Effect of coverage density and structure of chemically bonded silica stationary phases on the separation of compounds with various properties

The chemical character, geometry, and architecture of chemically formed surface layers determine interactions between stationary phase, analyte, and mobile phase, and therefore the retention mechanisms (partitioning, adsorption, ion exchange, steric exclusion) of separated analytes. These interactions also depend on the structure and chemical character of the solutes and the composition of the mobile phase. High-molecular-weight fullerenes (C60 and C70) and water-soluble selenium-containing peptides (833 and 2607 Da) were used for the evaluation of laboratory-prepared octadecyl stationary phases with high and low coverage density before and after end-capping. The aim of this work was to study differences in surface coverage density and homogeneity and conformational changes of chemically bonded moieties and the influence of these parameters on the separation of mixtures of selenopeptides and fullerenes with significantly different molecular masses. A topographical model of the chemically modified stationary surface is presented.     

Raman spectroscopy of octadecylsilane stationary phase conformational order. Effect of solvent

The effect of solvent on the conformation of alkyl chains of two octadecysilane-based stationary phases is probed using Raman spectroscopy. Spectral data indicate that the alkyl chains of commercially available polymeric and monomeric solid-phase extraction stationary phases are disordered to a varying extent by solvents of different polarity. For the polymeric octadecylsilane stationary phase, the polar solvents water, acetonitrile, methanol, acetone and isopropanol have little impact on the conformational order of the octadecylsilane bonded phase relative to air. However, the alkyl portion of this stationary phase is substantially disordered in the low-polarity solvents tetrahydrofuran, chloroform, benzene, toluene and hexane. The monomeric octadecylsilane stationary phase is less susceptible to disordering by solvents, although more disorder in the less polar solvents is also observed for this system. These results are interpreted in terms of the local surface bonding density and interchain spacing of these two stationary phases, and the ability of the solvent to penetrate the chains as a function of polarity. The results clearly demonstrate the ability of Raman spectroscopy to precisely indicate subtle changes in conformational order of alkylsilane stationary phases.     

Characterization of calixarene‐bonded stationary phases

Calixarene‐bonded stationary phases received growing interest in HPLC as stationary phases with special retention characteristics and selectivity. The commercially available unsubstituted and p‐tert‐butyl‐substituted Caltrex^® columns have been intensively studied and characterized in our workgroup. They can be used as reversed phases, yet they support additional interactions. Especially, their steric, polar and ionic properties differ from conventional alkyl‐bonded phases. However, also the hydrophobic interaction shows differences since adsorption and partition interactions on or in a bonded layer of calixarenes are not similar to those of alkyl‐bonded layers. The relative strength of the hydrophobic properties of the stationary phases has been found depending on the methanol concentration of the mobile phase. Generally, the dependencies of their interaction strengths on mobile‐phase conditions, e.g. the change of the intensity of the hydrogen‐bonding abilities with decreasing methanol content, are not similar from phase to phase either. This probably gives calixarene‐bonded stationary phases enhanced suitability for analyses at extreme compositions of the mobile phase. An overview about the synthesis, retention and selectivity properties of Caltrex^® columns is given here.     

Raman spectroscopic study of the conformational order of octadecylsilane stationary phases: effects of electrolyte and pH

This study investigates effects of the electrolyte, of acidic and basic compounds, and of pH on the rotational and conformational order of octadecylsilane stationary phases with surface coverages of 3.09 and 6.45 mol/m². Both phases exhibit an increase in alkyl chain rotational and conformational order in 5–200 mM aqueous electrolyte solutions relative to water. These stationary phases are effectively salted-out of aqueous electrolyte solutions, thereby causing alkyl chain intermolecular interactions to increase with a concomitant increase in alkyl chain order. Although the presence of acidic and basic compounds generally has no effect on the conformational order of either stationary phase as a function of pH, the higher coverage stationary phase does exhibit pH-dependent changes in aqueous solutions of benzoic acid. At pH values below the pK_a of benzoic acid, the conformational order of this stationary phase is unchanged relative to that observed in the same pH solution in the absence of benzoic acid. In light of independent evidence that such monosubstituted aromatics interact with the octadecylsilane stationary phase under these conditions, the absence of a measurable effect on alkyl chain order for these conditions is attributed to benzoic acid self-association at the stationary phase-mobile phase interface. In contrast, at pH values above the pK_a of benzoic acid, slight disordering of the alkyl chains is observed and is attributed to repulsive interactions between retained benzoate anions.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at     

