized to reach a global productivity optima.

In this study, omeprazole was used as a model compound. Omeprazole and other related sulfoxide benzimidazoles are used against gastric ulcers and have been extensively studied regarding chromatographic resolution techniques using several different chiral stationary phases.First, AstraZeneca launched Losec, a racemic mixture of RS-omeprazole. Facing loss of patent, the more potent S-enantiomer was developed and marketed as Nexium. Now the patent of Nexium is close expiration why methods for isolation of the pure S-enantiomer will be of importance for the generic pharmaceutical companies.The experimental model separation system represents a system with good selectivity and high solubility of the solute in the eluent. In this investigation the productivity optima for three different particle sizes (5, 10 and 25 µm) at maximum system pressure ranging from 50 to 400 bars are studied. Two different optimizations cases were studied in depth. First,a process optimization with fixed column geometry is studied. The results clearly show that larger packing materials have higher productivity at low pressure drops on the analytical size column.With increasing allowed pressure drops, over 200 bar, the smaller packing materials have substantially higher productivity.The results also show that smaller packing material will always have much lower solvent consumption compared to larger particles.The second process optimization was performed with a fixed column volume, but the column geometry was variable. The results shows that the productivity obtained for the smaller packing particles materials was higher compared to the large for all allowed pressure drops. The productivity obtained for the small particle compared to the large increased by 25-300 % while maintaining 50-300 % less solvent consumption for the purification of the first enantiomer.The addition of TEA seems to be unfavorable for all tested conditions.In conclusion, the optimization of the enantioseparation of omeprazole has been shown to be dependent on column packing particle size as well as column geometry. It has been demonstrated that all parameters need to be simultaneously optimized to reach a global productivity optima.

The adsorption equilibria of racemic methyl mandelate on a tris-(3, 5-dimethylphenyl)carbamoyl cellulose chiral stationary phase (CSP) has a peculiar behavior. The preparative band shape of the more retained enantiomer was very unusual with an inflection point at low concentrations whereas the less retained enantiomer shows normal type I adsorption behavior. For a deeper understanding of this separation adsorption isotherms were determined and further analyzed with Scatchard plots combined with adsorption energy distribution calculations. The less retained enantiomer was best described by Tóth adsorption isotherm while the second enantiomer was best described with a bi-Moreau adsorption isotherm. The Moreau model is an extension of the Langmuir model including non-ideal adsorbate-adsorbate interactions; here the unusual model provided an explanation to the non-ideal adsorption of the more retained enantiomer. Furthermore, the possibility of using the Moreau model as a local model for adsorption in AED calculations was evaluated by synthetically generated raw adsorption slope data. It was demonstrated that the AED accurately could predict the number of adsorption sites for the generated data. The adsorption behavior of both enantiomers was also studied at several different temperatures and it was found to be exothermic; in addition, the non-ideal adsorbate-adsorbate interaction strength decreases with increasing temperature. Stochastic analysis of the adsorption process could identify a single kinetic site for each enantiomer. The average amount of adsorption/desorption events increases and the sojourn time decreases with increasing temperature

The Perturbation Peak (PP) method and Frontal analysis (FA) are considered as the most accurate methods for adsorption isotherms determination in liquid chromatography. In this study we investigate and explain why this is not the case in Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC), where the PP method does not work at all, using a modern analytical system. The main reason was found to be that the solute to be studied must be dissolved in the MeOH reservoir before it is mixed with CO2. Since the solute occupies a certain partial volume in the reservoir, the larger the solute content the larger this fractional volume will be, and the final MeOH fraction in the mobile phase will then be smaller compared to the bulk mobile phase without solute in the modifier. If the retention of small injections on the concentration plateaus, i.e., “analytical-size” perturbation peaks, is sensitive to small variations of MeOH in the eluent, this will seriously decrease the accuracy of the PP method. This effect was verified and compensated for and we also demonstrated that the same problem will occur in frontal analysis, another concentration plateau method.

Enantiomeric separation of omeprazole has been extensively studied regarding both product analysis and preparation using several different chiral stationary phases. In this study, the preparative chiral separation of omeprazole is optimized for productivity using three different columns packed with amylose tris (3,5-dimethyl phenyl carbamate) coated macroporous silica (5, 10 and 25 Όm) with a maximum allowed pressure drop ranging from 50 to 400 bar. This pressure range both covers low pressure process systems (50–100 bar) and investigates the potential for allowing higher pressure limits in preparative applications in a future. The process optimization clearly show that the larger 25 Όm packing material show higher productivity at low pressure drops whereas with increasing pressure drops the smaller packing materials have substantially higher productivity. Interestingly, at all pressure drops, the smaller packing material result in lower solvent consumption (L solvent/kg product); the higher the accepted pressure drop, the larger the gain in reduced solvent consumption. The experimental adsorption isotherms were not identical for the different packing material sizes; therefore all calculations were recalculated and reevaluated assuming identical adsorption isotherms (with the 10 Όm isotherm as reference) which confirmed the trends regarding productivity and solvent consumption.

