Is click chemistry attractive for separation sciences?

Recent advances in chiral selectors immobilization and chiral mobile phase additives in liquid chromatographic enantio-separations: A review

For decades now, the separation of chiral enantiomers of drugs has been gaining the interest and attention of researchers. In 1991, the first guidelines for development of chiral drugs were firstly released by the US-FDA. Since then, the development in chromatographic enantioseparation tools has been fast and variable, aiming at creating a suitable environment where the physically and chemically identical enantiomers can be separated. Among those tools, the immobilization of chiral selectors (CS) on different stationary phases and the chiral mobile phase additives (CMPA) which have been progressed and studied extensively. This review article highlights the major advances in immobilization of CS together with their different recognition mechanisms as well as CMPA as a cheaper and successful alternative for chiral stationary phases. Moreover, the role of molecular modeling tool as a pre-step in the choice of CS for evaluating possible interactions with different ligands has been pointed up. Illustrations of reported methods and updates for immobilized CS and CMPA have been included.

Hydrophobic/hydrophilic separation performance evaluation of a mixed-mode ionic liquid embedded stearyl thioglycolate functionalized silica stationary phase

In this work, a novel imidazolium ionic liquid embedded multifunctional chromatographic stationary phase (Sil-AVI-ST) was synthesized by the radical-mediated thiol-ene click reaction. A wide range of samples including hydrophilic sulfonamides, vitamins and nucleosides/bases as well as hydrophobic phthalates, bisphenols, alkylphenols and steroid hormones were selected to evaluate the separation ability of the newly obtained Sil-AVI-ST. As expected, an efficient separation of the above tested analytes was successfully achieved in different chromatographic modes. It was proved that multiple stationary phase-analyte interaction forces promoted the selective separation. The Sil-AVI-ST column provided multiple retention mechanisms, enabling the efficient separation of diverse analytes with different polarity. More importantly, embedding a polar ligand (1-allyl-3-vinyl-imidazolium) could improve the separation efficiency of long-chain alkyl bonded stationary phases for hydrophilic analytes, and the developed Sil-AVI-ST column could also realize the detection of hydrophobic analytes under water-rich conditions, which is impossible for the conventional hydrophobic columns. Therefore, the newly prepared Sil-AVI-ST stationary phase has a good practical application potential.

Strategies for Preparation of Chiral Stationary Phases: Progress on Coating and Immobilization Methods

Enantioselective chromatography is one of the most used techniques for the separation and purification of enantiomers. The most important issue for a specific successful enantioseparation is the selection of the suitable chiral stationary phase (CSP). Different synthetic approaches have been applied for the preparation of CSPs, which embrace coating and immobilization methods. In addition to the classical and broadly applied coating and immobilization procedures, innovating strategies have been introduced recently. In this review, an overview of different methods for the preparation of coated and immobilized CSPs is described. Updated examples of CSPs associated with the various strategies are presented. Considering that after the preparation of a CSP its characterization is fundamental, the methods used for the characterization of all the described CSPs are emphasized.

Well-Defined Materials for High-Performance Chromatographic Separation

Chromatographic separation has been widely applied in various fields, such as chemical engineering, precision medicine, energy, and biology. Because chromatographic separation is based on differential partitioning between the mobile phase and stationary phase and affected by band dispersion and mass transfer resistance from these two phases, the materials used as the stationary phase play a decisive role in separation performance. In this review, we discuss the design of separation materials to achieve the separation with high efficiency and high resolution and highlight the well-defined materials with uniform pore structure and unique properties. The achievements, recent developments, challenges, and future trends of such materials are discussed. Furthermore, the surface functionalization of separation ma-terials for further improvement of separation performance is reviewed. Finally, future research directions and the challenges of chromatographic separation are presented.

A novel high-capacity immunoadsorbent with PAMAM dendritic spacer arms by click chemistry

A novel immunoadsorbent with polyamidoamine dendritic spacer arms was prepared. Click chemistry can improve the reaction selectivity between the ligands and the support matrix under mild reaction conditions. The designed and prepared immunoadsorbent exhibits excellent adsorption for IgG. The IgG adsorption capacity of Sep-G3-His is superior to those of Sep-triazole-His and protein A immunoadsorbents.

