J  Chromatogr Sci, 61(3), 225-233 (2023). Development of a method for analyzing rosmarinic acid (RA), caffeic acid (CA), ursolic acid (UA) and oleanolic acid (OA) in different organs of Salvia deserta Schang qualitatively and quantitatively by HPTLC (A) for RA and CA, on silica gel with chloroform – methanol - formic acid 20:4:1, quantitative absorption measurement at 330 nm; (B) for UA and OA, on silica gel F254 with cyclohexane - ethyl acetate - methanol 20:4:1, quantitative absorption measurement at 550 nm. The linearity ranges were 0.13-0.44, 0.01-0.09, 0.50-2.50 and 0.50-2.50 mg for RA, CA, UA and OA, respectively, with corresponding correlation coefficients of 0.9938, 0.9981, 0.9971 and 0.9969, respectively. The recovery rates were between 95 % and 105 %. LOD and LOQ were 50, 58, 25, 33 and 160, 191, 80, 106 ng for RA, CA, UA and OA, respectively.

J Chrom Sci, bmad055 (2022). Standards of antiglycemic drugs were metformin hydrochloride (S1, a biguanide), glibenclamide (S2 = glyburide, a sulfonylurea), pioglitazone hydrochloride (S3, a thiazolidinedione), repaglinide (S4, a glinide). Samples were methanolic solutions of commercial tablets of S1 with each of the other molecules. The following method was developed by a software-assisted AQbD approach (analytical quality by design): (1) Several TLC separations were tried with toluene together with other solvents and with acidic or basic modifiers, with also variations of 24 method or instrumental parameters. (2) Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed in order to identify two principal components (PCs) responsible for 98 % of the observed variations: namely, resolution and tailing factor. Three critical method parameters (CMPs) had a statistically significant impact on the PCs: mobile phase (MP) composition, ammonium acetate concentration in MP, and saturation time. (3) To optimize these CMPs, the Box–Behnken design was implemented in 15 software-proposed experiments; the impacts of the 3 CMPs on the 2 PCs were evaluated by ANOVA, multiple regression analysis, and 2D and 3D contour plots. (4) The optimal CMPs ranges were determined by defining a MODR (method operable design region) on the superposed contour plots, and one TLC condition was selected as analytical control point.
TLC on silica gel pre-washed with 10 mL methanol, dried and activated 10 min at 100° C. Separation with toluene – ethyl acetate – methanolic solution of 4 % ammonium acetate 7:7:6 after 15 min pre-saturation with 35 % relative humidity. Absorption emasurement at UV 254 nm. The hRF values were 13 for S1, 72 for S2, 82 for S3, 38 for S4. LOQ were 263, 387, 73 and 35 ng/zone, respectively. Linearity range was 25–75 µg/zone for S1, 100–300 ng/zone for S2 and S4, 750–2250 ng/zone for S3. Intermediate precision was below 2 %. For accuracy tests, recovery rates were between 97.6–101.4 %.

J Chrom Sci, bmad045 (2022). Standards were azilsartan medoxomil (AZL) and cilnidipine (CLN). Samples were acetonitrile solutions of commercial tablets of AZL and CLN, and purified human blood plasma as biological fluid spiked with AZL and CLN. The following method was developed by a software-assisted AQbD approach (analytical quality by design): (1) Taguchi orthogonal array design was implemented in 8 screening experiments in order to identify the 3 critical method variables (CMVs), which were: volume ratio of toluene – ethyl acetate, volume of methanol and saturation time. These CMVs had statistically significant impact (one-way ANOVA and Pareto charts) on the 3 critical analytical attributes (CAAs, they were: resolution between AZL and CLN and their hRF values). (2) To optimize these CMVs, the Box–Behnken design was implemented in 15 software-proposed experiments; the impacts of the 3 CMVs on the 3 CAAs were evaluated by ANOVA, multiple regression analysis, and 2D and 3D contour plots; the response surface analysis allowed the software to find a mathematical (quadratic or linear) equation for each CAA, based on the CMVs values. (3) The optimal CMVs ranges were determined by defining an analytical design space (ADS) on the superposed contour plots, and one TLC condition was selected as analytical control point.
TLC on silica gel pre-washed with 10 mL methanol, dried and activated 15 min at 110° C. Separation with toluene – ethyl acetate – methanol 13:3:4 after 15 min pre-saturation with 35 % relative humidity. Absorption measurement at UV 254 nm. The hRF values were 49–51 for AZL and 70–71 for LRT. Linearity range was 400–2000 ng/zone for AZL and 100–500 ng/zone for CLN. Intermediate precision was below 1.6 % (n=3). LOQ were 121 ng/zone for AZL and 34 ng/zone for CLN. Recovery rates were 99.3–99.7 % for AZL and 98.1–99.5 % for CLN. Recovery rates from spiked plasma were 83.3 % for both molecules.

