Rapid determination of molecular parameters of synthetic polymers by precipitation/redissolution high‐performance liquid chromatography using “molded” monolithic column

Rapid high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of polystyrenes, poly(methyl methacrylates), poly(vinyl acetates), and polybutadienes using a monolithic 50 × 4.6 mm i.d. poly(styrene‐co‐divinylbenzene) column have been carried out. The separation process involves precipitation of the macromolecules on the macroporous monolithic column followed by progressive elution utilizing a gradient of the mobile phase. Depending on the character of the separated polymer, solvent gradients were composed of a poor solvent such as water, methanol, or hexane and increasing amounts of a good solvent such as THF or dichloromethane. Monolithic columns are ideally suited for this technique because convection through the large pores of the monolith enhances the mass transport of large polymer molecules and accelerates the separation process. Separation conditions including the selection of a specific pair of solvent and precipitant, flow rate, and gradient steepness were optimized for the rapid HPLC separations of various polymers that differed broadly in their molecular weights. Excellent separations were obtained demonstrating that the precipitation‐redissolution technique is a suitable alternative to size‐exclusion chromatography (SEC). The molecular weight parameters calculated from the HPLC data match well those obtained by SEC. However, compared to SEC, the determination of molecular parameters using gradient elution could be achieved at comparable flow rates in a much shorter period of time, typically in about 1 min. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 2767–2778, 2000     

Analysis of organosilicone copolymers by gradient polymer elution chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection

Organosilicone copolymers have found numerous applications in the cosmetics, detergent and coating industries. Coupling a polar polymer (like polyglycols) to a non-polar silicone gives anchorage and emulsification capabilities to the polymer. When coupling a silicone polymer to a polyglycol, the copolymer formed differs from the starting polymers by a single bond which is often difficult to evidence using spectroscopic techniques such as NMR or infrared, especially when the polymers have a high molecular mass. Gradient polymer elution chromatography (GPEC) coupled to an evaporative light scattering detector was developed for the characterization of copolymers based on their chemical composition distribution. Different block and graft polyglycol-silicone copolymers were successfully characterized by GPEC and residual homopolymers have been easily quantified.     

Separation of statistical poly[(N-vinyl pyrrolidone)-co-(vinyl acetate)]s by reversed-phase gradient liquid chromatography

Although size exclusion chromatography (SEC) has been used successfully to determine the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of statistical poly[(N-vinyl pyrrolidone)-co-(vinyl acetate)]s [PVPVAs], SEC cannot separate the copolymers according to their chemical composition. In this article, the separation of commercial PVPVAs with varying chemical compositions is reported, by aqueous reversed-phase gradient liquid chromatography (RPLC) using polystyrene-divinylbenzene-based wide pore columns. RPLC-SEC cross-fractionation indicates the presence of molar mass dependant effects during RPLC separation due to broad MWD for the copolymer studied; therefore the width of the RPLC peak could not be associated entirely with chemical composition distribution of the copolymer. Coupling of RPLC with online FTIR spectroscopy reveals the increase of VA content with increasing THF gradient, an indication of interaction mechanism between VA repeating units and the stationary phase for water soluble PVPVAs. Separation of water insoluble PVPVAs and PVAs by the RPLC are possibly based on both interaction and precipitation/redissolution mechanisms.     

A qualitative study to the influence of molar mass on retention in gradient polymer elution chromatography (GPEC)

Gradient Polymer Elution Chromatography (GPEC) appears to be a powerful method for the determination of chemical composition distributions (CCD) of high molar mass copolymers. In order to perform these experiments, molar mass dependence of the retention time must be minimized. It is shown that variation in solvent and non-solvent strength is a powerful method for adjusting the molar mass dependence. There appears to be a relation between molar mass dependence of retention behavior in GPEC on one hand and solubility under critical solvent conditions on the other hand. This phenomenon can be explained qualitatively from the important precipitation/redissolution mechanism in GPEC.     

Liquid chromatography techniques for characterizing poly(Vinyl Alcohol)

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) samples may contain several heterogeneities requiring the development of chromatographic techniques for characterization. Size exclusion separations have been carried out using a number of aqueous eluents, incorporating electrolyte, or electrolyte/organic modifier, or surfactant. The most favourable molecular size separation was obtained using 0.25% w/v sodium lauryl sulfate as eluent. Reasonable values for molecular weights of PVOH samples have been determined. Compositional distributions in copolymer systems can be assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography employing a reversed-phase separation mechanism. For poly(vinyl alcohol), gradient elution with water/tetrahydrofuran (THF) with a wide pore polystyrene-based packing produced separations dependent on degree of hydrolysis and sequence length distribution. The elution results were verified with a column packed with non-porous beads. Partially hydrolysed PVOH samples appeared to have a broad distribution of composition.     

