Preparation and characterization of mesoporous silicas modified with chiral selectors as stationary phase for high-performance liquid chromatography

• New materials were prepared as novel chiral stationary phases for HPLC.
• Erythromycin and vancomycin were used as chiral selectors to functionalize mesoporous silicas.
• The chiral stationary phases were tested for the separation of β-blockers.

New hybrid materials were prepared as novel chiral stationary phases (CSPs) for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Pure mesoporous silica (SM) and ethylene-bridged periodic mesostructured organosilica (PMO) were functionalized, by a post-synthesis method, with derivates of erythromycin and vancomycin. N2 adsorption–desorption measurements, XRD, FT-IR, MAS NMR, SEM, TEM and elemental analysis were used to characterize the physico-chemical properties of these mesostructured materials, before and after the modification process. The synthesized particles had non-symmetrical 3-D wormhole-like mesostructure, spherical morphology, and a mean pore diameter between 53 and 59 Å. CSPs prepared were tested for the separation of four chiral β-blockers (atenolol, metoprolol, pindolol and propranolol) in normal phase (NP) and polar organic phase (PO) elution modes. Much stronger chiral interaction was observed in vancomycin-modified silicas. Results obtained in these preliminary studies will permit in future works to improve the synthesis route in order to design mesoporous materials with better performance as a chiral stationary phase for HPLC.

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