Characterization of stationary phases in subcritical fluid chromatography by the solvation parameter model. I. Alkylsiloxane-bonded stationary phases

Varied types of alkylsiloxane-bonded and fluoroalkylsiloxane-bonded stationary phases, all commercially available, were investigated with subcritical fluid mobile phase. The effect of the alkyl chain length (from C4 to C18) and of the nature of the bonding (fluorodecylsiloxane, phenyl-C18 and polar-embedded-C18) on the chromatographic behaviour was investigated by the use of a linear solvation energy relationship (LSER), the solvation parameter model. A large set of test compounds provides precise and reliable information on the intermolecular interactions responsible for retention on these stationary phases used with a subcritical mobile phase. First of all, the results underline the close properties between subcritical fluid and organic liquid. The use of non aqueous mobile phases reduces the cavity energy and the mobile phase acidity generally encountered with aqueous liquid phases, allowing other interactions to take a part in retention. As expected, an increase in the alkyl chain length favours the dispersive interactions between the solutes and the stationary phases. Changes in basicity and acidity of the stationary phases are also related to the chain length, but, in this case, mobile phase adsorption onto the stationary phase is supposed to explain these behaviours. The addition of a phenyl group at the bottom of the C18 chain, near the silica, does not induce great modifications in the retentive properties. The fluorodecylsiloxane and the polar-embedded alkylsiloxane phases display very different properties, and can be complementary to the classical alkylsiloxane-bonded phases. In particular, the fluorinated phase does not favour the dispersive interactions, in comparison to hydrogenated stationary phases, when the basicity of the polar-embedded phase is obviously greater than the one of classical alkylsiloxane-bonded phases, due to the amide function. Finally, logk-logk curves plotted between the different phases illustrate the effect of the interaction properties on the retention of different classes of compounds.     

Selectivity of stationary phases in reversed-phase liquid chromatography based on the dispersion interactions

Selectivity of 15 stationary phases was examined, either commercially available or synthesized in-house. The highest selectivity factors were observed for solute molecules having different polarizability on the 3-(pentabromobenzyloxy)propyl phase (PBB), followed by the 2-(1-pyrenyl)ethyl phase (PYE). Selectivity of fluoroalkane 4,4-di(trifluoromethyl)-5,5,6,6,7,7,7-heptafluoroheptyl (F13C9) phase is lowest among all phases for all compounds except for fluorinated ones. Aliphatic octyl (C8) and octadecyl (C18) phases demonstrated considerable selectivity, especially for alkyl compounds. While PBB showed much greater preference for compounds with high polarizability containing heavy atoms than C18 phase, F13C9 phase showed the exactly opposite tendency. These three stationary phases can offer widely different selectivity that can be utilized when one stationary phase fails to provide separation for certain mixtures. The retention and selectivity of solutes in reversed-phase liquid chromatography is related to the mobile phase and the stationary phase effects. The mobile phase effect, related to the hydrophobic cavity formation around non-polar solutes, is assumed to have a dominant effect on retention upon aliphatic stationary phases such as C8, C18. In a common mobile phase significant stationary phase effect can be attributed to dispersion interaction. Highly dispersive stationary phases such as PBB and PYE retain solutes to a significant extent by (attractive) dispersion interaction with the stationary phase ligands, especially for highly dispersive solutes containing aromatic functionality and/or heavy atoms. The contribution of dispersion interaction is shown to be much less on C18 or C8 phases and was even disadvantageous on F13C9 phase. Structural properties of stationary phases are analyzed and confirmed by means of quantitative structure-chromatographic retention (QSRR) study.     

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.     

Doubly tethered tertiary amide linked and ionically bonded diproline chiral stationary phases

Oligoproline chiral stationary phase (CSP) is a new class peptide chiral stationary phase. Many proline chiral stationary phases with different proline chain lengths and linkers have been prepared and evaluated. However, the doubly tethered and ionic type linkers have not been adequately investigated. In this study, covalently and ionically bonded chiral stationary phases with doubly tethered linker were prepared and characterized. The new covalently bonded doubly tethered diproline CSP was applied successfully to resolve various enantiomers of acidic, basic, and neutral compounds with phenyl, naphthyl, anthryl, or similarly sized groups. The enantiorecognition performances of singly and doubly tethered diproline CSPs were comparable. Variation of the type and content of organic modifiers in hexane or heptane mobile phase showed that the branch alcohols such as 2‐propanol and 2‐butanol, 1,2‐dichloroethane, methyl tert‐butyl ether, and ethyl acetate in the mobile phase enhanced chiral separation. End‐capping on doubly tethered diproline CSP did not always improve the separation factor and resolution. Due to the rigid structure of the double tether, the enantioseparation ability of ionically bonded diproline CSP was well expressed to some analytes.     