High‐density polyethylene fractionation with supercritical propane

During the development of column extraction techniques, two methods of separation were identified. The first method is based on altering polymer solubility by varying the ratio of solvent in a solvent/nonsolvent mixture at a constant temperature above the polymer melting point (gradient solvent elution fractionation). This method fractionates polymers according to molecular weight. The second method is based on altering polymer solubility by varying solvent temperature (temperature rising elution fractionation—TREF). TREF fractionates semicrystalline polymers with respect to their crystallizability, independently of molecular weight effects. In the present article, supercritical propane will be used to fractionate a high‐density polyethylene sample by molecular weight and short chain branching. The main advantage of supercritical fluid fractionation is that large polymer fractions with narrow molecular weight distributions (isothermal fractionation) or narrow short chain branching distributions (isobaric fractionation) can be obtained without using hazardous organic chlorinated solvents. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 553–560, 1999     

Determining and correcting "moment bias" in gradient polymer elution chromatography

Gradient polymer elution chromatography (GPEC) is rapidly becoming the analytical method of choice for determining the chemical composition distribution (CCD) of synthetic polymers. GPEC can be performed in traditional (strict precipitation-redissolution mechanism) or interactive (normal- and reversed-phase) modes, and results may be qualitative, semi-quantitative, or fully quantitative. Quantitative approaches have thus far relied on colligative or end group techniques for determining the values of standards used in constructing the GPEC calibration curve. While the values obtained from said methods are number-averages, they are assigned to the peak apexes of the standards (i.e. assigned as peak averages). This creates a determinate error in the quantitation, referred to herein as "moment bias". In this paper we determine moment bias for a series of styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) copolymers, where the distribution and averages of the AN% have been measured using normal-phase (NP) GPEC. We also correct for the effect via statistical treatment of the chromatographic data.     

Boundary between protein and peptide shown by their chromatographic behavior.

It has previously been pointed out that two different mechanisms exist in the reversed-phase (RP) HPLC of polypeptides, including proteins. We systematically investigated the separation of various peptides and proteins over a wide range of molecular weight using a nonporous octadecylsilyl (ODS) silica-gel column to provide a precise explanation for the separation mechanism of polypeptides, including proteins in RP-HPLC. As a result, we clarified that a critical point between a typical reversed-phase partition mode applicable to small peptides (molecular weight < 3000) and a characteristic elution mode applicable to proteins is in the vicinity of the molecular weight of 3500-4500. We also proposed a new concept, the "Transitional Desorption Mode", as a separation mechanism that can precisely explain the RP-LC separation of a wide range of polypeptides including proteins.     

Influence of pore size on the separation of random and block copolymers by interactive liquid chromatography

Stationary phase materials with small pore diameters are often used for the separation of copolymers according to their chemical composition. The rationale for such a column selection is to minimize the influence of the molecular weight on the separation. In this paper, we describe a detailed study of the influence of the pore size on the retention and separation of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA)-poly(butylmethacrylate) copolymers. We used normal-phase (NP) and reversed-phase (RP) columns with various pore diameters, as well as non-porous columns and a monolithic column. The pore size was found to affect the separation, especially for (co-)polymer molecules with characteristic diameters that roughly correspond to the exclusion limit of the column. Also possibilities to separate block copolymers according to block length are strictly investigated. The making of one block in a di-block (DB) copolymer "invisible" can only be fulfilled if the "invisible" block does not play any role in the separation.     

SIMULTANEOUS CALIBRATION OF MOLECULAR WEIGHT SEPARATION AND COLUMN DISPERSION OF SEC WITH CHARACTERIZED POLYMER STANDARDS

With the aid of the theoretical relationship between the calibration relation of a SEC column for the monodisperse polymer species under ideal working condition and the effective relations between the molecular weight and the elution volume for characterized polymer samples, a computational procedure for simultaneous calibration of molecular weight separation and column dispersion is proposed. From the experimental chromatograms of narrow MWD polystyrene standards and broad MWD 1,2-polybutadiene fractions the spreading factors of a SEC column was deduced by the proposed method. The variation of the spreading factor with the elution volume is independent upon the polymer sample used.     

