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Introduction to micellar electrokinetic chromatography
Journal of Chromatography, 625 (1992) 397-398 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
CHROM.
24 574
Book Review Introduction to micellar electrokinetic chromatography, by J. Vindevogel 1992, X + 231 pp., price DM 88.00, ISBN 3-778.5-0861-X. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first book on a capillary electrophoretic technique, except for books on isotachophoresis. It is a great personal pleasure that this book on micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) is the first book on capillary electrophoresis (CE), because MEKC has been mainly developed by the reviewer’s group. It is now more than 10 years since the first few papers on CE were published, but so far no book has been published in this rapidly growing area, in spite of strong demands for good textbooks from those who have started work in this field and companies selling CE apparatus and equipment. I would like to congratulate Dr. J. Vindevogel and Professor P. Sandra on the successful publication of this first and excellent book on CE. The authors state that “This book is primarily devoted to MEKC” and also “As it is intended for those who have a background in chromatography but not in electrophoresis, the basic principles of electrophoresis in general but also, more specifically, of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) are included”. I think this principle is natural and reasonable, because most readers of this book will be chromatographers considering using CE in their fields and, moreover, MEKC will be more familiar than other CE techniques to those readers. An easily understandable introduction to the fundamental characteristics of CE techniques is provided and this is useful not only for those interested in MEKC but also for those working in CE to review the basic principles. In addition, the size of the book is suitable for a quick overview of CE. However, the book does not intentionally include topics on protein analysis and capillary gel electrophoresis, which are the other important fields of wide interest. The book consists of four parts, and about half of the book is devoted to the general aspects of CE.
and P. Sandra,
Hiithig,
Heidelberg,
Part I contains five chapters on general principles of electrokinetic analysis, factors affecting mobility, CZE, capillary electrochromatography and MEKC. Each chapter is short but well organized and provides a quick survey of the essence of electrokinetic analysis from a practical point of view. The chapter on factors affecting mobility is excellent and very helpful in understanding the basic principles of mobility in CE. The chapter on capillary electrochromatography will be interesting for chromatographers, explaining concisely the essential difference between CE and electrochromatography. The authors try to describe an outline of MEKC with their own data in the last chapter of Part I, and this is successful. A table of methodologies to obtain electrokinetic separations is especially interesting to the reviewer, and the authors’ classification is also reasonable, although it is different from the reviewer’s view. Part II on instrumental aspects is also a good introduction to CE practice. The authors may not expect readers to construct CE instruments themselves, although it is not difficult. Various commercial instruments are now available and most users probably do not want to build the instruments themselves. This part of the book is a good guide to fundamentals for the proper operation of the instruments. In particular, the chapters on thermal effects and injection are valuable for recognizing the importance of the effects of joule heating and the injection volume on efficiency. Part III, on resolution in MEKC, describes fundamentals of MEKC in more detail, especially optimization of the operating parameters. The authors have produced many original chromatograms, mostly by computer simulation, to permit an easy understanding of the effects of various parameters on resolution. This chapter is another excellent one
398
and highly recommended even to those who are already using the MEKC technique. Although the authors explain efficiency in MEKC primarily based on the reviewer’s paper, the reviewer does not think that the band broadening mechanism has been completely clarified, as the authors also suggest other causes. Part IV treats applications and provides a comprehensive review of the applications of MEKC up to the time of completing the manuscript. As the authors indicate via the tale of Achilles and the tortoise, this field is rapidly growing and it is very difficult to catch up with the most recent results. A comprehensive review is unnecessary for this kind of book and typical examples in different application fields would be satisfactory. From this point of
S. Terabe / J. Chromatogr. 625 (1992) 397-398
view, the chapters on general applications and enantiomeric separations include every important advance in MEKC. The one aspect that the reviewer felt personally was slightly unsatisfactory was that the book traces fairly closely the reviewer’s views on MEKC. This is, of course, not a weak point of the book. The reviewer appreciates the authors’ tremendous efforts to complete this excellent book on MEKC. Other books on CE will soon be published by different authors, but the present book will definitely remain to be recommended as a book on MEKC and as a good textbook on CE. Hyogo (Japan)
Shigeru Terabe
CHROM.
