Silica Hydride Research Articles

Study of hydration process on silica hydride surfaces by microcalorimetry and water adsorption

A series of hydrosilated stationary phases were compared with respect to their hydrophilic–hydrophobic properties. The stationary phases were also compared to the bare silica gel used for this synthesis. The investigations were done using microcalorimetric measurements of methanol and acetonitrile heats of immersion. Because these stationary phases are used in both the reversed-phase and aqueous normal phase modes of liquid chromatography, the excess isotherm of water from acetonitrile solution was measured.From the materials tested the highest polarity was exhibited by the silica hydride and the bare silica. The Diamond Hydride is less polar. The highest hydrophobicity is exhibited by the hydrosilated stationary phase which contains bonded octadecyl ligands.

Evaluation of stationary phases based on silica hydride for the analysis of drugs of abuse

Several stationary phases based on silica hydride were evaluated as possible separation media for drugs of abuse. In the RP mode both a C18 and a phenyl column were tested using ACN/water and methanol/water mobile phases with formic acid or ammonium formate as modifiers. Detection was performed using MS, so separation of isobaric species was a factor in selecting the column, mobile phase composition, and gradient. A number of sample preparation procedures were also included as part of determining the most appropriate experimental protocol on these types of stationary phases. Morphine was used as a model for developing a protocol that would be suitable for the analysis of hydrophilic drugs.

Analysis of polar peptides using a silica hydride column and high aqueous content mobile phases

The retention behavior of a set of polar peptides separated on a silica hydride stationary phase was examined with a capillary HPLC system coupled to ESI-MS detection. The mobile phases consisted of formic acid or acetic acid/acetonitrile/water mixtures with the acetonitrile content ranging from 5 to 80% v/v. The effects on peptide retention of these two acidic buffer additives and their concentrations in the mobile phase were systematically investigated. Strong retention of the peptides on the silica hydride phase was observed with relatively high-organic low-aqueous mobile phases (i.e. under aqueous normal-phase conditions). However, when low concentrations of acetic acid were employed as the buffer additive, strong retention of the peptides was also observed even when high aqueous content mobile phases were employed. This unique feature of the stationary phase therefore provides an opportunity for chromatographic analysis of polar peptides with water-rich eluents, a feature usually not feasible with traditional RP sorbents, and thus under conditions more compatible with analytical green chemistry criteria. In addition, both isocratic and gradient elution procedures can be employed to optimize peptide separations with excellent reproducibility and resolution under these high aqueous mobile phase conditions with this silica hydride stationary phase.

Comparison of nonaqueous hydrophilic interaction chromatography with aqueous normal‐phase chromatography on hydrosilated silica‐based stationary phases

We investigated the retention behavior of phenolic acids in nonaqueous normal-phase (NP) LC with buffered methanol/acetonitrile mobile phases on hydrosilated silica-based stationary phases. The silica hydride, Diamond hydride, Bidentate C18, and Cholesterol columns showed a higher retention of phenolic acids in the nonaqueous mobile phases than in aqueous NP mobile phases. There are some selectivity differences between the aqueous and nonaqueous mobile phases, but generally the resolution and selectivity are better in the aqueous systems. The retention of the phenolic acids tested decreased with increasing concentration of methanol in the mobile phase, up to 20% v/v methanol. At increased temperatures, the retention factors and peak widths decrease in both NP modes, showing linear ln k versus 1/T plots, due to a single retention mechanism over the temperature range from 25°C up to the column stability limit, however, the best separations are achieved at low temperatures. The enthalpic and entropic contributions to the retention were determined, and the differences between the aqueous and nonaqueous modes are possibly due to the adsorbed water layer.

