Novel on-line methods are presented for the extraction, preconcentration and analysis of zwitterionic biomolecules using sol-gel-coated columns coupled to a conventional UV/visible detector. The presented approaches do not require any additional modification of the commercially available standard CE instrument. Extraction, stacking, and focusing techniques were used in the preconcentration procedures. The positively charged sol-gel coatings were created using N-octadecyldimethyl[3-(trimethoxysilyl) proply]ammonium chloride (C18-TMS) in the coating sol solutions. Due to the presence of a positively charged quaternary ammonium moiety in C18-TMS, the resulting sol-gel coating carried a positive charge. The negatively charged sol-gel coatings were due to the presence of sulfonate groups, which was formed from the oxidation of thiol groups in precursor mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) by hydrogen peroxide. Besides MPTMS, tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) and n-octadecyltriethoxysilane (C18-TEOS) were also used to prepare the sol solution for the creation of the negatively charged coatings. For extraction, the pH of the samples was properly adjusted to impart a net charge opposite to the sol-gel coatings. When a long plug of the sample was passed through the sol-gel-coated capillary, extraction was achieved via electrostatic interaction between the charged sol-gel coating and the charged sample molecules. The extracted analytes were then desorbed and focused via local pH change and stacking. The local pH change was accomplished by passing buffer solutions with proper pH values, while a dynamic pH junction between the sample solution and the background electrolyte was utilized to facilitate solute focusing. The developed methods showed excellent extraction and preconcentration effects on both positively and negatively charged sol-gel-coated columns. On-line preconcentration and analysis results obtained on the sol-gel coated columns were compared with those obtained on an uncoated fused silica capillary of identical dimensions using conventional sample injections. The described procedure provided a 150 000-fold enrichment effect for alanine on the positively charged sol-gel-coated column. On the negatively charged sol-gel-coated column, the presented sample preconcentration technique provided a sensitivity enhancement factor (SEF) on the order of 3 x 103 for myoglobin, and 7 x 103 for asparagines. The developed methods provided acceptable repeatability in terms of both peak height and migration time.

Over the past two decades, vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) has been applied as a versatile technique for probing the structure and dynamics of molecules at surfaces and interfaces. The excellent surface specificity of the SFG allows for probing different kinds of liquid interfaces with no or negligible contribution from adjacent and much deeper bulk phase. VSFG spectroscopy has provided evidence that the structure of the water at interfaces is different from the bulk. With the ultrafast pulses, VSFG can also be used as a probe of ultrafast vibrational dynamics at interfaces. However, apart from a few pioneering studies, the extension of VSFG into time domain has not been explored extensively. Here VSFG is used as a probe of ultrafast vibrational dynamics of water at silica interfaces. Silica is an excellent model system for the solid phase where one can systematically vary the surface charge via bulk pH adjustment. The extension of the surface electric field, the interfacial thickness and surface accumulation of ions at a charged silica surface were studied using IR pump-VSFG probe spectroscopy. A vibrational lifetime (T1) of about 250 fs, similar to bulk H2O, was observed for the O-H stretch of H2O/silica interface when the silica surface is negatively charged. At the neutral surface, where the thickness of interfacial water is smaller than at the charged surface, the vibrational lifetime of O-H stretch becomes more than two times longer (T1~ 600 fs) due to the decreased number of neighboring water molecules, probed by SFG. The fast T1 at negatively charged surface begins to slow down by screening of the penetration of surface electric field via adding salt which suggests the primary reason for similar vibrational dynamics of water at charged interface with bulk water is the penetration of electric field. By decoupling of OH of HDO in D2O, a frequency dependent vibrational lifetime is observed with faster T1 at the red compared to the blue side of the hydrogen bond spectral region. This correlates with the redshift of the SFG spectra with increasing charged surface and is consistent with a theoretical model that relates the vibrational lifetime to the strength of the hydrogen bond network. / Chemistry