Simultaneous separation of hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds by using an online HILIC-RPLC system with two detectors

In the present study, we developed a novel online hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC)-RPLC separation system for simultaneous separation of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic solutes in a complex sample with one injection. A HILIC Si column and a C18 column were hyphenated with an interface including two electronic 2-position valves, a solvent pump, and a solute transfer column. By using column-switching technique, the nonretained hydrophobic solutes were eluted out of the HILIC column and transferred into the C18 column to perform further separation. The hydrophilic solutes were separated on the HILIC column at the same time. One detector was equipped for each column to record the individual chromatograms. By separating a standard mixture and a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) extract, the developed HILIC-RPLC system demonstrates its potential for entire-components separation of complex samples with improved peak capacity and throughput compared with the common single-column LC.