A facile approach to undecylenic acid-functionalized stationary phases for per aqueous liquid chromatography

Green chromatography techniques using low-toxic mobile phase are getting increasingly attention in recent years. The core is developing stationary phases that possess adequate retention and separation under the mobile phase of high content water. Using thiol-ene click chemistry, an undecylenic acid-bonded silica stationary phase (UAS) was prepared in a facile manner. Elemental analysis (EA), solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR) confirmed the successful preparation of UAS. The synthesized UAS was employed for per aqueous liquid chromatography (PALC), which uses little organic solvent during separation. Due to the hydrophilic carboxy, thioether group and hydrophobic alkyl chains of the UAS, various categories of compounds (including nucleobases, nucleosides, organic acids and basic compounds) with different properties can achieve enhanced separation under the mobile phase of high content water compared with commercial C18 and silica stationary phases. Overall, our present UAS stationary phase shows excellent separation ability toward highly polar compounds and meets the requirements of green chromatography.

Automated summary

Green chromatography techniques using low-toxic mobile phase and developing stationary phases with adequate retention and separation under high content water mobile phase have gained increasing attention. In this study, an undecylenic acid-bonded silica stationary phase (UAS) was successfully prepared using thiol-ene click chemistry. The synthesized UAS demonstrated excellent separation ability towards highly polar compounds under the mobile phase of high content water, surpassing commercial C18 and silica stationary phases. Overall, this UAS stationary phase meets the requirements of green chromatography and shows promise for enhanced separation.