聚合物共混物的超高效液相色谱-空间排阻色谱在线联用分离与表征

黏合剂和涂料行业中, 聚合物共混物表征是分析的难题, 分离技术的研究一直备受关注. 本文设计并搭建了超高效液相色谱-空间排阻色谱在线联用系统(UHPLC-SEC), 采用羟基聚丁二烯(HTPB)考察了二维色谱系统的溶剂兼容性及正交性, 以苯乙烯-丁二烯嵌段共聚物(SBS)、 苯乙烯-异戊二烯嵌段共聚物(SIS)和聚甲基丙烯酸酯(PMMA)共混物研究了二维色谱系统的适用性. 结果表明, HTPB分子量及分布的UHPLC-SEC测定结果与SEC测定结果一致, 峰尖分子量(M_p)为3407 Da, 重均分子量(M_w)为6573 Da, 分散系数(PDI)为2.36, 相对标准偏差(RSD)均小于5.7%, 系统的溶剂兼容性和正交性良好. UHPLC-SEC法测得聚合物共混物中PMMA, SBS和SIS的M_p, M_w和PDI与单个聚合物的SEC测定结果的相对误差均小于7.1%. PMMA, SBS和SIS共混物在200 °C加热3 h后, PMMA 稳定不变, SBS和SIS组分明显降解. UHPLC-SEC在线联用方法对聚合物共混物的表征结果准确、 重复性好, 为聚合物配方产品的失效分析提供了一种重要且有效的手段.     

Turbidimetric titration and gradient high-performance liquid chromatography of polystyrene samples

Summary Polystyrene samples of narrow molecular-weight distribution have been eluted according to their molecular weight from columns packed with bare silica Si50, phenyl, or C18 bonded phase by gradients of methanol and tetrahydrofuran (THF) or ofiso-octane and THF. Among the six combinations investigated,iso-octane/THF with a silica column formed a proper normal-phase system whereas methanol/THF with a C18 column formed a proper reversed-phase system. The combinations of C18 column andiso-octane/THF or of Si50 column and methanol/THF gradient did not correspond to the approved polarity rules in high-performance liquid chromatography but were nevertheless effective in separating polystyrene mixtures by molecular weight. Methanol andiso-octane are nonsolvents for polystyrene whereas THF is a solvent. The solubility of polystyrene as a function of molecular weight and concentration was determined by means of turbidimetric titration of solutions in THF with the nonsolvents used in the gradients. The solubility and elution characteristics were almost identical on C18 columns or in methanol/THF combinations. The elution from phenyl bonded phase and Si50 columns usingiso-octane/THF gradients required more THF than the solubility experiments. Information is also given on the occurrence of multimodal elution patterns.     

环氧丙烷-四氢呋喃共聚醚醇的官能度分布

应用液-固硅胶柱层析法,以石油醚-乙酸乙酯-异丙醇不同配比为逐段梯度淋洗剂,将环氧丙烷-四氢呋喃共聚醚醇按官能度进行分离。各级份的数均分子量(M_n)和羟基当量(M_E)分别用气相渗透压法(VPO)和红外光谱法测定。根据各级份的官能度(f_n=M_n/M_E),通过计算可得到共聚醚醇的官能度分布,即零、一、二和三官能度组份的相对含量。计算的各种平均官能度与其它方法的测定值相接近。评价了柱层析法的测定准确性和重复性,证明本文提出的方法对测定共聚醚醇官能度分布是有效、可靠的。     

Non-flammable preparative reversed-phase liquid chromatography of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor-I

Acetonitrile is used as an eluent for reversed-phase chromatography. However, because it is a flammable solvent, using acetonitrile on a large scale requires expensive equipment and facilities specially designed for flammable solvents. Using a non-flammable solvent as an eluent eliminates this expense. A method was developed to purify recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using gradient elution with hexylene glycol, a non-flammable replacement for acetonitrile. The separation produced equivalent yield, purity and throughput as reversed-phase chromatography using elution with acetonitrile.     

Measurements of partition,diffusion coefficients of solvents in polymer membranes using rectangular thin-channel column inverse gas chromatography (RTCCIGC)

Rectangular thin-channel columns were designed to determine partition and diffusion coefficients of small molecular weight solvents in polymer membranes based on the inverse gas chromatography (IGC) technique. The advantage of using this novel column was analyzed in terms of uniform distribution of polymer thickness, ease of preparation of stationary phase (thin polymer layer), and repeated use of the column. A mathematical model was developed to describe the velocity profile of the carrier gas, and both the time- and location-dependent concentration profiles of solvent in the column. By using the moment analysis method, the partition coefficient and diffusion coefficient were related to the dimensionless first moment and dimensionless second central moment of the elution curve of the solvent, respectively.The first dimensionless moment of the elution curve was found to be independent of the carrier gas velocity, while the second central moment increased with the increase of the carrier gas velocity. Both these behaviors support the theoretical predictions. The diffusion and partition coefficients of ethanol were obtained on polymers of cellulose diacetate (CDA) and sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) with a sulfonation degree of 79% over different temperature ranges. Based on the Arrhenius formula, the diffusion activation energies and the solvent dissolution enthalpies in both polymers were also obtained. The diffusion coefficients of 1-propanol were also obtained using two different lengths of columns.     

