Photodegradation greatly affects everyday life. It poses
challenges
when food deteriorates or when objects of cultural heritage fade,
but it can also create opportunities applied in advanced oxidation
processes in water purification. Studying photodegradation, however,
can be difficult because of the time needed for degradation, the inaccessibility
of pure compounds, and the need to handle samples manually. A novel
light-exposure cell, based on liquid-core-waveguide (LCW) technology,
was embedded in a multiple-heart-cut two-dimensional liquid chromatography
system by coupling the LCW cell to the multiple-heart-cut valve. The
sample was flushed from the heart-cut loops into the cell by an isocratic
pump. Samples were then irradiated using different time intervals
and subsequently transferred by the same isocratic pump to a second-dimension
sample loop. The mixture containing the transformation products was
then subjected to the second-dimension separation. In the current
setup, about 30–40% of the selected fraction was transferred.
Multiple degradation products could be monitored. Degradation was
found to be faster when a smaller sample amount was introduced (0.3
μg as compared to 1.5 μg). The system was tested with
three applications, that is, fuchsin, a 19th-century synthetic organic
colorant, annatto, a lipophilic food dye, and vitamin B complex.