Nuclear magnetic resonance and high-performance liquid chromatographic evaluation of polymer-based stationary phases immobilized on silica

¹³C SPE MAS measurement of ligand concentration in compressible chromatographic beads

A method for measuring the ligand concentration in heterogeneous materials like chromatography media is described. In this method, (13)C single pulse excitation magic angle spinning NMR experiment with broadband (1)H decoupling is used to determine the peak integrals for a butyl ligand in the spectrum of a dried chromatography medium. Within a carefully controlled protocol, those integrals compared with that of the internal reference compound dimethyl sulfone provide the required volume concentration with an accuracy of ca 2%. The effects of temperature, degree of hydration, and other experimental parameters are discussed.

Molecular signal suppression by in situ microextraction in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The detailed characterization of complex mixtures by NMR is often hampered by the presence of signals from uninformative compounds, the resonances of which overlap with those of the molecules of interest. We provide here a proof of principle for an approach to NMR signal suppression in complex samples using Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPS). Addition of a few milligrams of polymer to a solution traps the target molecule in typical micromolar to millimolar concentration, thus achieving in situ signal suppression, without altering any other spectral features. This method minimized any manipulation or perturbation of the spectrum and was applied to a complex mixture of known compounds and to a plant extract, in both cases spiked with a compound (bisphenol A), which was subsequently removed by selective binding to a complementary MIP. What is described in this report is comparable with microextraction and may in due course be applied to a large number of analytical challenges.

Characterization of the structural morphology of chemically modified silica prepared by surface polymerization of a mixture of long and short alkyl chains using 13C and 29Si NMR spectroscopy

A series of bonded phases were prepared by the chemical modification of silica using the surface polymerization of trifunctional and difunctional ligands, and the structural morphology was characterized by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy using cross-polarization and magic angle spinning (CP/MAS). Mixed-phase surfaces were prepared using mixtures of trifunctional long-chain (C18) ligands with trifunctional and difunctional short-chain (C1) ligands, and these surfaces were compared to the corresponding single-phase surfaces consisting of only long- or short-chain ligands. For both types of mixed-phase surfaces, the incorporation of short chains increases the overall ligand density, the density of long chains, and the degree of cross-linking between ligands compared to that of the single-phase surface consisting exclusively of long chains. When the percentage of long-chain ligands in the mixture is high, a horizontally polymerized monolayer of chains is formed on the silica surface for both trifunctional and difunctional short chains. However, essentially all of the long chains adopt a trans conformation when trifunctional short chains are used, and a significant number of gauche defects are observed for the long chains when mixed with difunctional short chains. Furthermore, the ligands on the mixed-phase surface are more rigid when the short chains are trifunctional. When the percentage of trifunctional short chains is increased, some vertical polymerization occurs, caused by the molecular stacking of the highly reactive short chains near the surface. However, this does not preclude cross-linking between the ligands necessary to seal the surface, and the degree of cross-linking is quite high, suggesting that the short chains cross-link both vertically, away from the surface, and horizontally, across the surface. No such vertical polymerization is observed for the bulkier difunctional short chains. For both trifunctional and difunctional short chains, the surface chains are more mobile, with a greater number of gauche conformations among the long chains when the percentage of short-chain ligands in the reaction mixture is increased.

Application of polymer based stationary phases in high performance liquid chromatography and capillary high performance liquid chromatography hyphenated to microcoil 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The increased demand for chromatographic materials that are able to achieve a fast separation of large quantities of structure analogues is a great challenge. It is known that polymer based chromatographic materials have a higher loadability, compared to silica based sorbents. Unfortunately these polymer materials cannot be used under high pressure which is necessary in order to obtain high flow rates, and hence long times are needed to perform a separation. However, by immobilizing a polymer on a mechanically stable porous silica core, this problem can be circumvented and higher flows become feasible on these materials. Especially for capillary liquid chromatography hyphenated with nuclear magnetic resonance a high loadability is of great importance in order to obtain sharp, resolved, and concentrated peaks thus resulting in a good signal to noise ratio in the NMR experiment. Therefore, a highly shape selective chromatographic sorbent was developed by covalently immobilizing a poly(ethylene-co-acrylic) acid copolymer (-CH(2)CH(2)-)(x)[CH(2)CH(CO(2)H)-](y) (x=119, y=2.4) with a mass fraction of acrylic acid of 5% as stationary phase on silica via a spacer molecule (3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane). First, the loadability of this sorbent compared to C(30) is demonstrated by the HPLC separation of two xanthophyll isomers. Subsequently, it has been successfully employed in the hyphenation of capillary HPLC with microcoil (1)H NMR spectroscopy by separating and identifying a highly concentrated solution of the tocopherol homologues.