Separation of 1,3‐dimethylamylamine and other polar compounds in a dietary supplement formulation using aqueous normal phase chromatography with MS

Five ingredients (caffeine, L-arginine, creatine, β-alanine, and 1,3-dimethylamylamine) from a workout supplement were separated by HPLC with UV detection and LC-MS using an analytical column based on silica hydride operating in aqueous normal phase mode. While RP methods were observed to be inadequate for the analysis due to low retention, aqueous normal phase chromatography was able to readily retain and resolve the analytes. After method development on the HPLC-UV system, the conditions were successfully transferred to an LC-MS system for analysis. Based on calibration curve data, estimates of 63.5, 380.3, and 13.1 mg/serving (5.50 g) were obtained for creatine, l-arginine, and 1,3-dimethylamylamine, respectively. Standard addition data results were compared to those of the calibration curve study, and the two values differed by less than 1% in the case of creatine. The conditions are suitable for further development as a reliable means of quantitating the analytes in workout supplement formulations.

Simultaneous separation of hydrophobic and polar bases using a silica hydride stationary phase

In this study, the retention behavior of selected hydrophobic and polar bases on a minimally modified silica hydride phase was investigated. From these results and the associated retention plots, significant differences in the chromatographic dependencies of these two classes of basic compounds were evident. The polar bases exhibited strong retention with mobile phases of high organic solvent content, but displayed weak retention with mobile phases of high water content. In contrast, the hydrophobic bases showed "U-shape" retention dependencies, indicative of the interplay of both RP and normal-phase retention characteristics. These studies have demonstrated that hydrophobic and polar bases can be simultaneously separated on the same column either under typical RP-like or aqueous normal-phase-like conditions, respectively, with distinctive selectivity. Finally, the effects of temperature on the RP and aqueous normal phase modality of separations with these analytes were investigated, where discrete changes in retention behavior were also observed.

Gradient elution in aqueous normal-phase liquid chromatography on hydrosilated silica-based stationary phases

The possibility of applying a theoretical model in the prediction of the retention of phenolic acids on hydrosilated silica, in aqueous normal phase mode was studied. The actual gradient of the aqueous component in acetonitrile may fluctuate from the pre-set program, as even the gradient-grade acetonitrile contains some water. Hence, the actual concentration of water during the gradient run is higher than pre-set by the gradient program, which leads to lower than expected sample retention. Furthermore, the actual gradient profile may be affected by an increase in water uptake on a polar column during the gradient run. These effects were investigated using the using frontal analysis method and Karl-Fischer titration, for the determination of water in the initial mobile phase, and in the column effluent. Preferential adsorption of water on the Silica hydride, Diamond hydride, UDC Cholesterol, Bidentate C18, and Phenyl hydride columns can be described by Langmuir isotherms. At the column saturation capacity, less than one monomolecular water layer is adsorbed, with a further decrease in coverage density for modified materials. Parameters of semi-logarithmic and logarithmic model equations, describing the dependence of retention factor on the concentration of water, were determined under isocratic conditions. These parameters and linear gradient profiles corrected for the actual water concentrations were used in calculation of gradient retention data. The corrections for the actual water concentration greatly improved the agreement between the experiment and the predicted gradient elution volumes. Generally, the semi-logarithmic model provides slightly better prediction of the gradient data, with respect to the logarithmic retention model.

A New Approach to Bioanalysis: Aqueous Normal-Phase Chromatography With Silica Hydride Stationary Phases

Stationary phases based on silica hydride have demonstrated a number of unique properties that are especially advantageous for bioanalyses. They have excellent retention capabilities for hydrophilic compounds, which have been the most difficult to analyze by standard reversed-phase methods and, in many cases, can outperform newer approaches for the analysis of polar molecules, such as hydrophilic liquid interaction chromatography. In addition, all columns utilizing silica-hydride materials can be used in either the normal-phase or reversed-phase modes, sometimes retaining both polar and nonpolar compounds simultaneously. These stationary phases have a high degree of reproducibility and long-term stability.

