Chromatographic behavior of xanthines in aqueous normal phase chromatography using titania stationary phase

The chromatographic behavior of native titania was investigated in aqueous normal phase chromatography using a set of N-methylated xanthines as polar test solutes. In agreement with a hydrophilic interaction on a polar bed, the retention of xanthine models increased mainly along their molecular polarity. Adsorption of these molecules on the hydrated surface of titania prevailed as a retention mechanism for low water contents in the mobile phase. Several N-methylated xanthines could be easily discriminated along the number and position of their methyl groups while the nitrogen atom at position 3 was found deeply involved in the retention on titania. To get further insights on the interactions occurring on the surface of titania, the retention of xanthine derivatives based on ligand-exchange was evaluated as a function of the buffer concentration and type. The separation efficiency of native titania for the set of N-methylated xanthines was comparable to that observed on zirconia but lower than that obtained on native silica due to mixed-mode interactions. However, titania exhibited a superior ability to recognize several isomeric positions of xanthine derivatives in comparison to zirconia and silica.     

Precise Size Control over Ultrafine Rutile Titania Nanocrystallites in Hierarchical Nanotubular Silica/Titania Hybrids with Efficient Photocatalytic Activity

Hierarchical‐structured nanotubular silica/titania hybrids incorporated with particle‐size‐controllable ultrafine rutile titania nanocrystallites were realized by deposition of ultrathin titania sandwiched silica gel films onto each nanofiber of natural cellulose substances (e.g., common commercial filter paper) and subsequent flame burning in air. The rapid flame burning transforms the initially amorphous titania into rutile phase titania, and the silica gel films suppress the crystallite growth of rutile titania, thereby achieving nano‐precise size regulation of ultrafine rutile titania nanocrystallites densely embedded in the silica films of the nanotubes. The average diameters of these nanocrystallites are adjustable in a range of approximately 3.3–16.0 nm by a crystallite size increment rate of about 2.4 nm per titania deposition cycle. The silica films transfer the electrons activated by crystalline titania and generate catalytic reactive species at the outer surface. The size‐tuned ultrafine rutile titania nanocrystallites distributed in the unique hierarchical networks significantly improve the photocatalytic performance of the rutile phase titania, thereby enabling a highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of the methylene blue dye under ultraviolet light irradiation, which is even superior to the pure anatase‐titania‐based materials. The facile stepwise size control of the rutile titania crystallites described here opens an effective pathway for the design and preparation of fine‐nanostructured rutile phase titania materials to explore potential applications.     

Evaluation of titania as an ion-exchanger and as a ligand-exchanger in HPLC

Summary The chromatographic properties of titania have been compared with those of zirconia and alumina, by comparison of their relative Lewis acidities whenp-substituted benzoic acids were chromatographed with aqueous mobile phases. The retention behavior ofp-substituted benzoic acids on titania was found to be similar to that on zirconia; the slopes of plots of retention factors against solute pK _a were approximately parallel for all pH values and the slopes obtained were similar to the average slope for zirconia. The shapes of solute peaks on titania were more symmetrical than on alumina and zirconia. The effect of calcination temperature on the chromatographic properties of titania was examined by use of titania prepared at different temperatures. The results obtained clearly showed that the preparation temperature affected the chromatographic properties of titania. It seemed, for example, that titania dried at 40°C behaved as a cation-exchanger, titania heated at 200°C behaved as an amphoteric exchanger, and titania calcined at 600°C behaved as an anion-exchanger in the pH range 4.1–6.5 It was found that the control of the preparation temperature enabled us to make effective use of titania.     

Dependence of the retention volumes of additional streaming current responses and of the column void volume on mobile phase composition

Summary The influence of the alcohol content of the mobile phase and water, acetic acid and aniline as mobile phase additives on the generation and shape of two additional changes of the streaming current, generated inside the liquid chromatography column by injection of any sample and recorded before the responses of retained solutes, was studied in a normal-phase system using silica gel as the stationary phase. The mobile phases were based on a n-heptane-1-propanol mixtures. Under the same conditions the relationships between the column interparticle volume, the column void volume and the total liquid volume in the column and the retention volumes of these two streaming current responses, having the form of chromatographic peaks, were studied. The column void volume was identified with the retention volume of n-octane. The total liquid volume in the column (column hold-up) was calculated from the weight loss of the column wetted with water at first and then dried in nitrogen stream. The retention volume of the first streaming current response equals the column interparticle volume disregarding the mobile phase composition. If the 95∶5 n-heptane-1-propanol mobile phase contains water up to 80% of its saturated concentration (up to 0.114% by vol.), the retention volume of the second response agrees with the total volume of the liquid in the silica gel column, with a precision better than 2%. At a higher relative water saturation the retention volume of the second response increases, while the column void volume decreases. Both changes are explained by the spontaneous formation of a highly polar stagnant liquid in the pores of the silica gel.     

