Thiol-yne Click Adamantane Monolithic Stationary Phase for Capillary Electrochromatography

A porous crosslinked organic polymer based on N-acryloxysuccinimide (NAS) and ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) was prepared inside 75 mu m i.d. fused silica capillary as functionalizable monolithic stationary phase for electrochromatographic applications. Succinimide groups on the monolith surface provide reactive sites able to react readily through standard electrophile-nucleophile chemistry. Propargylamine was used to prepare alkyne functionalized poly(NAS-co-EDMA). Onto this thiol-reactive polymer surface was grafted adamantane units via a photochemically-driven addition reaction. Chemical characterization was performed in situ after each synthetic step by means of Raman spectroscopy and grafting kinetics was investigated to ensure quantitative grafting of 1-adamantanethiol. The as-designed monolithic stationary phase exhibited typical reversed-phase separation mechanism as evidenced by the linear increase of the logarithm of retention factor of neutral aromatic solutes with the increase of the aqueous buffer content in the mobile phase.