Recently the pharmaceutical industry has started to replace HPLC with SFC because of incentives to lower the environmental impact and as well as increasing performance. Reliable characterization of the adsorption processes in SFC, is therefore of utmost importance. The key thermodynamic phase system information is obtained by rigorous determination of adsorption isotherms over a broad concentration range. If properly processed, this data gives not only correct information about the degree of heterogeneity but also the values of the energy of interactions and monolayer capacities of each individual type of adsorption site in the phase system; ultimately, this can result in identification of the types of interactions (dipole-dipole, van der Waals interactions etc.). In this study, we will present the transfer of LC adsorption characterization methods to SFC conditions using several model compounds with several different methods for adsorption isotherm determination traditionally applied with success in LC, and now modified for SFC. We have limited our investigation to methanol as modifier and used the operational conditions, temperature and backpressure most typically observed in industrial settings; in addition, we have used commercial standard SFC-equipment. The results clearly shows that adsorption isotherm determinations in SFC are considerably more complicated than in LC; we will go through the most important pitfalls and give guidelines for more rigorous determinations of adsorption data in SFC. This is an industrial – academic cooperation in the Fundamental Separation Science Group www.separationscience.se

An interesting adsorption behavior of racemic methyl mandelate on a tris-(3,5-dimethylphenyl)carbamoyl cellulose chiral stationary phase was theoretically and experimentally investigated. The overloaded band of the more retained enantiomer had a peculiar shape indicating a type V adsorption isotherm whereas the overloaded band of the less retained enantiomer had a normal shape indicating a type I adsorption behavior. For a closer characterization of this separation, adsorption isotherms were determined and analyzed using an approach were Scatchard plots and adsorption energy distribution (AED) calculations are combined for a deeper analysis. It was found that the less retained enantiomer was best described by a Tóth adsorption isotherm while the second one was best described with a bi-Moreau adsorption isotherm. The latter model comprises non-ideal adsorbate–adsorbate interactions, providing an explanation to the non-ideal adsorption of the more retained enantiomer. Furthermore, the possibility of using the Moreau model as a local model for adsorption in AED calculations was evaluated using synthetically generated raw adsorption slope data. It was found that the AED accurately could predict the number of adsorption sites for the generated data. The adsorption behavior of both enantiomers was also studied at several different temperatures and found to be exothermic; i.e. the adsorbate–adsorbate interaction strength decreases with increasing temperature. Stochastic analysis of the adsorption process revealed that the average amount of adsorption/desorption events increases and the sojourn time decreases with increasing temperature.

Abstract In SFC the sample cannot be dissolved in the mobile phase, so it is often dissolved in pure modifier, or another liquid, sometimes resulting in serious distortions of the eluted peak profiles already at moderately high injection volumes. It is suspected the reasons for these effects are solvent strength mismatch and/or viscosity mismatch. This study presents a systematic and fundamental investigation of the origin of these peak deformations due to the injection solvent effects in SFC, using both systematic experiments and numerical modeling. The first set of experiments proved that the injection volume and the elution strength of the sample solution had a major impact of the shapes of the eluted peaks. Secondly, the sample band elution profile was numerically modeled on a theoretical basis assuming both un-retained and retained co-solvent injection plugs, respectively. These calculations quantitatively confirmed our first set of experiments but also pointed out that there is also an additional significant effect. Third, viscous fingering experiments were performed using viscosity contrast conditions imitating those encountered in SFC. These experiments clearly proved that viscous fingering effects play a significant role. A new method for determination of adsorption isotherms of solvents was also developed, called the “Retention Time Peak Method” (RTPM). The RTPM was used for fast estimation of the adsorption isotherms of the modifier and required using only two experiments.

The fundamental aspects to be considered during method transfer in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) are reviewed. The review is limited to mobile phases, stationary phases, and operating conditions generally encountered in current practice. First, the fundamentals of retention in SFC will be explored in relation to fluid composition, co-solvent adsorption to the stationary phase, pressure, and temperature. Second, considerations regarding predictable method transfer will be discussed in relation to instrumentation, columns, retention shifts, and method robustness. This review is not intended to be comprehensive but rather to highlight important issues for understanding and performing reliable method transfer and to give practical guidelines relating to the fundamentals covered.

