Inertness and stability of a maltose-silica for the separation of proteins by HPLC

Summary A stationary phase consisting of maltose on a silica support, designed for the separation of proteins, is described. When maltose is coupled to aminopropylsilica an effective shielding of the silica surface can be obtained. A size exclusion experiment is used to investigate pore structure and the behaviour of proteins. The stability of the surface layer is studied, as influenced by silica pretreatments and cross-linking reactions. Inertness is studied via the denaturation of trypsin in columns of different length at a number of temperatures. An example of a derivatization of the maltose layer is given which demonstrates its use as an interactive separation medium.