Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes as functional monomer to prepare hybrid monolithic columns for capillary electrochromatography and capillary liquid chromatography

Poly(carboxyethyl acrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) precursor monolith with bonded octadecyl ligands for use in reversed-phase capillary electrochromatography

A carboxy precursor monolithic column, namely poly(carboxy ethyl acrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) was first produced in a 100 μm i.d. fused-silica capillary and subsequently surface bonded with n-octadecyl (C₁₈ ) ligands by a post-polymerization functionalization process with octadecylamine in the presence of N,N´-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. The bonding of octadecyl ligands was achieved via an amide linkage between the carboxy functions of the precursor monolith and the amino group of the octadecylamine compound. The resulting C₁₈ monolith exhibited a very low electroosmotic flow (EOF), a fact that required the incorporation of small amounts of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) in the polymerization solution to produce a precursor monolith with fixed negative charges of sulfonate groups. This may indicate that the conjugation of the carboxy functions with octadecylamine occurred to a large extent so that the amount of residual carboxy functions was sparsely dispersed and not enough to produce a desirable EOF. The EOF velocity of the C₁₈ column having fixed negative charges provided by the incorporated AMPS increased with increasing ACN content of the mobile phase signaling an increased binding of mobile phase ions to the polar amide linkages near the monolithic surface, and a decreased viscosity of the mobile phase, both of which would result in increased EOF velocity. The C₁₈ monolithic column constituted a novel nonpolar sorbent for reversed-phase capillary electrochromatography for nonpolar solutes, e.g., alkylbenzenes, alkylphenyl ketones, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and slightly polar compounds including phenol and chlorophenols. The C₁₈ monolithic column exhibited relatively high selectivity toward chlorophenols differing by one chloro substituent.

Preparation of Monolithic Silica and Polymer Capillary Columns with Ultrahigh Column Efficiencies and Comparisons between van Deemter Plots of Alkylbenzenes on These Two Kinds of Columns

Monolithic silica and polymer capillary columns with ultrahigh column efficiencies were prepared. Permeability and electrochromatography performances of these two kinds of columns were compared. Monolithic silica columns bear higher permeability than polymer counterparts by two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, the van Deemter plots of alkylbenzenes on these two kinds of columns demonstrate that monolithic silica columns produce much lower plate heights of alkylbenzes than polymer columns do. Within the range of electroosmotic flow (EOF) velocity investigated, no uptrend of plate height with the increase of EOF was observed suggesting the great capacity of fast separation and high efficiency. The plate height of thiourea on monolithic silica columns is as low as 2.67 μm, representing its corresponding column efficiency is over 430,000 plates/m. As far as we know, it is the highest ever column efficiency reported in the literature. Moreover, the separation of butylbenzene isomers was obtained on the monolithic silica column.

Challenges and Advances in the Fabrication of Monolithic Bioseparation Materials and their Applications in Proteomics Research

High-performance liquid chromatography integrated with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) has become a powerful technique for proteomics research. Its performance heavily depends on the separation efficiency of HPLC, which in turn depends on the chromatographic material. As the "heart" of the HPLC system, the chromatographic material is required to achieve excellent column efficiency and fast analysis. Monolithic materials, fabricated as continuous supports with interconnected skeletal structure and flow-through pores, are regarded as an alternative to particle-packed columns. Such materials are featured with easy preparation, fast mass transfer, high porosity, low back pressure, and miniaturization, and are next-generation separation materials for high-throughput proteins and peptides analysis. Herein, the recent progress regarding the fabrication of various monolithic materials is reviewed. Special emphasis is placed on studies of the fabrication of monolithic capillary columns and their applications in separation of biomolecules by capillary liquid chromatography (cLC). The applications of monolithic materials in the digestion, enrichment, and separation of phosphopeptides and glycopeptides from biological samples are also considered. Finally, advances in comprehensive 2D HPLC separations using monolithic columns are also shown.

