Preparation and characterization of vinylimidazole-based polymer monolithic stationary phases for reversed-phase and hydrophilic interaction capillary liquid chromatography.

In this study, we applied 1-vinylimidazole (VIM) as the functional monomer to prepare a series of VIM-based monolithic stationary phases for both reversed-phase and hydrophilic interaction capillary liquid chromatography (LC) using various dimethacrylates (EDMA: ethylene dimethacrylate; HDDMA: 1,6-hexanediol dimethacrylate; DDDMA: 1,10-decanediol dimethacrylate) as cross-linkers. With a simple thermally initiated free-radical cross-linking polymerization process, VIM-based monolithic stationary phases have been successfully prepared. The porosity, permeability, and column efficiency of synthesized VIM-based monolithic stationary phases were characterized. With similar total porosity (85-90%), the VIM-HDDMA monoliths showed the lowest permeability among the three sets of VIM-based stationary phases. Various sets of non-polar (alkyl benzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and polar analytes (phenol derivatives and amphenicol antibiotics) were applied as model compounds to further investigate the retention behavior of the VIM-based monolithic stationary phases for reversed-phase capillary LC analysis using selected VIM-based monolithic columns. While a mixture of organic acids was employed to perform HILIC analysis using the selected VIM-based monolithic columns. The separation selectivity and retention behavior of the VIM-based monolithic stationary phases were compared to those obtained using three previously prepared alkyl methacrylate-based monolithic columns. Strong retention and good resolution of polar analytes (such as phenol derivatives, amphenicol antibiotics, and organic acids) were observed using the selected VIM-based monolithic columns. The strong retention and good resolution might be attributed to the additional hydrogen-bonding between the hydrogen-donating analytes and the hydrogen-accepting imidazolium functionality on the VIM-based stationary phase. The applicability for both reversed-phase and HILIC capillary LC analysis has also been demonstrated using the selected VIM-based monolithic columns.