Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography Coupled to High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry for the Analysis of ADCs

From a structural point of view, the complete characterization of ADCs is a challenging task due to their high complexity. ADCs combine the heterogeneity of the initial antibody to the variability associated with the conjugation strategy, the manufacturing process, and the storage. Given the inherent complexity of these biomolecules, online comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LC × LC) is an attractive technique to address the challenges associated with ADC characterization. Compared to conventional one-dimensional liquid chromatography techniques (1D-LC), LC × LC combines two different and complementary separation systems. In the context of ADC analysis, LC × LC has been proven to be a rapid and efficient analytical tool: (1) to provide a higher resolving power by increasing the overall peak capacity and thus allowing to gain more information within a single run and (2) to allow mass spectrometry (MS) coupling with some chromatographic techniques that are not MS-compatible and hence to facilitate the structural elucidation of ADCs. In this chapter, we present the coupling of different chromatographic techniques including hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC), reversed phase liquid chromatography (RPLC), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), ion exchange chromatography (IEX), and hydrophilic liquid chromatography (HILIC). The interest of HIC × SEC, SEC × SEC, HIC × RPLC, IEX × RPLC, RPLC × RPLC, and HILIC × RPLC, all hyphenated to high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), is discussed in the context of the characterization of ADCs.