Retention behavior of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in supercritical fluid chromatography on a chemically bonded stationary phases based upon liquid-crystalline polymer

Summary The retention behavior of a set of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in supercritical fluid chromatography have been studied on a chemically bonded stationary phase based upon a side chain liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) with carbon dioxide-based mobile phase. The effects of the mobile phase pressure, column temperature and amount of mobile phase organic modifier have been investigated in order to detect a possible structural change in the liquid crystal polymer linked to the silica support. The influence of these factors on the selectivity coefficients has also been studied. Two distinctive behaviors with temperature are noted at low pressure on the one hand and at higher pressure on the other. This change in behavior is based on the density of the supercritical CO₂ and the PAH volatility rather than on any specific stationary phase structural change. Both lower mobile phase pressure and amount of mobile phase modifier are required to obtain better selectivities. Better planarity recognition is observed in SFC than in HPLC with these new bonded liquid crystal stationary phases. The bonded liquid crystal phase is only weakly affected by the addition of organic modifier in the supercritical CO₂.     

Characterization of the properties of stationary phases for liquid chromatography in aqueous mobile phases using aromatic sulphonic acids as the test compounds

We investigated the effects of the concentration of naphthalene sulphonic acids (NSAs) as anionic test compounds in the injected sample and of the salt additives to the mobile phase on ion-exclusion. The retention behaviour of NSAs sensitively reflects even minor changes in the ionic and hydrophobic interactions and can be useful for predicting the effects of the stationary phases in reversed-phase chromatography of polar and ionic compounds, both small ones and biopolymers, e.g., oligonucleotides. We studied chromatographic properties of several stationary phases intended for separations in aqueous mobile phases: a C18 column end-capped with polar hydrophilic groups, a densely bonded C8 column doubly end-capped with short alkyl groups, a short alkyl stationary phase designed to keep full pore accessibility in highly-aqueous mobile phases and a Bidentate column with “bridged” C18 groups attached to the silica hydride support. The chemistry and pore structure of various types of column packing materials and of the salt additives to the mobile phase affect the proportion of the pore volume non-accessible to anions due to ion-exclusion and consequently the peak asymmetry and hydrophobic selectivity in reversed-phase chromatography of organic acids. We also addressed the problems connected with the determination of column hold-up volume in aqueous mobile phases. The accessibility of the stationary phase for anionic compounds in contact with the sample zone is affected by ion-exclusion due to repulsive interactions with the negatively charged surface in the pores of the stationary phase. The accessible part of the stationary phase increases and consequently the migration velocity along the column decreases with increasing concentration of the sample in the zone moving along the column. Because of a limited access to the stationary phase, its capacity can be easily overloaded. The combination of the column overload and ion-exclusion effects may result in fronting or tailing peak asymmetry. To explain this behaviour, we proposed a modified Langmuir model, respecting the variation of the column capacity due to the effects of sample concentration on ion-exclusion.     

Selectivity studies on branched and linear alkyl bonded stationary phases in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Summary Reversed-phase liquid chromatographic retention characteristics for the sixteen acyclic C₁−C₅ N-alkylbenzamide congeners were measured on various branched and linear, alkyl bonded hydrocarbon stationary phases. Retention factors, k′, were determined in acetonitrile-water mobile phase compositions on ethyl, n-octyl, n-dodecyl, n-octadecyl, 1-ethyladamantyl, 4-butyloctyl, and 2,4,4-trimethylpentyl stationary phases. Statistical analysis of the two main effects investigated — type of stationary phase and percentage of organic modifier (acetonitrile) in the mobile phase — described greater than ninety percent of the variability in the data for most of the comparisons. Selectivity effects due to variation in the mobile phase dominated the results.     

