Preparation and Characterization of a New Quercetin‐bonded Stationary Phase for High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

AbstractA quercetin‐bonded silica gel stationary phase (QUSP) containing natural flavonoid ligand was first prepared viaγ‐glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (KH‐560) as a coupling reagent for high‐performance liquid chromatography. Its chemical structure was characterized by Fourier infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, thermal thermogravimetry and13C cross polarization/magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (CP/MAS NMR). The chromatographic property of QUSP was systematically evaluated by using neutral, basic and acidic aromatic compounds as probes. In order to clarify its retention mechanism, a comparative study of QUSP with conventional octadecylsilyl‐bonded stationary phase (ODS) was also carried out under the same conditions. The results showed that the new quercetin‐bonded phase exhibited an excellent reversed‐phase chromatographic property with relatively weak hydrophobicity. However, it has an advantage over ODS in the fast separation of polar aromatic compounds because the quercetin ligand could provide various sites besides hydrophobicity, such as hydrogen bonding, dipole‐dipole, π‐π staking and charge transfer interactions. QUSP was performed in the baseline separations of ionized polar basic or acidic compounds, including pyridines, anilines, pyrimidines, purines and phenols with symmetric peak shape in common mobile phases without buffer salt within relatively short time. The natural ligands from herbs are readily available and contain a variety of active sites, which facilitate the exploration of industrial chromatographic separation materials for green products.