Polymeric stationary phase

We think, therefore, that the conformation, chain and segment mobilities in the attached macromolecules can play a significant role in the shielding behavior of the polymeric stationary phase as well as in the processes of its formation of complexes with solutes. Obviously, the chromatographic studies relevant to composite supports suffer from a lack of information on the structure of the attached polymer. Nevertheless, we will attempt to point out some relevant data from independent studies on polymer adsorption and/or graft polymerization. 

Adsorption of macromolecules has been widely investigated both theoretically [9—12] and experimentally [13 -17]. In this paper our purpose was to analyze the probable structures of polymeric stationary phases, so we shall not go into complicated mathematical models but instead consider the main features of the phenomenon. The current state of the art was comprehensively summarized by Fleer and Lyklema [18]. According to them, the reversible adsorption of macromolecules and the structure of adsorbed layers is governed by a subtle balance between energetic and entropic factors. For neutral polymers, the simplest situation, already four contributor factors must be distinguished ... 

The most reliable methods of the preparation of stable adsorbents involve, however, a covalent attachment of the polymeric stationary phases to the solid supporting material. In addition, the more diffuse interfaces formed in this case (see Sect. 2.2) are often favourable for the separation of proteins. 

The protein recovery was found to be 95% of the amount injected, whereas, on the untreated carrier they were almost totally irreversibly adsorbed. Meanwhile, some reduction in the pore volume of the carrier could be deduced from the results of the chromatographic test. The calculated pore volume available for phtalic acid was 0.67 cm2/g (V) whereas for cytochrome C — 0.5 cm2/g. A detailed description of the experiment allows the evaluation of the effective thickness (teff) of the polymeric stationary phase. The tcff calculated as V/Ssp is 2.3 nm. The value... 

The problem of transport of molecules through swollen gels is of general interest. It not only pertains to catalysis, but also to the field of chromatographic separations over polymeric stationary phases, where the partition of a solute between the mobile phase (liquid phase) and a swollen polymeric stationary phase (gel phase) is a process of the utmost importance. As with all the chemical and physicochemical processes, the thermodynamic and the kinetic aspect must be distinguished also in partition between phases. 

Weitzhandler, M., Farnan, D., Horvath, J., Rohrer, J. S., Slingsby, R. W., Avdal-ovic, N., and Pohl, C., Protein variant separations by cation-exchange chromatography on tentacle-type polymeric stationary phases, /. Chromatogr. A, 828, 365, 1998. 

Principles and Characteristics Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a patented microscale adsorp-tion/desorption technique developed by Pawliszyn et al. [525-531], which represents a recent development in sample preparation and sample concentration. In SPME analytes partition from a sample into a polymeric stationary phase that is thin-coated on a fused-silica rod (typically 1 cm x 100 p,m). Several configurations of SPME have been proposed including fibre, tubing, stirrer/fan, etc. SPME was introduced as a solvent-free sample preparation technique for GC. 

Table 7.89 lists the main characteristics of MDHPLC (see also Table 7.86). In MDHPLC the mobile-phase polarity can be adjusted in order to obtain adequate resolution, and a wide range of selectivity differences can be employed when using the various available separation modes [906]. Some LC modes have incompatible mobile phases, e.g. normal-phase and ion-exchange separations. Potential problems arise with liquid-phase immiscibility precipitation of buffer salts and incompatibilities between the mobile phase from one column and the stationary phase of another (e.g. swelling of some polymeric stationary-phase supports by changes in solvents or deactivation of silica by small amounts of water).

Another way to improve the performance of open-tubular columns was suggested by Sawada and Jinno [83]. They first vinylized the inner surface of a 25 pm i.d. capillary and then performed in situ copolymerization of f-butylacryl-amide and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-l-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) to create a layer of polymeric stationary phase. This process does not currently allow good control over the homogeneity of the layer and the column efficiencies achieved in CEC separations of hydrocarbons were relatively low. These authors also recently thoroughly reviewed all the aspects of the open tubular CEC technologies [84]. 

Besides silica, silica-based and polymeric stationary phases, porous graphitized carbon (PGC), zirconium oxide and its derivatives, alumina and its derivatives have been used for the solution of special separation problems which cannot be easily solved by using traditional HPLC stationary phases. 

Another approach to preparing a stable reversed phase with fewer residual silanols is the use of polyfunctional silanes of the type R2SiX2. These react to form a polymeric stationary phase that shields the siloxane bonds and restricts access to residual silanols. Polymer phases have higher carbon loads and are typically more retentive than monomeric phases. However, they are more difficult to synthesize reproducibly and may exhibit batch-to-batch variability in their properties. They also exhibit poorer mass transfer kinetics and so provide poorer efficiency than monomeric phases. 

A chiral amino-acid/copper complex is bound to a silica- or polymeric stationary phase and copper ions are included in the mobile phase to ensure there is no loss of copper. Amino acids then may be separated by the formation of diastereomeric copper complexes. Water stabilizes the complex by coordinating in an axial position. Steric factors then determine which of the two complexes is more stable. One of the water molecules is usually sterically hindered from coordinating with the copper. i ... 

