Deconvolution of electrokinetic and chromatographic contributions to solute migration in stereoselective ion‐exchange capillary electrochromatography on monolithic silica capillary columns

Abstract

A monolithic silica stationary phase functionalized with an enantioselective strong cation exchanger based on an aminosulfonic acid derivative was used for chiral separations of basic test solutes by nonaqueous CEC and capillary LC. The effects of the applied electric field as well as the ionic strength in the eluent on electrokinetic and chromatographic contributions to the overall separation performance in the electrically driven mode were investigated. Hence, under the utilized experimental conditions, i. e., at an electric field strength in the range of approximately 120-720 V/cm (applied voltages 4-24 kV) and an ionic strength of the counterion between 5 and 25 mM (at constant acid-to-base, i. e., co- to counterion ratio of 2:1), no deviations from the expected linearity of the EOF were observed. This led to the conclusion that an occurrence of the so-called electrokinetic effects of the second kind resulting from electric double layer overlap inside the mesopores of the monolithic stationary phase and concentration polarization phenomena were largely negligible. Additional support to this conclusion was inferred from the observed independence of CEC retention factors on the electric field strength across the investigated ionic strength range of the BGE. As a consequence, a simple framework allowing for calculation of the CEC mobilities from the individual separation contributions, viz. electroosmotic and electrophoretic mobilities as well as retention factors, could be applied to model CEC migration. There was a reasonable agreement between calculated and experimental CEC mobility data with deviations typically below 5%. The deconvolution of the individual contributions to CEC migration and separation is of particular value for the understanding of the separation processes in which electrophoretic migration of ionic sample constituents plays a significant role like in ion-exchange CEC and may aid the optimization procedure of the BGE and other experimental conditions such as the optimization of the surface chemistry of the stationary phase. In combination with the remarkable column performance evident from the low theoretical plate heights observed under CEC conditions for all test solutes (3.5-7.5 microm in the flow rate range of 0.4-1.2 mm/s, corresponding to (130,000-300,000 plates per meter), the presented framework provides an attractive tool as the basis for the assessment of chromatographic selectivities in a miniaturized CEC screening of new selectors and chiral stationary phases (CSPs), respectively, from experimental CEC data and known CE mobilities.