Preparation of aptamer-bound polyamine affinity monolithic column via a facile triazine-bridged strategy and application to on-column specific discrimination of ochratoxin A

Developing a high-performance modification protocol is critical for efficiently fabricating affinity monolith. Herein, by using 2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine as the linker, a simple triazine-bridged approach was proposed for efficiently fabricating aptamer-grafted polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-polyethyleneimine affinity monolith with high specificity toward ochratoxin A. Experimental parameters, column characteristics and specificity performances of the resultant affinity monolith were investigated in detail. Under the optimal conditions, 2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine was rapidly grafted on the polyamine matrix, and effectively applied to the subsequent bridge linkage of aptamers. It was simple and effective, which resulted in a significant decrease of modification time, excellent properties including the high coverage density of aptamer up to 1799 pmol/μL and sensitive detection of ochratoxin A as low as 10 pg/mL in beer samples. This protocol provides a facile approach for fabricating aptamer-grafted polyamine affinity monoliths with highly selective discrimination performance.

Ternary thiol-ene photopolymerization for facile preparation of ionic liquid-functionalized hybrid monolithic columns based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes

A simple thiol-ene photopolymerization approach was developed for the rapid preparation of ionic liquid-functionalized hybrid monolithic column based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS). "One-pot" polymerization was realized in the UV-transparent fused-silica capillary by using octanethiol, 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate as functional monomers and methacryl-substituted POSS as a crosslinker. The thiol-vinyl-methacrylate ternary system uniquely exhibits a mixed step-chain growth polymerization regime that combining the thiol-ene reaction and free-radical reaction mechanisms, which provides a simple route to prepare novel POSS-based functionalized hybrid monoliths. The pore property, permeability, and electroosmotic flow (EOF) of the hybrid monoliths can be tailored by proper adjustment of the feeding composition and initiation condition. Morphologic and spectroscopic characterizations of monolithic columns clearly indicate that utilization of the photo-initiated approach in thiol-vinyl polymerization can generate a more homogeneous porous structure, smaller domain size and higher column efficiency (53,800-60,300 plates/m for alkylbenzenes) than the thermally-initiated one (32,800-49,300 plates/m). Significant improvements in mechanical stability, anti-swelling property and tailorability of hybrid polymer were achieved in a simple manner, owing to the photopolymerization of rigid nanoscale POSS units and imidazolium-based ionic liquids in ternary thiol-vinyl system for the first time. The resulting hybrid monolith possessed controllable EOFs at pH values from 2 to 10, and showed a multimode separation mechanism in capillary electrochromatography, including π-π interaction, ion exchange, electrophoretic migration, electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction. Satisfactory separation ability was achieved for the analysis of different types of small molecules.

Preparation and evaluation of highly hydrophilic aptamer-based hybrid affinity monolith for on-column specific discrimination of ochratoxin A

Nonspecific adsorption is a challenge of specific recognition on aptamer-based affinity monoliths. Here, a novel highly hydrophilic polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-containing aptamer-based hybrid-silica affinity monolith with a good recognition nature was prepared and used for specific discrimination of ochratoxin A (OTA). A homogeneous polymerization mixture consisted of POSS chemicals, hydrophilic monomers and aptamer solution was directly polymerized via the "one-pot" method. Preparation and characterization of the resultant affinity monolith were studied in detail. A highly hydrophilic nature was obtained and the typical hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) was observed when acetonitrile (ACN) content in mobile phase was 25%, which reached the highest hydrophilicity of POSS-based hybrid monoliths. By using OTA as model analyte, the nonspecific adsorption was effectively suppressed. The recovery of the analogue ochratoxin B (OTB) was only about 0.1% even if the content of OTB was 50 times more than OTA, which was much better than other POSS-containing monoliths and polar siloxane-based hybrid monoliths. Applied to beer samples, the adsorption of background materials was drastically resisted, and efficient recognition of OTA was obtained with the recoveries of 94.9-99.8%. Much less disturbance was observed than that occurred in hydrophobic POSS-based affinity monolith. It lights an attractive implement with high hydrophilicity and specificity for online selective recognition of OTA.

