Bonded phase surface

In RPC separation of peptides, the fundamental structural properties of the amino adds within the sequence and the relative accessibility of the nonpolar amino add residues to a large measure determine the overall selectivity that can be achieved with a defined RPC systemJ20-23 As a consequence, peptides typically elute from RPC sorbents in the order of their relative hydrophobicities, for a pre-selected mobile-phase composition, pH, and temperature. However, the relative hydrophobicities of different peptides are also conditional on the solvation environment in which they are placed. The exposure or greater accessibility of previously sequestered polar or hydrophobic amino acid side chains in polypeptides with well-developed secondary structures will thus significantly affect the relative binding affinities of these peptides to hydrocarbonaceous-bonded phase surfaces. 

Monolith Column—Porous silica column prepared in situ to completely fill the column tube with a fully porous silica foam skelton. After the organic polymer support is heated off, the silica surface is silylated in place to product bonded-phase surface. Column is high resolution and can be used at high flow rates with relatively low back-pressure (see Chapter 16). 

Determinations of the adsorption isotherms for a number of organic solvent-water systems in contact with hydrocarbonaceous stationary phases have shown that a layer of solvent molecules forms on the bonded-phase surface and that the extent of the layer increases with the concentration of the solvent in the mobile phase. For example, methanol shows a Langmuir-type isotherm when distributed between water and Partisil ODS (56). This effect can be exploited to enhance the resolution and the recoveries of hydrophobic peptides by the use of low concentrations, i.e., <5% v/v, of medium-chain alkyl alcohols such as tm-butanol or tert-pentanol or other polar, but nonionic solvents added to aquo-methanol or acetonitrile eluents. It also highlights the cautionary requirement that adequate equilibration of a reversed-phase system is mandatory if reproducible chromatography is to be obtained with surface-active components in the mobile phase. 

The thick acetonitrile layer adsorbed on the bonded phase surface acts as a pseudo-stationary phase, thus making retention in acetonitrUe/water systems a superposition of two processes partitioning into the acetonitrile layer and adsorption on the surface of the bonded phase. Based on the model described in reference 166, analyte retention could be represented in the following form ... 

Bonded stationary phases for NPC are becoming increasingly popular in recent years owing to their virtues of faster column equilibration and being less prone to contamination by water. The use of iso-hydric (same water concentration) solvents is not needed to obtain reproducible results. However, predicting solute retention on bonded stationary phases is more difficult than when silica is used. This is largely because of the complexity of associations possible between solvent molecules and the chemically and physically heterogeneous bonded phase surface. Several models of retention on bonded phases have been advocated, but their validity, particularly when mixed solvent systems are used as mobile phase, can be questioned. The most commonly accepted retention mechanism is Snyder s model, which assumes the competitive adsorption between solutes and solvent molecules on active sites... 

I Table 19-1. Several common bonded phase surfaces... 

Detailed experimental data on the rate constants associated adsorption/desorption kinetics or conformational interconversion of different forms of a protein chromatographed on -alkylsilicas are currently very sparse. The kinetics of de-naturation of several proteins on n-butyl-bonded silica surfaces have been reported. Fig. 18 for example, shows the dependence of peak area on the incubation time of lysozyme on the bonded phase surface, from which rate constants for interconversion on the stationary phase, i.e. were derived [63]. The graphical representations derived from quantitative numerical solutions of the probabihty distributions... 

Fig. 18. First-order kinetic plots of the rate of denaturation of lysozyme at various column temperatures as a function of incubation time on the bonded phase surface. Log A = logarithmic area of the active peak. Incubation solvent, 10 mM H3PO4 (pH 2.2). Column, LiChrospher SE-500 C4, dp = 10 pm. Solvent A = 10 mM H3PO4 (pH 2.2) solvent B, 1-propanol-water (45 55, v/v) in which the total H3PO4 concentration is 10 mM. Gradient rate = 3% propanol/min, 15 min, flow = 1 ml/min. From [63].

When the range of pH values is known, over which the peptide or protein of interest is stable, the bonded phase surface charge may be chosen so as to bind the component via electrostatic forces only (if possible). The isoelectric point (pi) of the constituent should be known, and the type of ion-exchanger and operational pH range selected according to the guide in Figure 5. 

