Recent developments in column packing materials have improved analysis
of a broad range of chemical groups with better chromatographic results in terms of
peak shape, capacity factor etc. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)
has achieved significant progress especially on the analysis of polar molecules. The
technique is analogous to normal-phase chromatography and an alternative approach to
effectively separate small polar compounds. Researches focusing on applications of
HILIC are increasing due to their unique application in targeted and untargeted
metabolomic profiling, which enable the analysis of a wide range of metabolites from
multiple metabolic pathways. Accordingly, improved profiling leads to individualized
and predictive disease information for personalization of treatment. Combined
application of advanced spectroscopic and separation technique is essential for
metabolomic studies. This chapter reviews the reference information on the application
of HILIC and MS related to separation of metabolites and its effect on various
parameters.
Keywords: Biological matrix, Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography,
HILIC, HILIC-MS, Metabolite analyze, Metabolites, Metabolomics, Method
development steps, Organic solvent, pH, Polar compounds, Sample preparation,
Separation mechanism, Stationary phases, Targeted metabolomics.