24 574
Book Review Introduction to micellar electrokinetic chromatography, by J. Vindevogel 1992, X + 231 pp., price DM 88.00, ISBN 3-778.5-0861-X. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first book on a capillary electrophoretic technique, except for books on isotachophoresis. It is a great personal pleasure that this book on micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) is the first book on capillary electrophoresis (CE), because MEKC has been mainly developed by the reviewer’s group. It is now more than 10 years since the first few papers on CE were published, but so far no book has been published in this rapidly growing area, in spite of strong demands for good textbooks from those who have started work in this field and companies selling CE apparatus and equipment. I would like to congratulate Dr. J. Vindevogel and Professor P. Sandra on the successful publication of this first and excellent book on CE. The authors state that “This book is primarily devoted to MEKC” and also “As it is intended for those who have a background in chromatography but not in electrophoresis, the basic principles of electrophoresis in general but also, more specifically, of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) are included”. I think this principle is natural and reasonable, because most readers of this book will be chromatographers considering using CE in their fields and, moreover, MEKC will be more familiar than other CE techniques to those readers. An easily understandable introduction to the fundamental characteristics of CE techniques is provided and this is useful not only for those interested in MEKC but also for those working in CE to review the basic principles. In addition, the size of the book is suitable for a quick overview of CE. However, the book does not intentionally include topics on protein analysis and capillary gel electrophoresis, which are the other important fields of wide interest. The book consists of four parts, and about half of the book is devoted to the general aspects of CE.
and P. Sandra,
Hiithig,
Heidelberg,
Part I contains five chapters on general principles of electrokinetic analysis, factors affecting mobility, CZE, capillary electrochromatography and MEKC. Each chapter is short but well organized and provides a quick survey of the essence of electrokinetic analysis from a practical point of view. The chapter on factors affecting mobility is excellent and very helpful in understanding the basic principles of mobility in CE. The chapter on capillary electrochromatography will be interesting for chromatographers, explaining concisely the essential difference between CE and electrochromatography. The authors try to describe an outline of MEKC with their own data in the last chapter of Part I, and this is successful. A table of methodologies to obtain electrokinetic separations is especially interesting to the reviewer, and the authors’ classification is also reasonable, although it is different from the reviewer’s view. Part II on instrumental aspects is also a good introduction to CE practice. The authors may not expect readers to construct CE instruments themselves, although it is not difficult. Various commercial instruments are now available and most users probably do not want to build the instruments themselves. This part of the book is a good guide to fundamentals for the proper operation of the instruments. In particular, the chapters on thermal effects and injection are valuable for recognizing the importance of the effects of joule heating and the injection volume on efficiency. Part III, on resolution in MEKC, describes fundamentals of MEKC in more detail, especially optimization of the operating parameters. The authors have produced many original chromatograms, mostly by computer simulation, to permit an easy understanding of the effects of various parameters on resolution. This chapter is another excellent one
398
and highly recommended even to those who are already using the MEKC technique. Although the authors explain efficiency in MEKC primarily based on the reviewer’s paper, the reviewer does not think that the band broadening mechanism has been completely clarified, as the authors also suggest other causes. Part IV treats applications and provides a comprehensive review of the applications of MEKC up to the time of completing the manuscript. As the authors indicate via the tale of Achilles and the tortoise, this field is rapidly growing and it is very difficult to catch up with the most recent results. A comprehensive review is unnecessary for this kind of book and typical examples in different application fields would be satisfactory. From this point of
S. Terabe / J. Chromatogr. 625 (1992) 397-398
view, the chapters on general applications and enantiomeric separations include every important advance in MEKC. The one aspect that the reviewer felt personally was slightly unsatisfactory was that the book traces fairly closely the reviewer’s views on MEKC. This is, of course, not a weak point of the book. The reviewer appreciates the authors’ tremendous efforts to complete this excellent book on MEKC. Other books on CE will soon be published by different authors, but the present book will definitely remain to be recommended as a book on MEKC and as a good textbook on CE. Hyogo (Japan)
Shigeru Terabe