Capillary liquid chromatography fraction collection and postcolumn reaction using segmented flow microfluidics

A challenge for capillary LC (cLC) is fraction collection and the manipulation of fractions from microscale columns. An emerging approach is the use of segmented flow or droplet technology to perform such tasks. In this work, a fraction collection and postcolumn reaction system based on segmented flow was developed for the gradient cLC of proteins. In the system, column effluent and immiscible oil are pumped into separate arms of a tee resulting in regular fractions of effluent segmented by oil. Fractions were generated at 1 Hz corresponding to 5 nL volumes. The fraction collection rate was high enough to generate over 30 fractions per peak and preserve chromatographic resolution achieved for a five-protein test mixture. The resulting fractions could be stored and subsequently derivatized for fluorescence detection by pumping them into a second tee where naphthalene dicarboxyaldehyde, a fluorogenic reagent, was pumped into a second arm and added to each fraction. Proteins were derivatized within the droplets enabling postcolumn fluorescence detection of the proteins. The experiments demonstrate that fraction collection from cLC by segmented flow can be extended to proteins. Further, they illustrate a potential workflow for protein analysis based on postcolumn derivatization for fluorescence detection.