Preparation and characterization of bonded silica hydride intermediate from triethoxysilane and dimethylmethoxysilane using supercritical carbon dioxide and dioxane as reaction medium

This research examines bonding methodology, surface coverage and silanol conversion efficiencies on the preparation of silica hydride (SiH) intermediate from triethoxysilane (TES) and dimethylmethoxysilane (DMMS) using sc-CO2 and dioxane as reaction solvent. Under sc-CO2 reaction conditions (at temperature and pressure of 100°C, 414bar, respectively and 3h reaction time), the surface coverages of SiH (evaluated from %C obtained from elemental analysis) prepared with DMMS (3.39μmol/m2) and TES (4.46μmol/m2) increased by 2- and 4-folds respectively, when compared to reaction performed in dioxane (2.66μmol/m2, SiH, DMMS and 0.69μmol/m2, SiH, TES). The relatively higher surface coverage of SiH from TES over DMMS generated in sc-CO2 is due to the inherent trialkoxy moiety of the TES that favours siloxane crosslinkage, forming polymeric surface attachments to yield a higher ligand density than the monomeric DMMS ligand. A conversion efficiency of ∼84.4% of SiH prepared from TES in sc-CO2 estimated from 29Si CP/MAS NMR analysis is comparable to TES silanization in dioxane or toluene. Moreover, silica hydride (SiH) conversion efficiency of ca. 42.4% achieved for the hydride intermediate prepared from DMMS in sc-CO2 is more superior to 33.3% efficiency obtained in dioxane. The differences in conversion efficiencies is attributed to the ability of sc-CO2 being able to access silica pores that are inaccessible in organic solvents. Bonded silica hydride from TES, DMMS prepared in sc-CO2 were characterized using elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), BET surface area, Fourier transform infrared (FI-IR) and solid state NMR spectroscopy. Silica hydride technology/chemical functionalization of silica in sc-CO2 avoid extended purification steps (i.e. filtration and washing), generation of waste organic solvent and the need of costly or energy consuming drying processing with improved modification efficiency.

Simultaneous separation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic peptides with a silica hydride stationary phase using aqueous normal phase conditions

The application of a silica hydride modified stationary phase with low organic loading has been investigated as a new type of chromatographic material suitable for the separation and analysis of peptides with electrospray ionization mass spectrometric detection. Retention maps were established to delineate the chromatographic characteristics of a series of peptides with physical properties ranging from strongly hydrophobic to very hydrophilic and encompassing a broad range of pI values ( pI 5.5–9.4). The effects of low concentrations of two additives (formic acid and acetic acid) in the mobile phase were also investigated with respect to their contribution to separation selectivity and retention under comparable conditions. Significantly, strong retention of both the hydrophobic and the hydrophilic peptides was observed when high-organic low-aqueous mobile phases were employed, thus providing a new avenue to achieve high resolution peptide separations. For example, simultaneous separation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic peptides was achieved under aqueous normal phase (ANP) chromatographic conditions with linear gradient elution procedures in a single run, whilst further gradient optimization enabled improved peak efficiencies of the more strongly retained hydrophobic and hydrophilic peptides.

Hydrosilated silica-based columns: The effects of mobile phase and temperature on dual hydrophilic-reversed-phase separation mechanism of phenolic acids

The effects of mobile phase composition and of temperature on the retention behavior of phenolic acids were studied on 4 hydrosilated (type C silica) based columns in buffered aqueous acetonitrile, both in the aqueous normal phase (HILIC) and in the reversed-phase mobile phase range. The UDC cholesterol and the C18 bidentate columns show significant reversed phase and normal-phase retention mechanisms, whereas very weak retention in the reversed-phase mode was observed on the silica hydride and the Diamond hydride columns. The concentration effects of the aqueous acetate buffer over the full mobile phase (HILIC and RP) composition range can be described by a simple four-parameter equation. At increasing temperature, the retention times and peak widths decrease both in the aqueous normal phase and in the reversed phase mobile phase range. Linear van’t Hoff logk versus 1/T plots were observed, indicating a single retention mechanism predominating in the highly organic (HILIC), like in highly aqueous (RP) mobile phase ranges. Besides the type of the stationary phase, the separation selectivity of phenolic acids strongly depends on temperature and on the mobile phase composition. From among the 4 hydrosilated columns compared in this work, the UDC cholesterol column has high temperature stability (up to 100°C) and is most suitable for selective and efficient separations of phenolic acids both in the HILIC and in the RP modes.

