Preparation and evaluation of pillararene bonded silica gel stationary phases for high performance liquid chromatography

- Pillarene bonded phases are successfully prepared and characterized.
- The retention mechanism of the phases concerns multiple interactions.
- The separation is improved on the basis of the host-guest recognition of pillararenes.

Pillararene bonded stationary phases for high performance liquid chromatography were prepared using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane as coupling reagent. The structure of the new materials was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. The chromatographic performance and retention mechanism of the new stationary phases were evaluated in reversed-phase mode compared with C18 using different solute probes including Tanaka test solutes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols and aromatic positional isomers. The new stationary phases could provide various interactions for different solutes, such as hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding, π-π and inclusion interactions. The synergistic effects resulting from aromatic rings, oxygen atoms, alkyl linkers and cavities in the new host molecules improved the separation selectivity by multiple retention mechanisms. Such hybrid stationary phases can provide more versatility and have great potential for the analysis of complex samples.