| Abstract: | Coating intensively leached silica surfaces with OH-terminated phases provides a new way of producing, by simple means, columns with substantially increased inertness and thermostability. In addition, their separation efficiency is found to be typically higher than that of columns with traditional coatings. The underlying basic effect is a condensation process between terminal silanol groups of the phase and residual silanols, of the glass surface, thus producing the mentioned inertness. Moreover, the surface-bonded molecules are immobilized without addition of a radical generator. If required, crosslinking can also be effected using a volatile azo compound. No vinyl groups are required for this additional immobilization process. The paper discusses all processes involved, and gives detailed working directions for the following medium polar phases. OV-1701-OH, OV-31-OH (new, 17% cyanopropyl), OV-61-OH, and OV-17-OH, and the apolar phases PS-347.5 and PS-086. There is no doubt so far that the principle of terminal silanol groups is applicable to all silicone phases, and may replace the traditional endcapped stationary phases in the future. |
