Phenylcarbamate-Modified Paper for Paper Chromatographic Analysis of Hydrophobic Compounds

Paper chromatography is a low-cost and facile analytical method traditionally used to analyze hydrophilic substances. For the application to substances with lower polarity, we prepared a stationary phase based on filter paper modified with phenyl isocyanate (PI-FP), bearing phenyl carbamate moieties for hydrophobic, pi-pi, and electrostatic interactions. The preparation and chromatographic methods were established by selecting papers, comparing different chemical structures, optimizing the modification procedure, investigating eluents, and quantitatively parameterizing the separation behavior based on the character of the analytes. PI-FP exhibited better separation performance than esterified FPs and enabled chromatographic analysis of various dyes with both positive and negative clogP (calculated water-octanol partition coefficient). We also demonstrated an application of this system for a preparative separation of dyes using thread-like paper modified with PI.

Automated summary

Paper chromatography is a cost-effective and simple analytical method for analyzing hydrophilic substances. By modifying filter paper with phenyl isocyanate, a stationary phase called PI-FP was developed for the separation of substances with lower polarity. The PI-FP exhibited better separation performance than esterified FPs and allowed for the analysis of dyes with different clogP values. The system was successfully applied for the preparative separation of dyes using thread-like paper modified with PI.