Elution-extrusion countercurrent chromatography: theory and concepts in metabolic analysis

Elution-extrusion countercurrent chromatography (EECCC) takes full advantage of the liquid nature of the stationary phase in CCC by combining regular chromatographic elution with stationary-phase extrusion. EECCC is shown to be a three-stage process consisting of classical elution (I), sweeping elution (II), and extrusion (III). After only two column volumes of solvent, it rapidly yields a high-resolution chromatogram that covers an extended polarity range of solutes. As hydrophilicity/lipophilicity balance is a crucial discriminatory property of analytes in highly complex mixtures such as metabolomic samples, the precise determination of CCC distribution constants (KD) is vital to the analysis of metabolomes and other complex biological matrixes. This work builds the EECCC concept by performing a full theoretical treatment and providing equations for retention volumes, peak widths, resolution factors, and distribution constants. Experimental validation utilizes natural products standards that resemble the zero to infinity range of the polarity continuum. EECCC extends the "sweet spot" of high resolution in CCC and provides access to the otherwise practically unapproachable high-KD portion of the high-resolution chromatograms in CCC. Its improved capabilities of KD targeting make EECCC a promising tool for the specific analysis of "small" molecules in complex samples such as in metabolomic fingerprinting and footprinting.