Retention behavior of monosaccharides and disaccharides on titania

Summary The ability of titania to recognize the position of hydroxyl groups was previously found to result from the formation of a chelate ring between a titanium ion and the two oxygen atoms of the hydroxyl group and carboxylate anion of 2-hydroxycarboxylic acids. We investigated how titania could recognize the position of hydroxyl group of monosaccharides and disaccharides. The retention behavior of monosaccharides and disaccharides on titania was found to be characteristic. Thus, sucrose was eluted much faster than the other sugars, whereas D-ribose, D-fructose and L-sorbose were most strongly retained on titania of all of the sugars tested. It is apparent that the sugars strongly retained on titania have an axial hydroxyl group or neighboring hydroxyl groups of the same conformation.     

The Preparation and Properties of Titanium Dioxide Pigments with Acidic Surfaces

Titanium dioxide pigments used in commercial polymers are generally coated with a neutral, alumina/silica gel-coat to improve the pigment physical properties and also to reduce the chemical activity of the titania surface. Production of an acidic alumina/silica coating on titania pigments gives them a chemical activity similar to that previously found in dry clays. This activity is sufficient to increase greatly the bonding of basic organic materials to the pigment surfaces. The enhanced bonding can lead to materials with highly organophilic surfaces. The property changes in polymer composites brought about by these acidic pigments are discussed.     

Comparison of titania, zirconia, and silica stationary phases for separating diesel fuels according to hydrocarbon group-type by supercritical fluid chromatography

Silica, zirconia, and titania columns were compared for their ability to separate diesel samples into saturates, mono-, di-, tri-, and polyaromatics by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) using pure CO(2) according to ASTM method D 5186-03. A titania column coupled in series to a silica column was found to provide the highest overall group-type resolutions based on 20 model compounds, with resolutions as high as 14.7 for saturates versus monoaromatics and 11.9 for monoaromatics versus diaromatics. An oilsands-derived Synfuel light diesel, a commercial Ontario diesel, and a heavy Shell Canada Ltd. diesel blending feedstock were studied on a titania-silica coupled column as well as on a conventional silica column. The Synfuel results were similar (within 0.5 mass%) on both the conventional bare silica column and the titania-silica coupled column. The heavier commercial diesel and diesel blending feedstock samples yielded different results on the titania-silica coupled column compared to the silica column alone, demonstrating the importance of achieving the highest possible resolutions when baseline separation of group-types is not obtained.     

Enhanced light scattering from hollow polycrystalline TiO2 particles in a cellulose matrix

Hollow and core-shell rutile particles were synthesized, and their opacifying power in a cellulose matrix was compared with that of commercial solid rutile particles. It was found that the opacifying power of hollow polycrystalline rutile particles was superior to that of a commercial rutile pigment in a highly pressed bleached fiber matrix, depending on cavity size, whereas the opacifying power of silica-rutile titania core-shell particles was found comparable to that of commercial rutile at constant titania loading. The light scattering efficiency of titania core-shell particles was also shown to be dependent on the light scattering efficiency of the core material. The light scattering efficiency of the polycrystalline silica cores was found to depend on calcination temperature and crystal structure.     

Separation of xanthines in hydro‐organic and polar‐organic elution modes on a titania stationary phase

Hydrophilic interaction LC was investigated in hydro‐organic and nonaqueous elution modes on a titania column by using a set of N‐methyl xanthines as neutral polar probes. To get information regarding the mechanisms that are behind the discrimination of these analytes in hydrophilic interaction, we focused our study on the type and amount of organic modifier as a critical yet rarely explored mobile phase parameter. Several alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol were studied as substitutes to acetonitrile in hydro‐organic elution mode. Compared to silica, the investigation of the eluotropic series of these alcohols on titania highlighted a different implication in the retention mechanism of the xanthine derivatives. At low amounts of protic solvents, the adsorption mainly characterized the retention of analytes on bare silica; whereas mixed interactions including adsorption and ligand exchange were identified on native titania. To investigate the peculiar behavior of alcohols on the metal oxide, methanol, ethanol, and ethylene glycol were tested in replacement of water in polar‐organic elution mode. Distinctive effects on the chromatographic retention and selectivity of xanthines were noticed for the dihydric alcohol, which was found to be a stronger eluting component than water on titania.     