Open‐tubular capillary electrochromatography of small polar molecules using etched, chemically modified capillaries

The migration characteristics of small polar molecules are evaluated on etched, chemically modified capillaries with four different moieties (C5, C18, diol and cholesterol) bonded onto a silica hydride surface. The effects of pH on migration are used to determine the possible contributions of eletrophoretic mobility, electroosmotic flow (EOF) and analyte/bonded phase interactions. The EOF on etched capillaries is more complicated than on ordinary fused capillaries because it changes from anodic to cathodic as the pH is raised. A mixture of neurotransmitters and related compounds is used to further evaluate the effects of the bonded moiety on the separation properties of this particular electrophoretic format.

SYNTHESIS OF A PREPARATIVE C30 STATIONARY PHASE ON A SILICA HYDRIDE SURFACE AND ITS APPLICATION TO CAROTENOID SEPARATION

A triacontyl (C30) stationary phase has been synthesized on a silica hydride surface for use in preparative applications. The success of bonding via hydrosilation was monitored by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy and elemental (carbon) analysis. A semi-preparative column was packed in order to test this material for potential applications. The test compounds selected for this evaluation were carotenoids. A number of organic solvents applicable to either normal or reversed-phase phase retention were used as binary mobile phase components. The effect of flow rate on resolution was also determined.

Silica hydride intermediate for octadecylsilica and phenyl bonded phase preparation via heterogeneous hydrosilation in supercritical carbon dioxide

Investigations into the preparation of silica hydride intermediate in supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO 2) that avoids the use of organic solvents such as toluene or dioxane are described. The effects of reaction temperature, pressure and time on the surface coverage of the supercritical fluid generated silica hydride intermediate were studied. Under optimised supercritical conditions of 120 °C, 483 bar and 3 h reaction time, silica hydride (Si–H) conversion efficiencies of ca. 40% were achieved for the hydride intermediate prepared from a monofunctional silane reagent (dimethylmethoxysilane). Si–H conversion efficiencies (as determined from 29Si CP-MAS NMR spectral analysis) for the hydride intermediate prepared from triethoxysilane (TES) in sc-CO 2 were found to be comparable to those obtained using a TES silanisation approach in an organic solvent. 13C and 29Si CP-MAS-NMR spectroscopy was employed to provide a complete structural assignment of the silica hydride intermediates. Furthermore, supercritical CO 2 was subsequently employed as a reaction medium for the heterogenous hydrosilation of silica hydride with octadecene and with styrene, in the presence of a free radical initiator. These supercritical fluid generated reversed-phase materials were prepared in a substantially reduced reaction time (3 h) compared to organic solvent based methods (100 h reaction time). Silica functionalisation in sc-CO 2 presents an efficient and clean alternative to organic solvent based methods for the preparation of important silica hydride intermediate and silica bonded stationary phases via a hydrosilation approach.

Polyacrylamide grafted on multi‐walled carbon nanotubes for open‐tubular capillary electrochromatography: Comparison with silica hydride and polyacrylate phase matrices

A new nanoparticle-bound polymer stationary phase was prepared by in situ polymerization of methacrylamide (MAA), bis-acrylamide crosslinker, and carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (multi-walled CNTs; MWNTs), using the abundant double bonds in the cyclopentadienyl rings in MWNT structure, on a silanized capillary. Each intermediate capillary between the synthesis steps was characterized by SEM, by ATR-IR, and by EOF measurements varying the pH, concentration, and volumetric ratios of ACN in running buffers. The resulting EOF profile was comparable to those of two other capillaries with different phase matrices, silica hydride and polybutyl methacrylate (BMA) phases. With the complex functionality of MWNTs on the hydrophilic polyacrylamide network, the MAA-CNT capillary was capable of separating diverse samples with a wide range of polarity and dissociation properties using open-tubular CEC. Besides optimizing CEC conditions, the migration times of samples were analyzed with respect to velocity and retention factors to evaluate electrophoretic and chromatographic contributions to the CEC mechanism. The migration rates of benzoic acids were determined by the electrophoretic mobilities of the various phenolate ions, while phenolic aldehydes and ketones were additionally influenced by chromatographic interactions, such as π-π, electrostatic effects, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions. The retention factors were greater for flavonoids, which are polyphenolic, than for simple phenols, but were smaller than those obtained from the hydrophobic BMA-CNT column. A complete well-resolved separation of the cationic forms of tetracyclines was acheived either by electrophoresis or by chromatography in the MAA-CNT capillary, but not in the BMA-CNT and silica hydride-CNT capillaries.

