Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as test probes to investigate the retention behavior of 1,3-alternate calix[4]arene silica-bonded stationary phases.

A series of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of different size and shape has been used to characterize the chromatographic behavior of five calix[4]arene stationary phases in 1,3-alternate conformation synthesized in our laboratory. The selection of linear, four-ring nonlinear, and five-ring PAHs gave data on selectivity changes across range of the calix[4]arene columns. Retention of the 12 aromatic solutes has been evaluated at various methanol contents in the mobile phase (70-100% v/v) and column temperatures (20-45°C). The thermodynamic parameters underlying the retention mechanisms revealed that each of the five calix[4]arene columns exhibited variation in selectivity and retention of PAHs caused by enthalpy and entropy effects. The calixarene stationary phases substituted with electron-withdrawing groups exhibit enhanced selectivity toward PAHs in comparison to the rest of the investigated columns. The observed divergences are due to differences in solute-stationary phase interactions and originate in π-π and π-electron transfer specific to the analytes and the type of calix[4]arene functionalization at the upper rim, as well as steric and sorption phenomena.