Comparison of column properties in reversed-phase chromatography: monolithic, cholesterolic and mixed bonded stationary phases

A commercial Chromolith C18 column and two new stationary phases with mixed ligands bonded on the Kromasil silica gel support, SG-MIX and SG-Chol, were characterized using simple tests based on the retention of non-polar, basic and acidic compounds. Polar and methylene selectivity tests in acetonitrile-water and methanol-water mobile phases revealed lower hydrophobicities of the SG-MIX and SG-Chol columns in comparison to the Chromolith column. The columns were further characterized using new test criteria - gradient oligomer capacity and isomeric selectivity and peak symmetry of naphthalene di-sulphonic acids in aqueous mobile phases. The cholesterolic column shows greater gradient oligomer selectivity for the separation of oligoethylene glycol samples than the SG-MIX and the Chromolith columns. Increased retention and peak tailing, but decreased isomeric selectivity for naphthalene-di-sulphonic acids was observed with the SG-MIX column, because of interactions with various polar bonded groups.     

Native and modified alumina,titania and zirconia in normal and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary Chromatographic properties of silica, alumina, titania and zirconia have been investigated in normal phase mode in the separation of test mixtures of basic, neutral and acidic compounds. In contrast to silica the chromatographic behaviour revealed the basic properties of the alumina, titania and zirconia surfaces. Therefore, separation of basic compounds on these packings seems very promising. Lypophilic packings have been synthesized by modification of titania, zirconia and alumina with organosilanes and polymers and tested for the separation of basic compounds and proteins. High hydrolytic stability of the modified packings was observed during separations with strong alkali and acidic eluents.     

HPLC retention behavior on hydride-based stationary phases

Two stationary phases attached to a silica hydride surface, cholesterol and bidentate C18, are investigated with a number of pharmaceutically related compounds in order to illustrate the various retention mechanisms that are possible for these bonded materials. The test solutes range from hydrophilic to hydrophobic based on log P (octanol/water partition coefficient) and pKa values. The mobile phases consist of acidified (formic and perchloric acid) water/methanol or water/ACN mixtures. Of particular interest are the high organic content mobile phase compositions where the retention would increase if the bonded material was operating in the aqueous normal phase (ANP) mode. Plots of retention factor (k) versus mobile phase composition are used to elucidate the retention mechanism. A number of examples are presented where solutes are retained based on RP, ANP, or dual retention mechanisms. The silica hydride-based stationary phases can also retain compounds in the organic normal phase.     

Retention of β blockers on native titania stationary phase

In recent years, metal oxides such as titania have been commercially available as chromatographic beds that can potentially be used to achieve novel separations of polar compounds. For example β blockers, which are more often encountered in environmental sciences, have a wide range of polarity, and their basic character leads to difficult sample treatment and separation on conventional silica‐based sorbents. The contribution of titania to the selective analysis of nine β blockers was evaluated in terms of retention mechanisms observed in hydrophilic interaction LC using acetonitrile/water mobile phases with various additives. The mobile phase additives enabled to control the β blocker charge as well as the titania surface charge. Depending on their respective ionic state, various retention mechanisms were identified at low water contents (<40%), including mainly adsorption mixed with hydrophilic interaction LC partition, ion exchange and ion exclusion. An unexpected retention was also observed for high water content and high pH, changing the selectivity of the support.     

SiO2含量对钛/硅复合氧化物聚酯催化剂性能的影响

研究了钛/硅复合氧化物聚酯催化剂中,二氧化硅含量对聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯缩聚反应的影响.催化剂XRD谱图表示,增加二氧化硅含量会抑制二氧化钛的结晶.随着二氧化硅含量的增加,钛/硅催化剂表面Lewis酸的数目和强度都减小.比表面积和Lewis表面酸性都会影响钛/硅催化剂的活性.     

Retention characteristics of chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in normal phase HPLC. II. Chloro-substituted PAHs

Summary The retention behaviour of chloro-substituted PAHs on several commercial normal bonded phase HPLC columns has been investigated. Chloro-substitution was shown to generally decrease the retention on stationary phases like amino-, diol- and nitrophenylpropyl-modified silica. Dimethylaminosilica exhibited more complex retention characteristics towards chloro-substituted PAHs. On this stationary phase, the position of the chlorine substituents on the aromatic solute seemed to be of greater importance for retention than on the amino-, nitro- and diolsilica. For some chloro-PAHs, the retention was shown to increase with the number of chloro-substitutions, probably due to the large affinity of the electron-rich nitrogen in the stationary phase for the electron deficient -system of the chloro-PAHs. Chloro-substituted PAHs were strongly retarded on the electron donating 2-(1-pyrenyl)-ethylsilica (PYE) stationary phase. However, the molecular shape of the chloro-derivatives had a large influence on retention, which was considerably decreased for some nonplanar chloro-derivatives of chrysene and benz(a)anthracene. A two-dimensional back-flush HPLC method, consisting of a combination of a nitrophenylsilica column and a PYE column of matched lengths, was shown to be useful for clean-up of chloro-substituted PAHs in environmental samples.     

