Effects of substitution groups of glutamide-derived molecular gels on molecular shape recognition

• The l-glutamide lipids immobilised HPLC stationary phases were prepared.
• The phase transition of lipids was observed on silica surface.
• Highly ordered state of lipids enhanced the recognition of molecular planarity.
• Highly arranged microenvironment affect to the molecular shape selectivity.
• The accumulation of glutamide moiety improved the molecular shape selectivity.

We have reported that self-assembling glutamide lipid-grafted porous silica particles show high selectivity towards polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and bio-molecules. This enhancement of molecular recognition is brought about by the formation of a highly ordered structure in the glutamide lipid through intermolecular hydrogen bonding. To utilise, for selective separations, the highly oriented structure of glutamide lipids on the silica surface, in this study, we synthesised four glutamide lipids with different substitution groups and studied the separation behaviours of the glutamide lipid-grafted porous silica particles as reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) stationary phases. According to the HPLC studies, the functional group substitutions and the spacer group connecting the glutamide moiety and silica surface had a noticeable effect on the retention behaviours. Particularly, glutamide lipids with a long spacer group (C10) showed a higher selectivity towards positional (o-/m-/p-terphenyl) and geometrical (cis-/trans-stilbene) isomers. Differential scanning calorimetric and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies suggested that the long spacer group induced the assembled structure of the glutamide lipid on the silica surface. Interestingly, the glutamide lipids with dodecyl groups and benzyl groups showed reverse elution orders towards the length to breadth ratio of PAHs.