Click and Click-Inspired Chemistry for the Design of Sequence-Controlled Polymers

During the previous decade, many popular chemical reactions used in the area of "click" chemistry and similarly efficient "click-inspired" reactions have been applied for the design of sequence-defined and, more generally, sequence-controlled structures. This combination of topics has already made quite a significant impact on scientific research to date and has enabled the synthesis of highly functionalized and complex oligomeric and polymeric structures, which offer the prospect of many exciting further developments and applications in the near future. This minireview highlights the fruitful combination of these two topics for the preparation of sequence-controlled oligomeric and macromolecular structures and showcases the vast number of publications in this field within a relatively short span of time. It is divided into three sections according to the click-(inspired) reaction that has been applied: copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition, thiol-X, and related thiolactone-based reactions, and finally Diels-Alder-chemistry-based routes are outlined, respectively.

Photochemical Synthesis and Versatile Functionalization Method of a Robust Porous Poly(ethylene glycol methacrylate-co-allyl methacrylate) Monolith Dedicated to Radiochemical Separation in a Centrifugal Microfluidic Platform

The use of a centrifugal microfluidic platform is an alternative to classical chromatographic procedures for radiochemistry. An ion-exchange support with respect to the in situ light-addressable process of elaboration is specifically designed to be incorporated as a radiochemical sample preparation module in centrifugal microsystem devices. This paper presents a systematic study of the synthesis of the polymeric porous monolith poly(ethylene glycol methacrylate-co-allyl methacrylate) used as a solid-phase support and the versatile and robust photografting process of the monolith based on thiol-ene click chemistry. The polymerization reaction is investigated, varying the formulation of the polymerisable mixture. The robustness of the stationary phase was tested in concentrated nitric acid. Thanks to their unique "easy-to-use" features, centrifugal microfluidic platforms are potential successful candidates for the downscaling of chromatographic separation of radioactive samples (automation, multiplexing, easy integration in glove-boxes environment, and low cost of maintenance).

Photochemical radical thiol–ene click-based methodologies for silica and transition metal oxides materials chemical modification: a mini-review

The photochemical radical thiol–ene addition reaction (PRTEA) is a highly powerful synthetic technique for surface modification.

Facile one-pot preparation of chiral monoliths with a well-defined framework based on the thiol–ene click reaction for capillary liquid chromatography

A novel chiral cyclodextrin (CD) monolith was easily prepared via a one-pot process based on the thiol–ene click reaction of allyl-β-CD with pentaerythritol tetra-(3-mercaptopropionate) in a fused-silica capillary.

Tunable temperature responsive liquid chromatography through thiolactone-based immobilization of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)

A straightforward and efficient functionalization of aminopropylsilica with polymeric structures is described for the development of temperature responsive stationary phases applicable in purely aqueous liquid chromatography. The immobilization of the thermoresponsive polymers involves a thiolactone-based ring opening using the primary amines in aminopropylsilica, with a simultaneous one-pot, thiol-ene functionalization with an acrylate of choice. This mild, straightforward and modular grafting process results in high polymer coupling yields. By variation of the acrylate for the thiol-ene reaction, different stationary phases can be readily obtained. Two stationary phases as a result of the modular modification of aminopropylsilica were evaluated with test mixtures of hydrophobic analytes and a mixture of di- and tripeptides. Analyses using the 5μm material packed in 10cm×4.6mm columns revealed high hydrophobic retention, which proved adaptable as a function of the temperature in aqueous mobile phases. High versus low retention were obtained at temperatures above and below the lower critical solution temperature of the polymer, respectively. Moreover, the columns depict potential for diastereoisomeric peptide separation. Finally, the lower retention, observed when using PEGylated silica, illustrates the potential of the approach for modular stationary phase tuning.