J Chrom Sci, bmad025 (2023). Standards (separated and mixed) were montelukast sodium (MKT) and loratadine (LRT). Samples were methanolic solutions of commercial tablets, and purified blood plasma as biological fluid, from patients taking MKT or LRT as oral treatment. TLC on silica gel with ethyl acetate – ethanol 9:1. Visualization under UV 254nm. The hRF values were 80 for MKT and 71 for LRT. Densitometric absorbance measurement at 260 nm (20 mm/s scanning speed). System suitability was verified by resolution, selectivity, capacity and absence of tailing. The method was validated for linearity range (0.3–3.6 μg/zone for MKT, 0.2–4 µg/zone for LRT), for precision, for reproducibility, for robustness, and for accuracy expressed as average recovery values (100 % overall mean) at different concentrations. The TLC-densitometric method was also found statistically equivalent (Student’s t-test and F-test) to a previously described method (HPLC – spectrophotometry), but was better in terms of environmental and health impacts, using green analytical procedure index (GAPI) and analytical eco-scale (scores based on solvents/reagents, energy consumption, occupational hazard and waste generation). The TLC method was also compared to three (equally “green”) different analytical methods of spectrophotometry (without chromatography): response correlation, absorptivity-centering and LRT-MKT ratio derivatives. The TLC method was more sensitive (LOQ values were 82 ng/zone for MKT, 20 ng/zone for LRT).

J Chrom Sci, bmad042 (2023). Standards (separated and mixed) were antazoline (ANT) and tetryzoline (TET) hydrochlorides. Samples were one commercial ophthalmic solution containing both molecules (unspiked and spiked), and aqueous humour of untreated rabbits as biological fluid, spiked with various concentrations of ANT and TET. TLC on silica gel with ethyl acetate – ethanol 1:1. Visualization under UV 254 nm. Densitometric absorbance measurement at 220 nm (20mm/s scanning speed). The hRF was 47 for TET and 71 for ANT. System suitability was verified by resolution, selectivity, capacity and absence of tailing. The method was validated for linearity range (0.2 – 18 µg/band), for precision, for reproducibility, for robustness, and for accuracy expressed as average recovery values (100 % overall mean) at different concentrations. The method was also found statistically equivalent (Student’s t-test and F-test) to the official corresponding titrimetric methods of the European Pharmacopoeia. Finally, environmental and health impacts of the methods were qualitatively and quantitatively assessed better as the other described methods, using analytical greenness (AGREE), green analytical procedure index (GAPI), national environmental method index (NEMI), and analytical eco-scale (scores based on solvents/reagents, energy consumption, occupational hazard and waste generation).

Marine Drugs 20(4), 270 (2022). Samples were ether glycerols (EG) purified: (A) from Chimaera monstrosa liver oil (Chimaeridae); (B) from mixed liver oil of sharks Centrophorus squamosus (Centrophoridae) and Somniosus microcephalus (Somniosidae); (C) from Macaca fascicularis hearts (Cercopithecidae); (D) from tumors obtained by grafting in mice the human melanoma cell line MDA-MB-435s, and (E) from periprostatic adipose tissue of men with prostate cancer. Reduction of (phospho)ester glycerolipids into EG and fatty alcohols was part of the purification process. Octadecyl-glycerol and octadecenyl-glycerol were used as standards of alkyl- and alkenyl-glycerols, respectively. HPTLC on silica gel previously developed with chloroform – methanol 1:1, air-dried and activated for 30 min at 110° C. Application under nitrogen stream (6 bar). Development with petroleum ether – diethyl ether – acetic acid 60:140:1. After 2 h drying at room temperature under ventilation hood, visualization by 50 s immersing into sulfuric acid (7 % in ethanol), followed by 2 h drying under air-stream, and 14 min heating at 140° C. Plates were documented under white light illumination and densitometry was performed by computered scanning of the pictures. Alkyl-glycerols (mean hRF 34, LOQ 1235 ng/band) and alkenyl-glycerols (mean hRF 44, LOQ 2352 ng/band), present in all samples (except alkenyl-glycerols in shark oil), were quantified after method validation for specificity, sensitivity, accuracy, precision and repeatability. Linearity range was 1000 ng – 7000 ng for both EG types. To confirm the band identification, samples and standards were also submitted to acidic hydrolysis before HPTLC application. In this case, the bands of alkenyl glycerols did not appear, because chlorhydric acid reacted with the vinyl ether bonds to form glycerol and aldehydes.