High performance liquid chromatography with cyclodextrin and calixarene macrocycle bonded silica stationary phases for separation of steroids

β-Cyclodextrin, p-tert-butyl-calix[8]arene and chloropropyl bonded silica stationary phases have been prepared and were applied at the same time to develop a chromatographic procedure to separate steroids. In order to select the best type of stationary phase for the analysis, similar preparation processes of the two kinds of macrocycle stationary phases with the same spacer were adopted respectively. The chromatographic behaviors and retention mechanisms of the two kinds of macrocycle stationary phases for steroids were systematically studied and compared with those of chloropropyl bonded silica and ODS. The effect of mobile phase variables, such as methanol content, pH value of buffer, ionic strength and buffer composition on chromatographic behaviors was investigated. The results showed that the retention mechanisms of the four stationary phases for steroids were obviously different, and excellent separation was achieved on β-cyclodextrin bonded silica stationary phase (β-CD-BS), as a consequence of the structure and the properties of the stationary phase. The retention process on β-CD-BS exhibited inclusion complexation, hydrogen-bonding and weak hydrophobic interaction, while for p-tert-butyl-calix[8]arene bonded silica stationary phase (CBS), π-π and hydrogen-bonding besides hydrophobic interaction played an important role.     

Effect of temperature on the mechanism of retention of fullerenes in liquid chromatography using various alkyl bonded stationary phases

Summary The temperature-dependency of the separation of fullerenes in liquid chromatography (LC) has been examined using various alkyl bonded stationary phases. It has been found that a maximum retention temperature exists with long alkyl bonded stationary phases, whereas there is no similar effect with the newly synthesized alkyl bonded phases which have two phenyl groups at the base of the bonded phase. The interpretation of the retention behavior of fullerenes in the low temperature region on alkyl bonded stationary phases is discussed using information obtained by CP-MAS solid-state NMR spectroscopy and LC.     

Retention behavior of aromatic hydrocarbons and dansylamino acids in reversed-phase liquid chromatography with cation-exchange-induced stationary phases

The retention behavior of aromatic hydrocarbons and dansylamino acids on cation-exchangers modified with alkylammonium ions has been examined by microcolumn liquid chromatography. Several parameters affected the retention of analytes, involving concentration of the modifier in the mobile phase, its alkyl chain length and mobile phase composition. Stationary phases modified with a reagent having longer alkyl chains achieved better column efficiency.     

Interaction mechanisms on octadecyl packed columns in subcritical fluid chromatography with CO2-modifier mobile phases

An experimental design was carried out for describing the interaction mechanisms between solutes and octadecyl bonded silicas in subcritical fluid chromatography (SubFC), with CO2-methanol and CO2-acetonitrile mobile phases. The effects of modifier amount, temperature and outlet pressure were studied. The homologous series of alkylbenzenes was mainly used as probe, and results were in part assessed with other series. Curves between the methylene selectivity (alphaCH2) and the alkyl chain carbon number (Cn) were plotted, because changes of slope or discontinuity in these curves are yielded by interaction mechanism modifications. Moreover, the linearity of the Van 't Hoff curves with CO2-acetonitrile mobile phases has enabled one to calculate the transfer enthalpy (deltaH) for each homologue. The curves log k = f(-deltaH) allow a discrimination of the retention behaviors between the short and the long homologues for CO2-acetonitrile mobile phases. Depending on the analytical conditions, different oriented partition mechanisms occur for the long homologues, when the short ones seem to be fully embedded into the grafted chains near the silica surface. With methanol-CO2 mobile phases the discrimination between the homologues disappears and the methylene selectivity curves correspond to a bulk partition mechanism. The differences in the interaction mechanisms following the modifier nature are related to the adsorption the mobile phase onto the stationary phase, because the amount of adsorbed mobile phase modifies the bonded chain mobility. With methanol, an important adsorption of the mobile phase occurs, when this adsorption is reduced with acetonitrile. In this latter case, an anisotropy in the stationary phase mobility can explain the observed difference in the interaction mechanisms of homologues. Finally, effects of stationary phase chain length (from C18 to C22) and bonding density (from 2.5 to 3.4 micromol m(-2)) were also reported.     

Study on retention behavior of peropyrene-type polycyclic aromatic hydroccrbons with various bonded stationary phases in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Summary The retention behavior of 15 peropyrene-type polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was investigated on various bonded stationary phases in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. On diphenyl and naphthylethyl bonded phases, high correlations were obtained between the molecular polarizability of solutes and their retention. However, very low or no correlations were found on various octadecyl bonded phases. These facts are discussed by using the electrostatic interaction concept between the solutes and the stationary phase. We conclude that these observations are due to two reasons: the difference in the degree of planarity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the high ability of planarity recognition of octadecyl bonded phases.     

