Hyphenated ultra high-performance liquid chromatography–Nano Quantity Analyte Detector technique for determination of compounds with low UV absorption

A novel universal aerosol-based detector Nano Quantity Analyte Detector – NQAD™, connected with an ultra-performance liquid chromatography system is described. The detector was employed for detection of selected antibiotic compounds – macrolides (oleandomycin, erythromycin, troleandomycin, clarithromycin and roxithromycin) that are hard to detect using classical UV detectors due to the lack of chromophores. The determined lowest detection limits under isocratic conditions for these compounds ranged from 3.0 to 5.4 μg/mL. The suitability of the detector connected with ultra high-performance liquid chromatography in the gradient mode was tested on a more complex mixture containing 12 antibiotics. The detector exhibited full compatibility under both the elution modes when UHPLC separations were achieved in relatively short run times.