用多分散高聚物标样作凝胶色谱的分子量分离和扩展效应同时校准

根据凝胶色谱柱在理想工作条件下单分散高分子组分的校准关系与多分散试样的实效关系之间的理论联系,建议了一种简单的觅数方法,同时作凝胶色谱柱的分子量分离和扩展因子的校准。用本法从窄分布的聚苯乙烯和宽分布的1,2-聚丁二烯级分的实验谱图得到的所用凝胶色谱柱的扩展因子与淋出体积间的关系相互重合,与试样种类无关。     

On-column amperometric detection in capillary electrophoresis with an improved high-voltage electric field decoupler

The analysis of polyamide-6 oligomers and polymer is usually performed with expensive fluorinated alcohols like 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) or 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP). Formic acid is well known as a mobile phase additive to adjust pH in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. However, formic acid is seldom used as a modifier to perform gradient elution chromatography on octadecyl-modified silica-based columns. Here we demonstrate the determination of cyclic and linear polyamide-6 oligomers using formic acid as a modifier on an octadecyl-modified silica-based column. This column was shown to be stable for more than 5000 column volumes, even when a mobile phase of 65-95% formic acid in water at a flow of 1 ml/min is applied. With formic acid under the conditions used (65-95% formic acid in water) the oligomers are retained on the column, while the polymer does not precipitate. In comparison, during adsorption and separation with a HFIP gradient, precipitation of the polymer occurs. The implications of the different separation mechanisms, i.e., adsorption vs. precipitation chromatography are discussed. Loadability is shown to be much better with the formic acid system. However, with formic acid as a modifier UV detection below 250 nm is not feasible. The less sensitive evaporative light scattering detector is used to detect the polyamide oligomers in the formic acid phase. In addition it is shown that capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with UV-absorbance detection using HFIP is an attractive combination as HFIP is UV-transparent and CZE allows low modifier consumption.     

含无规共聚组分的两嵌段聚合物A-b-(B-r-C)的合成以及自组装

通过原子转移自由基(ATRP)方法合成了其中一个嵌段是由2种单体无规共聚的两嵌段聚合物——聚丙烯酸肉桂酸乙酯-b-(聚苯乙烯-r-聚丙烯酸叔丁酯),(记为PCEA-b-(PtBA-r-PS)).讨论了聚合过程中影响分子量分布以及分子量控制的各种因素.通过氢核磁(1H-NMR)确定各嵌段的重复单元数分别为50,111,138.通过透射电镜(TEM)观察,研究了该嵌段聚合物在选择性溶剂1-氯癸烷以及环戊烷中的自组装行为,发现该嵌段聚合物在环己烷中直接分散可以形成有聚集倾向的短棒状或球形胶束,而在1-氯癸烷中直接分散得到的胶束,在膜表面随着1-氯癸烷溶剂的缓慢挥发可以组装得到具有规则微纳结构的相互连接的柱状胶束.     

Functional crosslinked polymer particles synthesized by precipitation polymerization for liquid chromatography

Highly crosslinked functional polymer particles with narrow size distribution have been produced by precipitation copolymerization of divinylbenzene, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and vinylbenzyl chloride using a simple reflux protocol. After establishing the satisfactory synthesis conditions, we produced uniform chlorobenzyl particles with different size depending on the polymerization times. The porosity of those particles was modulated from microporous to mesoporous structure by using various porogens such as toluene, dodecanol, cyclohexanol and polypropylene glycol. These particles were tested as stationary phase in high-performance liquid chromatography for the separation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in reversed-phase mode. The separation was observed even for elution 100% organic (methanol) without any participation of water fraction in the eluent composition. The influences of particles size, specific surface area and packing conditions on the separation behavior were investigated.     

Pre-column fluorescence derivatization high-performance liquid chromatography of opioid peptides in rat brain and its use for enzymatic peptide characterization

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method involving fluorescence derivatization followed by separation on a reversed-phase polymer (octadecylated polyvinylalcohol copolymer gel) column is described for the determination of opioid peptides in rat brain tissues. The peptides extracted from brain tissues were converted into fluorescent derivatives by reaction with hydroxylamine, cobalt(II) ion and borate. The derivatives were separated on an Asahipak ODP-50 column by gradient elution of acetonitrile in the mobile phase containing borate buffer (pH 9.5). The detection limits (S/N = 3) for the peptides were 0.33-1.21 pmol per 100 microliters injected. The method actually permit the determination of leucine enkephalin, methionine enkephalin, methionine enkephalin-Arg-Phe and methionine enkephalin-Arg-Gly-Leu in the tissues. The method is also applied to the characterization of the peptides in the tissues by means of enzymatic degradations with carboxypeptidase A and trypsin.