Study on the preparation method and performance of a new β-cyclodextrin bonded silica stationary phase for liquid chromatography

A simple method was proposed to prepare β-cyclodextrin bonded silica stationary phase (β-CD-BS) containing propylene short spacer for high performance liquid chromatography. At first, the chloropropyl-bonded silica (CPS) as precursor was synthesized, and then β-CD-BS was prepared through the condensation reaction between sodium salt of β-CD and chloropropyl-bonded silica (CPS). The resulting stationary phase was characterized by means of elemental analysis and Fourier transform infrared, and its chromatographic performance was investigated by using PAHs, disubstituted benzene and Dns-amino acid as solutes in the mobile phase of methanol-water or methanol-buffer, The results indicated clearly that the separation selectivities of β-CD-BS for the solutes examined are superior to ODS and β-CD stationary phase with nitrogen-containing spacer reported. Moreover, the separation of chiral Dns-amino acids with higher separation factors was achieved on the β-CD-BS. This result may be attributable to the propylene short spacer that may be helpful to keep CDs native conformation and facilitate ordering array of CD onto silica surface, thus increasing the capability of chiral separation.