Preparative chromatography is the best generic method currently available for purifying small drugs and valuable chemical components at the 10-kg level. Progress in computer technology, the development of new non-chiral/chiral stationary phases, and numerous improvements in reliability and economic performance have considerably increased the interest in modeling in academia and industry. This chapter introduces the modeling of preparative liquid chromatography in order to improve the purification process for valuable chemical components such as drugs and chiral components. We review the most important column and adsorption models and the methods for determining the essential thermodynamic adsorption data for both column characterization and process improvement. We also cover important operational modes (e.g., separation in gradient mode), cases involving additives or ion-pair reagents, and operational conditions sometimes neglected in the modeling process, for example, involving the impact of injection profiles. 

Preparative chromatography is the best generic method today for the purification of small drugs and valuable chemical components at <10-kg level. Recent progress in computer technology and the development of new nonchiral/chiral stationary phases, as well as numerous improvements in reliability and economic performance, have considerably increased the interest in modeling in academic and industrial communities. This chapter serves as an introduction to modeling of preparative liquid chromatography where the aim is to improve process purification of valuable chemical components, such as drugs and chiral components. We go through the most important column and adsorption models and methods for determination of the essential thermodynamic adsorption data for both column characterization and process improvement. We also cover important operational modes, such as separation in gradient mode and cases where additives are present, and operational conditions sometimes neglected in the modeling process, such as the impact of injection profiles.

Abstract Preparative chromatography is today the best generic method for the purification of small drugs and valuable chemical components at the &lt;10 kg-level. Recent progress in computer technology and the development of new nonchiral and chiral stationary phases, as well as numerous improvements in reliability and economic performance, have considerably increased the interest in modeling in academic and industrial communities. This chapter serves as an introduction to the field of modeling preparative liquid chromatography in the classical batch mode, aiming at improved process purification of valuable chemical components, drugs, and chiral components. We go through the most important column and adsorption models and methods for determination of the essential thermodynamic adsorption data for both column characterization and process improvement. But, we also cover important operational conditions sometimes neglected in the modeling procedure, such as the impact of injection profiles and accounting for the additive in the modeling procedure.

This poster serves as background information to the corresponding lecture. Adsorption isotherms are essential in order to understand the interaction between small molecules such as pharmaceutical compounds and larger biomolecules. An adsorption isotherm describes the relationship of free substance in a solution with adsorbed substance to a surface, at a specific and constant temperature. Adsorption isotherms could be determined using several different method, all method have their pros and cons. In this study we are using two modern but principally different biosensors to determine interactions: quarts micro-balance (QCM) and Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to determine interactions. For a long time adsorption isotherms has been determined solely by the chromatographic community. In this study we will present transformation of adsorption analysis tools from chromatography to biosensors, especially calculation of adsorption energy distribution prior adsorption model fit. We will also discuss how the experiments should be conducted. Guidelines will be given for the experimental setup and for when the chromatographic or a biosensor technique is to be preferred. This is a contribution from the Fundamental Separation Science Group in Karlstad www.separationscience.se

The estimation of reliable adsorption / equilibrium data are crucial for researchers in a wide range of fields such as analytical chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, pharmacology and pharmacokinetics. Traditionally, equilibrium data are simply estimated from the statistically best-fitted model to adsorption data; but there are many dangerous pitfalls on this road. We have therefore recently improved several methods for adsorption isotherm determinations. As example, the accuracy of generating adsorption data by the elution by characteristic points (ECP) method was increased considerably by a new experimental approach that eliminated the post-loop dispersion; the method was also expanded to cover more different general types of adsorption isotherms than before. We have also made important improvements on the processing and evaluation of the data based on a firm theoretical basis. In this context, a new numerical tool was developed, calculation of the adsorption energy distribution (AED) allowing the estimation of the degree of heterogeneity of the interaction prior to the rival model fit. This concept has also been transposed to modern biosensors such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology and continuous flow quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). We have utilized the improvements of generating and evaluation adsorption data to reveal more detailed information about molecular interactions in systems aimed at analytical and preparative separations and to understand better bio-molecular interactions derived from modern biosensors. This is a contribution from the Fundamental Separation Science Group in Karlstad www.separationscience.se