Synthesis and Surface Reactivity of Vinylized Macroporous Silica Monoliths: One-Pot Hybrid versus Postsynthesis Grafting Strategies

Different synthesis routes have been implemented to prepare macroporous monoliths with vinyl pendant groups and micrometric skeletons and through-pore sizes. A standard process combining the synthesis of a widely used (methyltrimethoxysilane/tetramethoxysilane) (MTMS/TMOS) hybrid silica monolith and the postsilanization with vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS) was used as reference material (Vgr-MTMS). An alternative "one-pot" procedure was used to obtain vinylized hybrid monoliths. Two VTMS/TMOS hybrid based monoliths were successfully prepared starting from 20% (w) and 80% (w/w) of VTMS, respectively, called 20-VTMS and 80-VTMS. Monoliths were characterized by SEM, nitrogen-adsorption isotherm, and (29)Si MAS NMR spectroscopy. One-pot synthesis allowed to obtain higher vinyl contents (15.9 and 61.5 mol % of Si atoms bonded to vinyl groups respectively for 20-VTMS and 80-VTMS) than for the postgrafted one (7.1%). Accessibility of vinyl groups was determined by the extent of bromination reactions followed by FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. Bromination with reaction yields were higher than 80% for all materials (80%, 85%, and 100% for 80-VTMS, 20-VTMS, and Vgr-MTMS respectively), with no diffusion issues The chemical reactivity of the pendant vinyl groups was investigated through radical-mediated thiol-ene reaction and radical-initiated bisulfite addition. Reaction yields for the two VTMS hybrid monoliths were quite lower (4-6%) than those obtained (about 50%) for the Vgr-MTMS monolith. The difference in reactivity was attributed to the steric hindrance of the vinyl moieties at the surface of hybrid materials. However, the lower reactivity of vinyl groups is compensated by their considerably higher surface density. Thus, hybrid monoliths are advantageous over their grafted counterparts, due to their higher hydrolytic stability and to the greater simplicity of the one-pot process. A chromatographic application exemplifies their interest and performances in separation science.

In-line coupling of an aptamer based miniaturized monolithic affinity preconcentration unit with capillary electrophoresis and Laser Induced Fluorescence detection

A composite 30-cm capillary was prepared. The head of the capillary was a 1.5-cm original and miniaturized aptamer-based monolithic affinity support that was in-line coupled to the end of the capillary used for capillary electrophoresis (CE) with laser induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. The device was used for the preconcentration, separation and quantification of ochratoxin A (OTA) as a test solute. The 1.5-cm preconcentration unit consists of a fritless affinity monolithic bonded with 5'-SH-modified oligonucleotide aptamers. A vinyl spacer was used for thiol-ene photoclick chemistry with a 5min irradiation at 365nm. Photografting allowed to confine the binding reaction to the desired silica monolithic segment, upstream the empty section of the CE capillary using an UV mask. The photografting procedure was optimized preparing 10-cm capillary monoliths for nano-LC. The retention factors of cationic solutes in ion-exchange nano-LC allowed to follow the aptamer binding on the monolith. The reproducibility of the photografting process was satisfactory with inter-capillary variation lower than 10%. The aptamer bonding density can be increased by successive graftings of 100μM aptamer concentration solution (5pmol/cm/grafting). The optimal conditions to successfully perform the in-line coupling (preconcentration, elution and separation of OTA) with the composite capillary were adjusted depending on individual requirements of each step but also insuring compatibility. Under optimized conditions, OTA was successfully preconcentrated and quantified down to 0.1pg (percolation of 2.65μL of a 40ng/L OTA solution). A quantitative recovery of OTA (93±2%) was achieved in a single elution of 30pg percolated OTA amount. The reproducibility of the overall process was satisfactory with a relative standard deviation lower than 10% with negligible non-specific adsorption. This device was applied for the preconcentration and analysis of OTA in beer and wine at the ppb level within a total analysis time of 30min.

Preparation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane based hybrid monoliths by thiol-ene click chemistry for capillary liquid chromatography

A facile organic–silica hybrid monolith was prepared by a thiol-ene click reaction of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane methacryl substituted (POSS-MA) with 1,4-bis(mercaptoacetoxy) butane (BMAB) using toluene and dodecanol as a porogenic system.