Multidimensional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for metabolomic and lipidomic analyses

As important components of omics, metabolomics and lipidomics are dedicated to detecting as many metabolites and lipids as possible, respectively, in biological samples. Because the physicochemical properties of metabolites and lipids greatly differ, the comprehensive analysis of metabolomics and lipidomics using one dimensional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry is extremely difficult. Benefited from the combination of different separation mechanisms, multidimensional liquid chromatography (MDLC) has been considered a powerful approach for the analysis of complex samples. In this review, the construction modes and modulation modes of MDLC and its applications mainly in last five years in the field of metabolomic and lipidomic analyses are summarized in details. In addition to common interfaces (i.e., heart-cutting, stop-flow and comprehensive mode with a storage loop and trap column), the novel construction modes (i.e., selective comprehensive and pulsed-elution 2DLC, stop-flow 3DLC) and modulation modes (e.g., vacuum evaporation interface and evaporation membrane modulation etc.) are also introduced. (c) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.