n-Alkyl fluorenyl phases in chromatography. II. Dynamic behavior and high-performance liquid chromatography applications.

The dynamic behavior of two n-hexyl fluorenyl phases (fluorene-6A 3a(Tn)(Qm)y], fluorene-6B 3b(Tn)(Qm)y]) and three n-decyl fluorenyl phases (fluorene-10A 4a(Tn)(Qm)y], fluorene-10B 4b(Tn)(Qm)y], and fluorene-10C 4c(M1)(Qm)y]) is investigated by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy using the dipolar filter technique with both 13C and 1H detection. These results are compared with those from other dynamic measurements, like the relaxation times in the rotating frame (T1pH) and the variation of the contact time (T(CH)). Additionally, another type of a fluorenyl phase 5a(Tn)(Qm)y], which has an aromatic moiety connected to the silica gel by amido couplings, was also investigated by the dipolar filter method. The solid-state NMR dynamic measurements indicate an increased mobility of the n-alkyl fluorenyl phases compared to the amido coupled fluorenyl phase. The lower the ligand density of the studied n-alkyl fluorenyl phases, the higher their mobility. The separation behavior of the respective phases in high-performance liquid chromatography was investigated with samples containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitro explosives. Depending on the amount of the chemically bound aromatic moiety and the length of their n-alkyl spacer groups, pi-pi interactions with the solute molecules are involved in the separation process and cause it to proceed at a different rate. Therefore, n-alkyl fluorenyl phases can be classified as mixed-mode phases.