Monolithic stationary phases prepared via cyclic anhydride ring-opening polymerization as tunable platforms for chromatographic applications

Abstract

Polymer monolithic stationary phases were prepared based on a cyclic anhydride as a reactive and tunable platform via ring-opening post-polymerization using primary amines, octadecylamine and benzylamine. The characterization techniques indicated the insertion of the functional groups into the original monoliths and confirmed the amidation reactions. The post-polymerization modification also improved the monolith's thermal and mechanical stability and induced significant improvement in their surface area. The stationary phases were synthesized inside small dimension stainless-steel columns (2.1 mm i.d. × 50 mm length). The prepared columns before and after modifications have been tested for the separation of the alkylbenzene series and some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as model compounds. In all cases, the chromatographic performance in terms of the height equivalent to a theoretical plate on the functionalized monoliths was remarkably improved when compared with that on the unmodified monolith, which was between 9.59–39.49 μm and 4.08–31.50 μm using monoliths modified with octadecylamine and benzylamine, respectively. Under the same chromatographic conditions, the functionalization of monoliths with octadecylamine provided more hydrophobic interactions and enhanced the retention of alkylbenzenes, while the modification of monoliths with benzyl groups improved the separation and the retention of the PAHs through the strong π–π interactions. However, post-modification polymerization with octadecylamine and benzylamine enhanced the separation efficiency of the prepared columns toward all studied compounds. The repeatability of the injections on the same column and the reproducibility of the prepared columns have been studied for some selected parameters and estimated in terms of percent relative standard deviation (%RSD) for some of the studied compounds. The repeatability of the prepared columns was ≤9.42% (n = 5) based on run-to-run injections and ≤9.48% based on day-to-day injections for five successive days. The reproducibility levels, on the other hand, were ≤20.95% for all studied parameters in all cases. To assess their performance for the analysis of real samples, the applicability of the prepared columns was examined for the separation of the active ingredients extracted from some commercial pharmaceutical formulations and for the separation of tea water extract constituents. The validation data show the suitability of the columns for practical use in the routine analysis of these samples.