Interpretation of interactions of halogenated hydrocarbons with modified silica adsorbent coated with 3-benzylketoimine group silane

The paper reports a new group of adsorbents obtained by modification of silica surface with silane containing 3-benzylketoimine groups with bonded Cu(II) and Ni(II) chlorides. The adsorbents obtained were subjected to a chromatographic study to establish the type of adsorbate-adsorbent interactions for aliphatic and aromatic halogenated hydrocarbons used as adsorbates. The following retention parameters were determined: retention factor (k), Kovats retention index (I), specific retention volume (V _g), and molecular retention index (ΔM _e). Values of the molecular retention index were subjected to complex statistical analysis providing qualitative relations between the adsorbates’ properties and spatial structure and their retention. It was observed that bonding of chlorides of Cu(II) and Ni(II) with the ketoimine groups resulted in an increase of the retention index and the molecular retention index indicating an increase of the adsorbate-adsorbent interaction in comparison with the reference column coated with silane including a 3-benzylketoimine group without transition metal chlorides. Along with the observed increase of the adsorbate-adsorbent interaction, larger difference between the retention indices was observed for both halogenated compounds. This indicates a positive influence of the introduced transition metals on the selectivity of the adsorbate-adsorbent interactions of the examined columns.