TY - JOUR

T1 - Loss of Volatile Metabolites during Concentration of Metabolomic Extracts

AU - Osik, Nataliya A.

AU - Lukzen, Nikita N.

AU - Yanshole, Vadim V.

AU - Tsentalovich, Yuri P.

N1 - This work was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Project 23-25-00462. We thank the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the RF for the access to NMR equipment.

PY - 2024/6/4

Y1 - 2024/6/4

N2 - Volatile metabolites can be lost during the preanalytical stage of metabolomic analysis. This work is aimed at the experimental and theoretical study of mechanisms of volatile substance evaporation and retention in the residues during the drying of extract solutions. We demonstrate that solvent evaporation leads to the unavoidable loss of nondissociating volatile metabolites with low boiling points and high vapor pressures (such as acetone and ethanol). The retention of dissociating volatile compounds (primarily organic acids RH) during the evaporation depends on the presence of buffer salts in solution, which are responsible for maintaining the neutral pH. An acid remains in the solution as long as it is present predominantly in the dissociated R- state. At the very last stage of solvent evaporation, buffer salts precipitate, forming a solid matrix for metabolite trapping in the residue. At the same time, buffer precipitation leads to a decrease of the solution pH, increase of the portion of RH in associated state, and acceleration of RH volatilization. The RH recovery is thus determined by the competition between the solute volatilization in the associated RH form and metabolite trapping in the solid matrix. The retention of volatile acids in the residue after extract drying can be improved either by adding buffer salts to maintain high pH or by incomplete sample drying.

AB - Volatile metabolites can be lost during the preanalytical stage of metabolomic analysis. This work is aimed at the experimental and theoretical study of mechanisms of volatile substance evaporation and retention in the residues during the drying of extract solutions. We demonstrate that solvent evaporation leads to the unavoidable loss of nondissociating volatile metabolites with low boiling points and high vapor pressures (such as acetone and ethanol). The retention of dissociating volatile compounds (primarily organic acids RH) during the evaporation depends on the presence of buffer salts in solution, which are responsible for maintaining the neutral pH. An acid remains in the solution as long as it is present predominantly in the dissociated R- state. At the very last stage of solvent evaporation, buffer salts precipitate, forming a solid matrix for metabolite trapping in the residue. At the same time, buffer precipitation leads to a decrease of the solution pH, increase of the portion of RH in associated state, and acceleration of RH volatilization. The RH recovery is thus determined by the competition between the solute volatilization in the associated RH form and metabolite trapping in the solid matrix. The retention of volatile acids in the residue after extract drying can be improved either by adding buffer salts to maintain high pH or by incomplete sample drying.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85194081087&origin=inward&txGid=23c5ef1df986261dc2b6d828f204bd53

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/3f9d003d-3ee9-3175-84f4-8b8ff0aa8afa/

U2 - 10.1021/acsomega.4c02439

DO - 10.1021/acsomega.4c02439

M3 - Article

C2 - 38854568

VL - 9

SP - 24015

EP - 24024

JO - ACS Omega

JF - ACS Omega

SN - 2470-1343

IS - 22

ER -