Identification of isolated cavity features within molecular dynamics simulated chromatographic surfaces

Highly ordered morphological features were characterized for molecular dynamics simulated alkyl-modified silica models that represent chromatographic materials with enhanced shape recognition capability. Deep cavities (8-10A wide) within the alkyl chains were identified for C18 polymeric models corresponding to shape-selective RPLC stationary phases. The all-trans conformational distal-end segments of these isolated cavities averaged over a 100 ps simulation time interval were observed to increase (up to 15 A) in models with an increase in both surface coverage and corresponding shape selectivity. Similar-structure cavities with significant alkyl chain ordered regions (>11A) were isolated from two independent C18 models (differing in bonding chemistry, density and temperature) that represent highly shape-selective materials. The size and depth of these ordered regions increased (up to 28 A) for the extended-length C30 alkyl phase models. These initial results offer a physical representation of alkyl-modified surfaces that may facilitate the identification of potential molecular features that may be involved in the shape-selective retentive processes, as well as illustrating the potential for such computational techniques to predict the molecular recognition capabilities of novel analyte-specific sorbents.

Conformational temperature dependence of a poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) stationary phase investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and liquid chromatography

A polymer-based RP sorbent was prepared by immobilizing a poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) copolymer with an acid mass fraction of 5% on silica by using a 3-glycidoxypropyl linkage. 13C cross-polarization/magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy of the sorbent, either in the dry state or suspended in the mobile phase, showed an increase in mobility at elevated temperatures. Alkyl chain segments with gauche conformations were more mobile than chain segments with trans conformations. The strength of the 13C-1H dipolar couplings in the alkyl chains was measured using the constant time dipolar and chemical shift pulse sequence, revealing less molecular motion for the trans conformation. Non-linear van't Hoff plots were observed for separations of shape-constrained solutes (such as geometric beta-carotene isomers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). At higher temperatures, the retention behavior was similar to that of monomeric C18 sorbents, whereas at ambient and lower temperatures, enhanced shape-selective properties were exhibited similar to those of polymeric C30 sorbents.

Influence of synthetic routes on the conformational order and mobility of C18 and C30 stationary phases

Silica gels modified with n-alkyl chains (n = 18, 30) are prepared by two different synthetic routes and are examined by variable temperature FTIR and solid-state NMR spectroscopy. HPLC measurements of SRM 869, cis/trans ss-carotene isomers and xanthophylls isomers confirm the dependence of the separation mechanism on the alkyl chain length and the synthetic routes. The determination of the silane functionality and degree of cross-linking of silane ligands on the silica surface is achieved by 29Si CP/MAS NMR measurements. The structural order and mobility of the alkyl chains are investigated by means of variable temperature 13C CP/MAS NMR measurements. Variable temperature FTIR studies are performed where conformational order and flexibility of the alkyl chains in C18 and C30 phases are monitored through conformational sensitive CH2 symmetric, anti-symmetric stretching and wagging modes. In addition, the chromatographic properties of the C18 and C30 phases are determined. The results derived from the FTIR, NMR and HPLC measurements are discussed in the context of the applied synthetic routes and alkyl chain lengths.

Contact-angle, ellipsometric, and spin-diffusion solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic investigations of copolymeric stationary phases immobilized on SiO2 surfaces

SiO2 surfaces-silica gel particles and silica wafers-were modified by covalently immobilizing three poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) copolymers, (-CH2CH2-)x[CH2CH/(CO2H)-]y, with different chain lengths and mass fractions of acrylic acid. 13C solid-state NMR spectroscopy on the modified silica gel particles revealed both mobile gauche and rigid trans aligned alkyl chains in the copolymers. For copolymers attached to silica wafers via a 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane spacer molecule, ellipsometric measurements revealed a mean value of the layer thickness distribution of 6.5 and 4.3 nm, respectively, for the more acidic and the shorter copolymers with mobile alkyl chains mostly in the gauche conformation. For the longest and least acidic copolymer with more rigid trans ordered alkyl chains, however, a mean phase thickness of 10.6 nm was found. When this copolymer was immobilized via a 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane spacer molecule we measured a mean layer thickness of 9.9 nm. A model of the surface morphology of this immobilization strategy was derived using spin-diffusion 13C NMR measurements on the corresponding modified silica. It was thereby proven that the trans and gauche-aligned alkyl chains occur in distinct domains of certain sizes on the silica surface. The surface polarity of all modified silica wafers was also investigated by measurement of contact-angle.