This Poster gives complementary material to the Lecture “Visualization of Chromatographic Surprises – The Helfferich Paradox Revisited. Here we will give more information on the remarkable deformations of invisible zones in the most simple and chromatographic system, unknown for most chromatographer. It is like reviling the part of the iceberg that is invisible, under the water.We recently described that “the injected sample molecules are not always found in the peak”. This happens if a small excess of molecules is injected into a column equilibrated with the same kind of molecules. Only one single peak will appear on the chromatogram (the system peak) while the injected molecules elute later in an invisible zone. The latter zones can be visualized by smart, but tedious, experimental procedures using either tracers or enantiomers. The phenomenon which was predicted by Helfferich in Science around 40 years ago was recently experimentally proven by us for the first time.As we continued to investigate the phenomena we could see that invisible zones containing the injected molecules take on the most strange and deformed shapes at higher sample loads. We will further show that a similar type of phenomenon appears in frontal analysis which results in invisible break-through and desorption curves. Depending on the conditions, the invisible breakthrough curves become more or less deformed. We explain the effects with the help of computer simulations which show an excellent agreement with experimental profiles of peaks and fronts.

Single component, small perturbation

Experimental Proof of a Chromatographic Paradox: Are the Injected Molecules in the Peak? Jörgen Samuelsson, Patrik Forsén, Morgan Stefansson and Torgny Fornstedt. Analytical Chemistry 2004, 76(4). 953-958.

Single component, large perturbation

Invisible Analyte Peak Deformations in Single-Component Liquid Chromatography” by Jörgen Samuelsson, Robert Arnell and Torgny Fornstedt. Analytical Chemistry (2006) 78 2765-2771.

Single component, frontal analysis

Discovery of invisible extra fronts in single-component frontal analysis in liquid chromatography by Jörgen Samuelsson and Torgny Fornstedt. Journal of Chromatography A (2006) 1114, 53-61.

Multi-component, small perturbation

Validation of the Tracer Pulse Method for Multi Component Liquid Chromatography- a Classical Paradox Revisited. Robert Arnell and Torgny Fornstedt. Analytical Chemistry (2006) 78, 4615-4623.

It has recently been demonstrated, using mathematical models, how peculiar overloaded band profiles of basic compounds are due to the local pH in the column when using low capacity buffers. In this study, overloaded peak shapes resulting after injection of carefully pH matched samples close to the pKa of the chosen solute are investigated primarily on two columns; one hybrid silica C18 column (Kromasil Eternity) and one purely polymeric column (PLRP-S), the latter lacking C18 ligands. It was found that distorted peaks of the basic test compound appear even though there is no difference in pH between the injected sample solution and the eluent; the previous explanation to why these effects occur is based on a pH mismatch. Thus, the unusual band shapes are not due to an initial pH difference. Furthermore, it was observed that the effect does not appear on polymeric columns without C18 ligands, but only on columns with C18 ligands, independently of the base matrix (silica, hybrid silica, polymeric)

This is a fundamental experimental and theoretical investigation on how the injection profile depends on important experimental parameters. The experiments revealed that the injection profile becomes more eroded with increased (i) flow rate, (ii) viscosity of the eluent, (iii) size of the solute, (iv) injection volume and (v) inner diameter of the injection loop capillary. These observations cannot be explained by a 1D-convection-diffusion equation, since it does not account for the effect of the parabolic flow and the radial diffusion on the elution profile. Therefore, the 1D model was expanded into a 2D-convection-diffusion equation with cylindrical coordinates, a model that showed a good agreement with the experimental injection profiles dependence on the experimental parameters. For a deeper understanding of the appearance of the injection profile the 2D model is excellent, but to account for injection profiles of various injection volumes and flow rates in preparative and process-chromatography using computer-optimizations, a more pragmatic approach must be developed. The result will give guidelines about how to reduce the extra-column variance caused by the injection profile. This is important both for preparative and analytical chromatography; in particular for modern analytical systems using short and narrow columns

This poster will also serves as background information to the lecture “Deeper insights in retention mechanisms and molecular interactions through improved methods for generating and evaluation adsorption data”. Adsorption isotherms are essential in order to understand the interaction between small molecules such as pharmaceutical compounds and larger biomolecules. An adsorption isotherm describes the relationship of free substance in a solution with adsorbed substance to a surface, at a specific and constant temperature. Adsorption isotherms could be determined using several different method, all method have their pros and cons. In this study we are using two modern but principally different biosensors to determine interactions: quarts micro-balance (QCM) and Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to determine interactions. For a long time adsorption isotherms has been determined solely by the chromatographic community. In this study we will present transformation of adsorption analysis tools from chromatography to biosensors, especially calculation of adsorption energy distribution prior adsorption model fit. We will also discuss how the experiments should be conducted. Guidelines will be given for the experimental setup and for when the chromatographic or a biosensor technique is to be preferred. This is a contribution from the Fundamental Separation Science Group in Karlstad www.separationscience.se