Anthracene silica gel,a new polycyclic-aromatic-bonded stationary phase for HPLC

Summary N(9-methylanthracene)aminopropyl silica gel is introduced as a new reversed-phase packing material. It has specific selectivity for some aromatic compounds. In this paper the anthracene phase is compared with commercial octadecyl-, phenyl- and aminopropyl-bonded silica gels.     

Retention characteristics of octadecylsilyl silica,trimethylsilyl silica and phenyldimethylsilyl silica in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Summary The hydrophobic retention characteristics of stationary ligands for reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography have been evaluated from the slope (r-value) of the plots relating the capacity factors (log k) of selected aliphatic and aromatic compounds with the reciprocal of methanol concentration (log (1/[MeOH])) in aqueous mobile phase. Octadecylsilyl (ODS), trimethylsilyl (TMS) and phenyldimethylsilyl (phenyl) groups were selected as the stationary ligands bonded to silica support.On ODS or TMS silicas, unlike on phenyl silica, aliphatic compounds gave slightly larger r-values than aromatic compounds, indicating that the shape of the ligand recognizes the hydrophobic surfaces of aliphatic and aromatic solute molecules. On TMS and phenyl silicas, the degree of solute hydrophobicity contributing to its retention is about 90% and 85% of that on ODS silica, respectively. On the other hand, on TMS and phenyl silicas, the polar functional group on the solute molecule brought about a smaller decrease in retention than on ODS silica.     

Influence of column temperature,water content,polarity, and acidity of isohydric solvents on the separation of butyrophenones on silica gel

Summary The behaviour of butyrophenones in high performance liquid chromatography on silica gel using isohydric solvent systems has been studied. The influence of column temperature, water content, acidity and polarity of isohydric solvents on the retention, column efficiency and resolution of a series of butyrophenones have been investigated. Through the results obtained more insight has been gained into the theoretical aspects of the adsorption process on silica gel with isohydric solvent systems.     

Fabrication of silica-on-titania and titania-on-silica nanoparticle assemblies

Structures of silica particles on a titania surface and titania particles on a silica surface were formed by deposition of SiO₂ or TiO₂ nanoparticles on pre-patterned substrates. Photolithography was used to create a matrix for the selective deposition of nanoparticles by immersion in a colloidal suspension. Atomic force microscopy was used to investigate the topography of these inorganic assemblies. Whereas two-dimensional colloidal patches of TiO₂ nanoparticles are obtained on silica surfaces, SiO₂ nanoparticles form three-dimensional, U-shaped channels on titania surfaces.The influence of electrostatic forces on assembly structure is vital. The isoelectric points of the particles, the pre-patterned matrix and the photo-resist are key parameters and may be manipulated to achieve various microstructures. The 2D nanoparticle arrays of titania on silica and 3D channels (built of silica nanoparticles) on flat titania surfaces are of potential interest in lab-on-a-chip applications.     

Laterally attached liquid-crystalline polymers as stationary phases. Effect of temperature in RP HPLC and comparison with a commercial C18 stationary phase

Summary Specific side-on-fixed liquid-crystalline polymers (SOLCP) have been synthesized for use in silica-modified stationary phases in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The mesogenic side group of the SOLCP is composed of three benzoate-type phenyl rings with terminal alkoxy chains and is laterally linked to a polysiloxane backbone via an alkyl ester spacer arm. The dependence of the logarithm of the retention factor on the reciprocal temperature showed that the liquid-crystalline anisotropic order was conserved in the small pores (200 ? diameter) of the silica gel. The first-order nematic-isotropic transition is lost and probably becomes second-order. Adsorption enthalpies for the liquid-crystalline stationary phases have been measurement for three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon isomers (ortho-terphenyl, triphenylene, and chrysene) and compared with those for a commercial C₁₈ phase. The adsorption enthalpies never exceeded 30 kJ mol⁻¹, i.e. ten times the thermal agitation energy,RT. They were always less on the SOLCP stationary phase than on the C₁₈ column, emphasizing the more rigid structure of the liquid crystalline phase and its mechanism based upon adsorption. Better separation of steroids, pesticides and amino acids were obtained with the LCP-coated silica than the commercial bonded C₁₈ column. Four small peptides were successfully separated by using pure water as mobile phase.