The above data were obtained on a polymeric bonded phase and not a brush phase. The so-called brush phases are made from monochloro-sxlants, (or other active group) and, thus, the derivative takes the form of chains attached to the silica surface [2]. The bulk phases are synthesized from polyfunctional silanes in the presence of water and, thus, are cross linked and form a rigid polymeric structure covering the silica surface. These two types of phases behave very differently at low concentrations of moderator. 

In contrast, the alkane chains on the polymeric phase cannot collapse in an environment of water as they are rigidly held in the polymer matrix. Thus, the retention of the solute now continuously falls as the methanol concentration increases as shown in Figure 4. It should be pointed out that if the nature of the solutestationary phase interactions on the surface of a bonded phase is to be examined in a systematic manner with solvents having very high water contents, then a polymeric phase should be used and brush type reversed phases avoided if possible. 

Silica gel, per se, is not so frequently used in LC as the reversed phases or the bonded phases, because silica separates substances largely by polar interactions with the silanol groups on the silica surface. In contrast, the reversed and bonded phases separate material largely by interactions with the dispersive components of the solute. As the dispersive character of substances, in general, vary more subtly than does their polar character, the reversed and bonded phases are usually preferred. In addition, silica has a significant solubility in many solvents, particularly aqueous solvents and, thus, silica columns can be less stable than those packed with bonded phases. The analytical procedure can be a little more complex and costly with silica gel columns as, in general, a wider variety of more expensive solvents are required. Reversed and bonded phases utilize blended solvents such as hexane/ethanol, methanol/water or acetonitrile/water mixtures as the mobile phase and, consequently, are considerably more economical. Nevertheless, silica gel has certain areas of application for which it is particularly useful and is very effective for separating polarizable substances such as the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and substances... 

The next major bonded phase project was the development of the GBR resin, which stands for modified glucose bonded on both the backbone and the ring of basic PDVB gels. The manufacture of this product was ultimately achieved, as outlined later. The gel is first brominated, which places bromine atoms on both tertiary hydrogens of the PDVB. The brominated gel is then reacted with chlorosulfonic acid, and a specially treated reduced D-glucosamine is coupled to the gel. This process has the potential to covalently bond up to three sugar residues to each available divinylbenzene residue in the PDVB polymer. The exact reaction conditions used are proprietary however, the surface of the finished product is believed to look similar to Figs. 13.11 and 13.12. 

The use of bonded, silica column supports has also become a useful way to characterize cationic, water-soluble polymers. CATSEC SEC columns from Micra Scientific contain a silica support with a polymerized polyamine-bonded phase. This imparts a cationic surface charge on the packing that can be... 

It is likely that small molecules such as short oligopeptides have almost equal access to the hydrocarbonaceous sublayer at the surface of the bonded phases and thus their retention behavior is not affected significantly by the size of the hydrophilic polyether moieties. 

The vast majority of modem liquid chromatography systems involve the use of silica gel or a derivative of silica gel, such as a bonded phase, as a stationary phase. Thus, it would appear that most LC separations are carried out by liquid-solid chromatography. Owing to the adsorption of solvent on the surface of both silica and bonded phases, however, the physical chemical characteristics of the separation are more akin to a liquid-liquid distribution system than that of a liquid-solid system. As a consequence, although most modern stationary phases are in fact solids, solute distribution is usually treated theoretically as a liquid-liquid system. 

The hydrogel is allowed to stand for a few days during which time a process called sinerisis takes place. During sinerisis the condensation of the primary particles, one with another, continues and the gel shrinks further, accompanied by the elimination of more saline solution that exudes from the gel. After three or four days, sinerisis is complete and the gel becomes firm and can now be washed free of residual electrolytes with water. The washed product is finally heated to 120°C to complete the condensation of the surface silanol groups between the particles, and a hard xerogel is formed. It is this xerogel that is used as the LC stationary phase and for bonded phase synthesis. It is not intended to discuss the production of silica gel in detail and those interested are referred to "Silica Gel and Bonded Phases", published by Wiley (1). 

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