Probing the interaction of solvents with the stationary phase of C18 high-performance liquid chromatographic column material by variable-temperature dependent Xe-129 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

摘要

VT Xe-129 NMR was applied to probe the interactions of solvents having different polarity indices with the stationary phase of a RP-C18 HPLC column material. It was observed that the highly polar ethylene glycol molecules do not mix with the alkyl chains of the RP-C18 stationary phase and the solvent is unable to enter the pores and the spaces between the particles. Three phases in this sample are defined as stationary/xenon phase, xenon gas phase (in the pores and the spaces between the particles) and ethylene glycol/xenon phase. In contrast to ethylene glycol, the nonpolar solvent cyclohexane was observed to be well mixed with the RP-C18 stationary phase. The capillary rise effect allows the solvent to enter the pores and the spaces between the particles. Two phases in this sample are defined as stationary/cyclohexane/xenon phase and cyclohexane/xenon phases. The properties of ethyl acetate are between those of ethylene glycol and cyclohexane. The Xe-129 NMR results show that the rational reversed phases should be conditioned from highly solvating to more polar solvents to remove the trapped air. The Xe-121 NMR results also show that pure stationary phase exists only when a highly polar solvent is used in reversed-phase chromatography. For a solvent with lower polarity, a stationary/solvent phase actually forms. This, together with the mobile phase, determines the selective factor for separating mixtures. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.