As modified ligands with a wide range of sources, abundant functional groups, and good biocompatibility, polymers have been widely used in the development of silica-based chromatographic stationary phases. In this study, a poly(styrene-acrylic acid) copolymer-modified silica stationary phase (SiO2@P(St-b-AA)) was prepared via one-pot free-radical polymerization. In this stationary phase, styrene and acrylic acid were used as functional repeating units for polymerization and vinyltrimethoxylsilane (VTMS) was used as a silane coupling agent to link the copolymer and silica. Various characterization methods, such as Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption-desorption analysis, and Zeta potential analysis, confirmed the successful preparation of the SiO2@P(St-b-AA) stationary phase, which had a well-maintained uniform spherical and mesoporous structure. The retention mechanisms and separation performance of the SiO2@P(St-b-AA) stationary phase in multiple separation modes were then evaluated. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic analytes as well as ionic compounds were selected as probes for different separation modes, and changes in the retention of the analytes under various chromatographic conditions, including different methanol or acetonitrile contents and buffer pH values, were investigated. In reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) mode, the retention factors of alkyl benzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the stationary phase decreased with increasing methanol content in the mobile phase. This finding could be attributed to the hydrophobic and π-π interactions between the benzene ring and analytes. The retention changes of alkyl benzenes and PAHs revealed that the SiO2@P(St-b-AA) stationary phase, similar to the C18 stationary phase, exhibited a typical reversed-phase retention behavior. In hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) mode, as the acetonitrile content increased, the retention factors of hydrophilic analytes gradually increased, and a typical hydrophilic interaction retention mechanism was inferred. In addition to hydrophilic interaction, the stationary phase also demonstrated hydrogen-bonding and electrostatic interactions with the analytes. Compared with the C18 and Amide stationary phases prepared by our groups, the SiO2@P(St-b-AA) stationary phase exhibited excellent separation performance for the model analytes in the RPLC and HILIC modes. Owing to the presence of charged carboxylic acid groups in the SiO2@P(St-b-AA) stationary phase, exploring its retention mechanism in ionic exchange chromatography (IEC) mode is of great importance. The effect of the mobile phase pH on the retention time of organic bases and acids was further studied to explore the electrostatic interaction between the stationary phase and charged analytes. The results revealed that the stationary phase has weak cation exchange ability toward organic bases and electrostatically repels organic acids. Moreover, the retention of organic bases and acids on the stationary phase was influenced by the analyte structure and mobile phase. Thus, the SiO2@P(St-b-AA) stationary phase could provide multiple interactions, as demonstrated by the separation modes described above. The SiO2@P(St-b-AA) stationary phase showed excellent performance and reproducibility in the separation of mixed samples with different polar components, indicating that it has promising application potential in mixed-mode liquid chromatography. Further investigation of the proposed method confirmed its repeatability and stability. In summary, this study not only described a novel stationary phase that could be used in RPLC, HILIC, and IEC modes but also presented a facile "one-pot" preparation approach that could provide a new route for the development of novel polymer-modified silica stationary phases.
聚合物作为一种来源广泛、功能基团丰富、生物相容性良好的修饰配体,被广泛用作硅基色谱固定相。本工作以苯乙烯和丙烯酸为聚合单体,乙烯基三甲氧基硅烷为硅烷偶联剂,通过自由基聚合反应一锅法制备了聚(苯乙烯-丙烯酸)共聚物改性的硅基固定相(SiO2@P(St-b-AA))。傅里叶红外光谱、热重分析、扫描电镜、N2吸附-脱附、Zeta电势分析等表征手段证明了该固定相已成功合成,且保持了良好的介孔球形结构。在固定相性能评价中,分别采用疏水性分析物、极性分析物和离子型化合物作为探针,对固定相的分离性能和保留机理进行了考察。其中,由于苯环提供的疏水和π-π相互作用,烷基苯和多环芳香烃在固定相上的保留随着流动相中甲醇含量的增加而减弱;由于羧酸基团可以为固定相与核苷碱基等极性溶质之间提供亲水相互作用,随着流动相中乙腈含量的增加,极性分析物的保留逐渐增强;与自制的C18和Amide固定相相比,SiO2@P(St-b-AA)固定相在反相和亲水模式下均表现出良好的分离性能。此外,通过探究流动相pH对离子型化合物保留的影响,证明了该固定相还具有弱阳离子交换能力。多种分离模式表明SiO2@P(St-b-AA)固定相可提供多种相互作用,并在不同极性组分分析物的分离中具有良好的应用前景。通过考察制备方法的重复性,证明了该方法具有良好的制备批次稳定性,简便的“一锅法”为新型聚合物改性硅基固定相的发展提供了一种新思路。
Keywords: mixed-mode liquid chromatography; one-pot synthesis; polymer modified stationary phases.