Vibrational spectroscopy of dimethylchlorooctadecylsilane covalently bonded to ultrathin silica films immobilized on Ag surfaces

FTIR and Raman spectroscopies have been used to characterize the structure and conformational order of dimethylchlorooctadecylsilane (DOS) covalently bonded to ultrathin silica films supported on Ag substrates. Ultrathin silica films of ca. 30 A thickness prepared from sol-gel methods are immobilized on Ag surfaces modified with a self-assembled monolayer of (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (3MPT). This layered structure provides a unique opportunity for acquiring complementary spectral data from both FTIR and Raman spectroscopies, which are useful in elucidating alkylsilane conformation pertaining to stationary phases for reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). Characterization of octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) layers on thin silica films of ca. 800 A thickness on 3MPT-modified Ag surfaces has been reported previously. Differences between the ultrathin silica films used in this study and the thin silica films used in this previous study are considered. The results from both FTIR and Raman spectroscopy presented here suggest that bonded DOS alkyl chains are in a disordered, liquid-like state with close to monolayer surface coverage.     

Study of the retention and selectivity of cholesterol bonded phases with different linkage spacers

The chromatographic properties of four cholesterol bonded phases with different structures were studied. The columns used were packed with a stationary phase containing a cholesterol molecule attached to the silica surface using different types of linkage molecules. As a basic characteristic of the bonded phases the hydrophobicity and silanol activity (polarity) were investigated. The presence of the polar amino and carboxyl groups in the structure of the bonded ligand strongly influences the polarity of the bonded phase. Columns were compared according to methylene selectivity using a series of benzene homologues and according to their shape and size selectivity using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The measurements were done using MeOH–water and ACN–water mobile phases. The presented results show that the coverage density of the bonded ligands and length of the linkage strongly influence the retention and selectivity of cholesterol bonded phases.     

Retention and selectivity properties of carbamate pesticides on novel polar-embedded stationary phases

This study describes the use of stationary phases with polar functionality suitable for the chemical analysis of carbamates pesticides and comparing with conventional alkyl C8 and C18 phases. The emphasis of this study was to compare the selectivity and retention of the pesticides on different stationary phases, bonded onto 1.7 μm partially porous silica particles under isocratic separation condition. Four stationary phases including: phenylaminopropyl (PAP) phase, bidentate propylurea-C18 (BPUC₁₈), C8 and C18, were successfully bonded on the partially porous silica spheres as evidenced by ²⁹Si and ¹³C solid-state NMR analysis. The phenylaminopropyl phase exhibited smaller retentivity and enhanced selectivity compared to the alkyl C8 phase; the analysis time to run separation of the six carbamate pesticides (i.e., methomyl, propoxur, carbofuran, carbaryl, isoprocarb, and promecarb) on the PAP phase was threefold faster than alkyl C8 phase. In a similar manner, the BPUC₁₈ phase shows similar selectivity to that of the PAP phase, but with longer retentivity; although the BPUC₁₈ phase is characterized with a lesser degree of retentivity for the carbamate pesticides than the conventional alkyl C18 phase. We propose that π–π and weak polar interactions between the carbamate pesticides and the PAP phase dominates the separation mechanism and providing a superior selectivity; faster separation time was also achieved as a result of smaller retentivity. Whereas the C8 and C18 bonded phases exhibits only hydrophobic interactions with the pesticides, leading to larger retentivity. The BPUC₁₈ phase is shown to interact via polar–polar interactions in addition to hydrophobic interactions with the pesticides, providing similar selectivity with the PAP phase but with larger retentivity.     

Study of electroosmotic flow in packed capillary columns

The aim of the work was to find the relationship between the structure of the stationary phase and the velocity of the electroosmotic flow (EOF) that it can generate. The attention was paid to the dependence of the electroosmotic mobility (microEOF) on such parameters as: (i) coverage density of a series of specially synthesized C18 stationary phases with/without end-capping, with monomeric/polymeric architecture; (ii) the length of the alkyl chain in the alkylamide (AP) bonded phase (the phases studied were AP with: C1, C5, C6, C7, C8, C12 and C18 alkyl chains) and the effect of the presence of amide and residual amine groups; (iii) the effect of the mobile phase composition on the EOF; (iv) the effect of pH on the EOF. The obtained results have shown that there is no direct relationship between silanol activity (Galushko test) and electroosmotic mobility for C18 phases. The deterioration of the EOF has been observed for AP phases at high pH values. This effect has been attributed to the presence of hydrolytic pillow, which is connected with the sorption of water from hydro-organic mobile phases.