Highly hydrophilic polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-containing aptamer-modified affinity hybrid monolith for efficient on-column discrimination with low nonspecific adsorption

A highly hydrophilic aptamer-modified POSS-containing hybrid affinity monolith is presented for efficient on-column discrimination with low non-specific adsorption.

Thiol-radical-mediated polymerization for preparation of POSS-containing polyacrylate monoliths in capillary liquid chromatography

Through introducing octakis (3-mercaptopropyl) octasilsesquioxane (POSS-SH) synthesized in our lab to the prepolymerization solution containing stearyl acrylate (SA), 1,6-hexanediol ethoxylate diacrylate (HEDA) in the existence of porogenic solvents (tetrahydrofuran, 1,4-butanediol and 1-propanol), a POSS-containing hybrid monolithic column was fabricated via photo-initiated thiol-acrylate polymerization within 7 min. The resulting poly(SA-co-HEDA-co-POSS) monoliths were investigated by physical characterization and chromatographic evaluation. It was found that both the additive amount of thiol group and the proportion of porogenic solvents played vital effect on column efficiency, pore morphology and hydrophobicity of monolithic columns. Consequently, the poly(SA-co-HEDA-co-POSS) monolith possessed superior thermal stability, suitable permeability and homogeneous microstructure. The highest column efficiency was ∼111,000 N m^-1 for butylbenzene at the linear velocity of 0.71 mm s^-1 in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Subsequently, baseline separations of 9 phenolic compounds, 5 anilines and 5 antibiotics were achieved, indicating the monolithic poly(SA-co-HEDA-co-POSS) column had great ability for separation of small molecules. The analytic results of the tryptic digest of BSA and HeLa were also proved that the hybrid monolith had potential for the analysis of complicated biological samples.

Aptamer-based polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-containing hybrid affinity monolith prepared via a "one-pot" process for selective extraction of ochratoxin A

A novel aptamer-based polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-containing hybrid affinity monolith has been prepared with a facile "one-pot" process simultaneously via "free radical polymerization" and "thiol-ene" click reaction, and used for on-line selective extraction and practical analysis to trace ochratoxin A (OTA). By using the ternary porogenic mixture composed of water/DMF/PEG, a homogeneous polymerization mixture with POSS chemicals, acrylate-based monomers and aptamer aqueous solution was obtained, and the copolymerization of POSS chemicals, polymer monomers and aptamer aqueous solution was systematically studied. Characterizations such as the morphology, FT-IR and fluorescence spectra, mechanical stability, dynamic binding capacity, cross-reactivity and selectivity of the resultant affinity monolith were also evaluated. Attributed to the porous monolithic structure and aptamer-based affinity interaction, acceptable selective recognition and recovery yields towards trace OTA were obtained. With a 5-fold volume enrichment, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) of OTA in fortified beer samples were gained at 0.025 ng/mL (S/N = 3) and 0.045 ng/mL (S/N = 10), respectively. It could be competent for the sensitive measure of actual OTA residues in real beer samples. In comparison with the previously reported strategies containing common "sol-gel" chemistry, the proposed protocol to fabricating aptamer-modified POSS-containing hybrid affinity monolith showed a simpler preparation with acceptable selectivity and higher recovery to trace OTA.

One pot synthesis of carboxyl functionalized-polyhedral oligomeric siloxane based monolith via photoinitiated thiol-methacrylate polymerization for nano-hydrophilic interaction chromatography

A hybrid monolith exhibiting almost retention independent separation performance in hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) was obtained by one-pot photoinitiated thiol-methacrylate polymerization. Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane containing methacrylate units (POSS-MA) was used as the main monomer and crosslinking agent, together with a hydrophilic ligand with two carboxyl groups, mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) as the thiol agent and chromatographic ligand. The isocratic separation of nucleosides, nucleotides and organic acids on MSA attached-poly(POSS-MA) monolith was investigated in HILIC mode. The van-Deemter plots for obtained for nucleosides, nucleotides and benzoic acids clearly showed that there were two regions in each graph with two different slopes in the studied range of linear flow rate (i.e. 0.2-4.3mm/s). The slope of plate height-linear velocity curve was so small in the low linear velocity region between 0.2-2.1mm/s while the slope in high linear velocity region between 2.1-4.3mm/s was so higher with respect to the first region. The van-Deemter plots sketched for all analyte grous used in HILIC mode obeyed this tendency Almost "retention independent plate height behavior" was demonstrated in HILIC, using nucleotides, nucleotides or benzoic acids as the analytes in the linear velocity range of 0.2-2.1mm/s. This behavior was explained by the porous structure of the synthesized monolith facilitating the convective transport of analytes. The variation of plate height was not retention-independent within high linear velocity range (>3.2mm/s) when nucleosides were separated in HILIC mode.

