Sample stacking for the analysis of penicillins by microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography

In this study, on-line sample concentration methods, which coupled field-amplified sample injection and sweeping technology with MEEKC, were used to detect and analyze eight common penicillin antibiotics (nafcillin, dicloxacillin, ampicillin, oxacillin, penicillin V, cloxacillin, penicillin G, and amoxicillin). During the optimization of field-amplified sample injection-sweeping MEEKC, the composition of sample matrix and the length of acidic plug were found to be the predominant influences for penicillin stacking. Both zwitterionic ampicillin and amoxicillin could only be stacked through cation-selective-exhaustive-injection sweeping, whereas the other six penicillin compounds were found to be concentrated by anion-selective-exhaustive-injection sweeping. Hence, in order to simultaneously concentrate the eight penicillins in a single-run sweeping step, a combination of successive anion- and cation-selective injections was used. When compared with previous CE-UV methods, the proposed on-line concentration MEEKC method provided better detection sensitivity and faster separation for these penicillins either in single ion-selective injection or in successive anion-/cation-selective injection where the LODs were in the range of 0.2-2.8 mu g/L and 0.5-5.8 mu g/L, respectively.