J Chromatogr A 1666, 462863 (2022). Theoretical discussion on the factors determining the RF value of a given substance in a chromatographic system: A) the stationary phase (SP); B) the mobile phase (MP), the composition of which can be different from the solvent mixture prepared because of evaporation, saturation and liquid or gas adsorption effects over migration time; C) the difference of the free energies for the analyte transfer from SP to MP; D) external parameters like temperature and humidity. The universal HPTLC mixture (UHM) is a mixture of reference compounds that can be used for the system suitability test (SST) for the full RF range in all HPTLC experiments. Its composition is: thioxanthen-9-one (0.001 %), guanosine (0.05 %), phthalimide (0.2 %), 9-hydroxyfluorene, octrizole, paracetamol, sulisobenzone and thymidine (each 0.1 %), in methanol. The purpose was to study the potential of UHM to replace SST (described with specific markers in European Pharmacopoeia monographs) and to assess the quality of HPTLC results. TLC and HPTLC silica gel on different support (aluminium, glass) or with different granulometries and binders (classic, Durasil, Adamant), of the UHM, an acetonitrile extract of Abelmoschus manihot flowers (Malvaceae), a methanol extract of Sambucus canadensis flowers (Adoxaceae), and essential oils of Lavandula angustifolia, of Mentha × piperita (Lamiaceae) and of Myristica fragrans (Myristicaceae), as well as the following specific markers (standards): borneol, bornyl acetate, linalool, linalyl acetate (terpenoids), isoeugenol, isoeugenol acetate, chlorogenic acid (phenylpropanoids), gossypin (flavone), gossypetin-glucuronide, hyperoside (flavonol heterosides). Development (after 20 min plate conditioning with a saturated MgCl2 solution) with one of the following mobile phases: (MP1) toluene – ethyl acetate 19:1, especially for essential oils; (MP2) ethyl acetate – butanone – formic acid – water 5:3:1:1, especially for S. canadensis; (MP3) ethyl acetate – acetic acid – formic acid – water 100:11:11:26, especially for A. manihot. Documentation in UV 254 nm and 350 nm, and with white light (reflection + transmission), before and after derivatization. RF values were determined by scanning densitometry at 254 nm in absorption mode (for octrizole, at 366 nm in fluorescence mode with mercury lamp and optical filter K400 nm). For each HPTLC condition, intra-laboratory precision assay of UHM separation was performed (at least 5 analyses) with average RF values and 95 % prediction intervals, and calculating RF differences between pairs of UHM constituents and 95 % confidence intervals, which were max. +/-0.012 of the RF values for all UHM and markers. The sensitivity of UHM, and thus its usefulness as generic SST was demonstrated by repeating the HPTLC experiments with modifying by 10 % the quantity of one of the solvent each time. There were always significant changes in RF values of UHM components and/or in RF differences between pairs of UHM bands; it was often but no always the case with the official specific markers. UHM underwent also significant changes (although less than A. manihot extract) when several silica gel phases were compared under the same HPTLC conditions. This property is crucial to verify the right stationary phase before doing any RF correlations, and could make UHM a universal tool to identify discrepancies between different analyses. Finally, the use of UHM for a computer-supported evaluation of HPTLC results was discussed, either for zone identification and RF corrections (within confidence intervals), or for correlations of entire fingerprints as first step to implement machine learning algorithms.

Heliyon 7(2), e06116 (2021). Samples were a methanolic extract of a semi-solid ayurvedic conserve (ashwagandhadi lehyam) prepared with Withania somnifera roots (Solanaceae) and five other plants, as well as standards: withaferin A and withanolide A (= withaniol), two ergostane triterpene steroids with lactone cycle and epoxide. HPTLC on silica gel with toluene – ethyl acetate – formic acid 6:4:1. Visualization and densitometric scanning at UV 254 nm and 366 nm (deuterium lamps). Derivatization by immersion into vanillin – sulfuric acid reagent, followed by oven heating at 105 °C until optimal coloration. Documentation under white light and densitometry scanning at 540 nm (tungsten lamp). Both analytes (hRF 35 and 45 respectively) were shown at 254 nm and 540 nm (but not at 366 nm), in the standards and in the extract.