Recent Progress in Monolithic Silica Columns for High-Speed and High-Selectivity Separations

Monolithic silica columns have greater (through-pore size)/(skeleton size) ratios than particulate columns and fixed support structures in a column for chemical modification, resulting in high-efficiency columns and stationary phases. This review looks at how the size range of monolithic silica columns has been expanded, how high-efficiency monolithic silica columns have been realized, and how various methods of silica surface functionalization, leading to selective stationary phases, have been developed on monolithic silica supports, and provides information on the current status of these columns. Also discussed are the practical aspects of monolithic silica columns, including how their versatility can be improved by the preparation of small-sized structural features (sub-micron) and columns (1 mm ID or smaller) and by optimizing reaction conditions for in situ chemical modification with various restrictions, with an emphasis on recent research results for both topics.

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.

Facile one-pot preparation of an imidazolium embedded C8 hybrid monolith using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane for capillary liquid chromatography

In this study, a novel imidazolium embedded C₈ hybrid monolithic column based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) was developed.

Preparation of high efficiency and low carry-over immobilized enzymatic reactor with methacrylic acid-silica hybrid monolith as matrix for on-line protein digestion

In this work, a novel kind of organic-silica hybrid monolith based immobilized enzymatic reactor (IMER) was developed. The monolithic support was prepared by a single step "one-pot" strategy via the polycondensation of tetramethoxysilane and vinyltrimethoxysilane and in situ copolymerization of methacrylic acid and vinyl group on the precondensed siloxanes with ammonium persulfate as the thermal initiator. Subsequently, the monolith was activated by N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) - N'-ethylcarbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS), followed by the modification of branched polyethylenimine (PEI) to improve the hydrophilicity. Finally, after activated by EDC and NHS, trypsin was covalently immobilized onto the monolithic support. The performance of such a microreactor was evaluated by the in sequence digestion of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and myoglobin, followed by MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. Compared to those obtained by traditional in-solution digestion, not only higher sequence coverages for BSA (74±1.4% vs. 59.5±2.7%, n=6) and myoglobin (93±3% vs. 81±4.5%, n=6) were obtained, but also the digestion time was shortened from 24h to 2.5 min, demonstrating the high digestion efficiency of such an IMER. The carry-over of these two proteins on the IMER was investigated, and peptides from BSA could not be found in mass spectrum of myoglobin digests, attributed to the good hydrophilicity of our developed monolithic support. Moreover, the dynamic concentration range for protein digestion was proved to be four orders of magnitude, and the IMER could endure at least 7-day consecutive usage. Furthermore, such an IMER was coupled with nano-RPLC-ESI/MS/MS for the analysis of extracted proteins from Escherichia coli. Compared to formerly reported silica hybrid monolith based IMER and the traditional in-solution counterpart, by our developed IMER, although the identified protein number was similar, the identified distinct peptide number was improved by 7% and 25% respectively, beneficial to improve the reliability of protein identification. The IMER was further online integrated with two-dimensional nano-HPLC-MS/MS system for the analysis of protein extracts from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells with low metastasis rate, and more than 3000 protein groups were identified, with only 46 proteins identified from the residues of the IMER. All these results demonstrated that such a hybrid monolith based IMER would be of great promise in the high throughput and high confidence proteome analysis.

Electrospun aggregation-induced emission active POSS-based porous copolymer films for detection of explosives

Electrospun AIE-active POSS-based copolymer films exhibit an approximately 9-fold increase in response to explosive vapors compared to dense films.