Surface confined ionic liquid - A new stationary phase for the separation of ephedrines in high-performance liquid chromatography

In this article, a new and effective stationary phase based on ionic liquid modified silica is first reported and used for the separation of ephedrines in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The separation results indicate the high efficiency and reproducibility of the stationary phase. The electrostatic interaction, ion-exchange interaction between the solutes and the stationary phase are considered to attribute the effective separation. Moreover, the free silanols on the surface of the silica are effectively masked by the immobilized ionic liquid, a result of which is to decrease the non-specific absorption.