Separation of basic and acidic compounds by capillary electrochromatography using monolithic silica capillary columns with zwitterionic stationary phase

Silica-based zwitterionic monolithic stationary phase for separation of neutral and ionized solutes using pressurized CEC

A porous zwitterionic monolith was prepared by in situ covalent attachment of lysine to a gamma-glycidoxypropyltrimethosysilane-modified silica monolith. The prepared column was used to perform neutral and ionized solutes separations by pressurized (pCEC). Due to the zwitterionic nature of the resulting stationary phase, the monolithic column provided both electrostatic attraction and repulsion sites for electrochromatographic retention for ionized solutes. Separation of several nucleotides was investigated on the monolithic column. It was shown that the nucleotides could be separated based on hydrophilic and electrostatic interactions between the stationary phase and analyte. Besides, the separation property of the zwitterionic silica monolith was compared with the use of diamine-bonded silica monolith as stationary phase. As expected, the lysine monolith exhibited a lower retention for the five nucleotides, which was due to the dissociation of the external carboxylic acid groups, leading to electrostatic repulsion with negatively charged solutes. Under the same experimental conditions, separation of the five nucleotides on the zwitterionic column was in less than 8 min, while that on the diamine column was in approximately 60 min.

Improvement of separation efficiencies of anion-exchange chromatography using monolithic silica capillary columns modified with polyacrylates and polymethacrylates containing tertiary amino or quaternary ammonium groups

Anion-exchange (AEX) columns were prepared by on-column polymerization of acrylates and methacrylates containing tertiary amino or quaternary ammonium groups on monolithic silica in a fused silica capillary modified with anchor groups. The columns provided a plate height (H) of less than 10 microm at optimum linear velocity (u) with keeping their high permeability (K=9-12 x 10(-14) m2). Among seven kinds of AEX columns, a monolithic silica column modified with poly(2-hydroxy-3-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)propyl methacrylates) (HMPMA) showed larger retentions and better selectivities for nucleotides and inorganic anions than the others. The HMPMA column of 410 mm length produced 42,000-55,000 theoretical plates (N) at a linear velocity of 0.97 mm/s with a backpressure of 3.8 MPa. The same column could be employed for a fast separation of inorganic anions in 1.8 min at a linear velocity of 5.3 mm/s with a backpressure of 20 MPa. In terms of van Deemter plot and separation impedance, the HMPMA column showed higher performance than a conventional particle-packed AEX column. The HMPMA column showed good recovery of a protein, trypsin inhibitor, and it was applied to the separation of proteins and tryptic digest of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in a gradient elution, to provide better separation compared to a conventional particle-packed AEX column.

Preparation and evaluation of a lysine-bonded silica monolith as polar stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction pressurized capillary electrochromatography

A silica-based monolith as polar stationary phase was described for hydrophilic interaction pressurized capillary electrochromatography (HI-pCEC). The polar monolithic column was prepared by on-column reaction of lysine with epoxy groups on a gamma-glycidoxypropyltrimethosysilane-modified silica monolith. The stationary phase yielded strong hydrophilic interaction due to the slightly polar hydroxyl groups, and the strong polar lysine ligand with amino groups and carboxylic groups contained on the surface of the monolith. In order to evaluate the hydrophilic character of lysine ligand, the chromatographic behaviors of epoxy monolith (before lysine bonded) and diol monolith (hydroxyl groups contained) were also investigated. Two groups of comparative experiment were developed in terms of the separation of typical neutral non-polar and polar compounds performed in a mobile phase of aqueous-acetonitrile solution. Results showed that the lysine monolith was much more hydrophilic than the diol monolith, which presented less hydrophobic than the epoxy monolith. For further study on its hydrophilic character, the lysine monolith was demonstrated in the HI-pCEC mode for the separations of various polar compounds such as phenols, nucleic acid bases and nucleosides.

Pressurized CEC of neutral and charged solutes using silica monolithic stationary phases functionalized with 3-(2-aminoethylamino)propyl ligands

A novel silica monolithic stationary phase functionalized with 3-(2-aminoethylamino)propyl ligands for pressurized CEC has been presented. The monolithic capillary columns were prepared by a sol-gel process in 75 microm id fused-silica capillaries and followed by a chemical modification. The diamino groups on the surface of the stationary phase are meant to generate the chromatographic surface and a substantial anodic EOF as well as to provide electrostatic interaction sites for charged solutes. The electrochromatographic characterization and column performance were evaluated by a variety of neutral and charged solutes. It was observed that the anodic EOF for the diamine-bonded monolith was greatly affected by the reaction time with 3-(2-aminoethylamino)propyltrimethoxysilane and the PEG amount in the sol-gel reaction mixture in addition to the mobile phase conditions. The monolithic stationary phase exhibited hydrophilic interaction chromatographic behavior toward neutral solutes. Good separations of various solutes including phenols, nucleic acid bases, nucleosides and nucleotides were achieved under different experimental conditions. Fast and efficient separations were obtained with high plate counts reaching more than 130,000 plates/m.