One way to increase the phase ratio of open-tubular columns is to use a polymeric stationary phase instead of a bonded molecular monolayer (Figure 6). 

Such columns can be used for the CEC separation of small neutral compounds. The problem with this type of open-tubular column, however, is the low efficiency obtained due to the small diffusion coefficients of the analytes in the polymeric stationary phase, and the heterogeneous film structure caused by Rayleigh instability. 

Mechanical and chemical stability of novel stationary phases are basic requirements concerning their application. A lack in stability generally causes a loss in resolution and thus reduces column efficiency. In addition, the reproducibility of retention times, being important for qualitative analysis, may be affected. Evaluation of the mechanical stability of polymeric stationary phases is usually accomplished by the determination of the pressure drop across the column, when employing solvents of different polarity within a wide range of flow rates. A stationary phase can be considered as mechanically stable if a linear relationship between applied flow rate and resulting back pressure is obtained. 

Polymeric stationary phases have many advantages when polymerized in capillaries (diameter < 0.5 mm) as rods in the presence of porogens to yield channels for mobile phase transport. They are frequently used in the analysis of peptides, proteins, and nucleic acids when directly coupled to electro spray mass spectrometry. 

Stationary phases with a high density of bonded alkyl groups can differentiate between two molecules of identical size where one is planar and the other twisted out of plane. This shape selectivity has been described by Sander and Wise [53] for polymeric stationary phases, where in the preparation, water has been added on purpose and trichloro alkyl silanes have been used. The selectivity for the retention of tetrabenzonaphthalene (TEN) and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) was taken as a measure to differentiate between polymeric and standard RP columns. With standard ( monomeric ) RP columns, the twisted TBN elutes after the planar BaP, which on the other hand is more strongly retarded as TBN on polymeric stationary phases. In these cases the relative retention of TBN/ BaP is smaller than 1, whereas with monomeric phases the value is >1.5. The separation of the standards on three different phases is shown in Figure 2.9. These stationary phases have superior selectivity for the separation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in environmental analysis. Tanaka et al. [54] introduced the relative retention of triphenylene (planar) and o-terphenyl (twisted), which are more easily available, as tracers for shape selectivity. However, shape selectivity is not restricted to polymeric phases, monomeric ones can also exhibit shape selectivity when a high carbon content is achieved (e.g., with RP30) and silica with a pore diameter >15 nm is used [55]. Also, stationary phases with bonded cholestane moieties can exhibit shape selectivity. 

Chen YB, Kele M, Quinones I, Sellergren B, Guiochon G. Influence of the pH on the behavior of an imprinted polymeric stationary phase—supporting evidence for a binding site model. J Chromatogr A 2001 927 1-17. 

Another direct approach to chiral polymeric stationary phases is the modification of commercially available polysiloxanes which contain reactive side groups. Thus, the diamide phase was linked to a modified XE-60 polysiloxane phase (Table 2). In one case (XE-60-L-Val-(/ or 5)-a-pea)124 another center of stereogenicity (R or S configuration) has been introduced in the amide group. An XE-60-L-Val-(S)-x-pea column was used for the enantiomer separation of racemic. V-rert-butoxycarbonyl amino acids after their methylation with diazomethane (serine and threonine as the O-trimethylsilyl derivatives) (Figure 12)124. 

A limiting factor of complexation gas chromatography is the low temperature range (25-120°C). Therefore, improved thermostable polymeric stationary phases, e.g., Chirasil-Metal, in which the chiral metal chelates are chemically anchored to a polysiloxane backbone, have been prepared155 156. 

Tire preferred type of reversed-phase sorbents is Cjg bonded silica (Table 29.4). Using this reversed-phase sorbent, ion-pair separation of lincomycin (154), spiramycin (138), and tylosin (145) residues has also been reported through use of octanesulfonate, heptanesulfonate, and tetrabutylammonium pairing ions, respectively. Phenyl-bonded silica or polymeric stationary phases have also been described for the separation of tilmicosin (133) and lincomycin (146) residues, respectively. 

Columns prepared with polymeric stationary phases such as Carbowax, polyesters, or polyphenyl ethers, should be conditioned at a temperature at which the column will be used. These stationary phases contain polymers of varying molecular weight and the conditioning helps to remove the more volatile portions. 

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME). used as a sample introduction technique for high speed gc, utilizes small-diameter fused-silica fibers coated with polymeric stationary phase for sample extraction and concentration. SPME lias been utilized for determination of pollutants in aqueous solution by the adsorption of analyte onto stationary-phase coated fuscd-silica fibers, followed by thermal desorption in the injection system of a capillary gas chromatograph. Full automation can be achieved using an autosampler. 

Retention characteristics and elution order of carotenoid cis-trans isomers with C30-bonded phases are strikingly similar to those obtained with normal-phase systems using calcium hydroxide columns (190). Different carotenoids exhibit varying retention behavior in response to temperature changes for C30 and C34 polymeric stationary phases as compared with a Cl8 polymeric phase (179). These behaviors are believed to be related to conformational changes in the longer stationary phases with temperature. The slot model proposed for the retention of planar... 

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