To simulate the separation process in liquid chromatography, the competitive adsorption isotherms need to be known. In gradient elution, the adsorption isotherms are determined with isocratic experiments on different mobile-phase plateaus, levels covering the range used in the gradient program. This can lead to extreme retention times for some mobile-phase compositions and therefore it might even be impossible to determine all necessary adsorption data using the traditional isocratic approach. In this talk, we will present a method where single and competitive nonlinear adsorption isotherms are determined directly from overloaded elution profiles in gradient elution. The numerical coefficients in the adsorption isotherms are determined by the inverse method that minimizes the difference between calculated and experimental elution profiles. This is a new method where the need for tedious/impossible isocratic experiments is eliminated. The method is systematically verified using both synthetic and experimental data. Finally the new method is used to successfully predict elution profiles for a two-component mixture in gradient elution. The new method open up the opportunity to study the adsorption of substances whose retention factor vary strongly with the mobile-phase composition, like peptides and proteins, where the classic methods will fail. We also intend to transfer the metholology for SFC in near future; but there are some problems to be solved first (see our SFC posters). This is a contribution from the Fundamental Separation Science Group www.FSSG.se

The need to determine the actual operational conditions, instead of merely using the set operational conditions, was investigated for in packed supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) by design of experiments (DoE) using a most important type of compounds, pharmaceutical basics, as models. The actual values of temperature, pressure, and methanol levels were recorded and calculated from external sensors, while the responses in the DoE were the retention factors and selectivity. A Kromasil CelluCoat columh was used as the stationary phase, carbon dioxide containing varying methanol contents as the mobile phase, and the six racemates of alprenolol, atenolol, metoprolol, propranolol, clenbuterol, and mianserin were selected as model solutes. For the retention modeling, the most important term was the methanol fraction followed by the temperature and pressure. Significant differences (p<0.05) between most of the coefficients in the retention models were observed when comparing models from set and actual conditions. The selectivity was much less affected by operational changes, and therefore was not severely affected by difference between set and actual conditions. The temperature differences were usually small, maximum +/- 1.4 degrees C, whereas the pressure differences were larger, typically approximately +10.5 bar. The set and actual fractions of methanol also differed, usually by +/- 0.4 percentage points. A cautious conclusion is that the primary reason for the discrepancy between the models is a mismatch between the set and actual methanol fractions. This mismatch is more serious in retention models at low methanol fractions. The study demonstrates that the actual conditions should almost always be preferred. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This study is an in-depth investigation on how numerical optimization strategies that also account forthe additive type and concentration, in preparative batch chromatography, should be performed. As amodel system, the separation of Z-(R,S)-2-aminobutyric acid enantiomers on a quinidine carbamate-based chiral stationary phase in polar organic mode was used, with different additive strengths of aceticacid or hexanoic acid in methanol. The inverse method was used to determine the competitive adsorp-tion isotherm parameters for the enantiomers and the additives. Three different optimization strategieswere examined: (1) injection volume optimization, (2) optimization of injection volume and additiveconcentration, and (3) full optimization including injection volume, additive concentration, sample con-centration and flow rate. It was concluded that (i) it is important to incorporate the additive concentrationin the optimization procedure to achieve the highest production rates, (ii) the full optimization strategyhad the overall best results, and (iii) the selection of additive is very important (here acetic acid additivewas superior to the hexanoic acid additive). By including the additive in the adsorption model and inthe numerical optimization it is not only possible to achieve higher production rates but also to properlyselect the additive that is most advantageous for the specific separation problem.

In computer assisted optimization of liquid chromatography it has been known for some years that it is important to use experimental injection profiles, instead of rectangular ones, in order to calculate accurate elution bands. However, the incorrectly assumed rectangular profiles are still mostly used especially in numerical optimizations. The reason is that the acquisition of injection profiles, for each injection volume and each flow rate considered in a computer-assisted optimization requires a too large number of experiments. In this article a new function is proposed, which enables highly accurate predictions of the injection profiles and thus more accurate computer optimizations, with a minimum experimental effort. To model the injection profiles for any injection volume at a constant flow rate, as few as two experimental injection profiles are required. If it is desirable to also take the effect of flow rate on the injection profiles into account, then just two additional experiments are required. The overlap between fitted and experimental injection profiles at different flow rates and different injection volumes were excellent, more than 90%, using experimental injection profiles from just four different injection volumes at two different flow rates. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the flow rate has a minor influence on the injection profiles and that the injection volume is the main parameter that needs to be accounted for.