Novel Approach for the Separation of Shape-Constrained Isomers with Alternating Copolymer-Grafted Silica in Reversed-Phase Liquid Chromatography

This paper describes a novel packing material for high selective reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The organic phase on silica is chemically designed in a way that the weak interaction sites are integrated with high orientation along the polymer main chain and high selectivity can be realized by multiple interactions with solutes. For the above purpose, we synthesized poly(octadecyl acrylate-alt-N-octadecylmaleimide)-grafted silica (Sil-poly(ODA-alt-OMI)) stationary phase. The alternating copolymerization was carried out from 3-marcaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS)modified silica via surface-initiated radical-chain transfer reaction. Elemental analysis, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT),H-1 NMR, solid-state C-13 cross polarization magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) NMR, and suspended-state H-1 NMR were used to characterize the new organic phase. Aspects of shape selectivity was evaluated with Standard Reference Material (SRM 869b), Column Selectivity Test Mixture for Liquid Chromatography. Enhanced molecular shape selectivity was observed, that lead to the separation of SRM 1647e (16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs) in an isocratic elution. The effectiveness of this phase was also demonstrated by the separation of several beta-carotene and tocopherol isomers. The complete baseline separation of the tocopherol isomers was achieved using the Sil-poly(ODA-alt-OMI) phase. Chromatographic study revealed that Sil-poly(ODA-alt-OMI) has extremely high separation ability compared to monomeric and polymeric C-18 columns. Higher shape selectivity of the new RP material can be explained by a pi-pi and dipole dipole interaction mechanism.