New Approaches to Prepare Hydride Silica

Two synthetic schemes to produce a hydride-modified support that serves as an intermediate for the preparation of bonded phases for liquid chromatography (LC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) are investigated. The strategies differ in the silane reagent utilized (trichlorosilane (TCS) or triethoxysilane (TES)) and the manner water is incorporated into the reaction. In the first approach, TCS in toluene reacts with a previously humidified silica substrate so that the reaction is confined to the silica surface. In the second approach, TES and a small amount of aqueous HCl are dissolved in THF, and this hydrolysate is diluted by a great factor in cyclohexane, prior to reaction with the silica substrate. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the hydride film on wafers revealed that, unlike the traditional approach that produced a patchy coating, both new methods provided a homogeneous layer on the substrate's surface. IR and NMR spectra from porous silica particles clearly confirmed a successful surface modification. AFM and water contact angles (WCA) were used to examine the effect of dilution of the TES hydrolysate in cyclohexane on the trend of the film to polymerize on wafers and found that a dilution factor of at least 100 is required to attain a molecularly thin hydride layer. WCA and CE also revealed a strong susceptibility of the hydride silica intermediate to hydrolyze, even at low pH. Compared to TCS, the lower reactivity and volatility of TES resulted in a much more desirable experimental approach.

Succinyl methacrylate polymerized in porous-layered phases for open-tubular capillary electrochromatography: Comparison with silica hydride monolayered phases

A polymer phase, which was constructed with butyl methacrylate (BMA), an ionizable monomer (mono-(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl) succinate (MES)), and a crosslinking agent (ethylene dimethacrylate), was first formed in a porous-layered open-tubular (PLOT) capillary. The PLOT capillary was characterized with SEM and electrophoretic flow as the pH level, ionic strength and addition of organic modifiers in the running buffers changed. In addition, a bare capillary and a silica hydride based capillary (SiH-MES), which bore a monolayered MES phase on it, were used to compared with the BMA-MES capillary. Besides optimizing the capillary electrochromatographic (CEC) conditions for each group of analytes, which were a mixture of nucleosides and thymine, flavonoids, and phenolic acids,comparison of the separation selectivity among analytes between the BMA-MES and SiH-MES capillaries was done according to the velocity and retention factors obtained from the CEC data. Overall, the polymeric phase formed in the PLOT mode was capable of preventing blockage of the columns and was superior to the monolayered phase bonding with the same ionizable ligands for application in CEC as well as to the bare silica phase in CE.

Protective effects of silica hydride against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in mice

The protective effects of MegaHydrate™ silica hydride against liver damage were evaluated by its attenuation of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Male ICR mice were orally treated with silica hydride (104, 208 and 520mg/kg) or silymarin (200mg/kg) daily, with administration of CCl4 (1mL/kg, 20% CCl4 in olive oil) twice a week for eight weeks. The results showed that oral administration of silica hydride significantly reduced the elevated serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), triglyceride (TG), and cholesterol and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver that were induced by CCl4 in mice. Moreover, the silica-hydride treatment was also found to significantly increase the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), as well as increase the GSH content, in the liver. Liver histopathology also showed that silica hydride reduced the incidence of liver lesions induced by CCl4. The results suggest that silica hydride exhibits potent hepatoprotective effects on CCl4-induced liver damage in mice, likely due to both the increase of antioxidant-defense system activity and the inhibition of lipid peroxidation.

Dual hydrophilic interaction‐RP retention mechanism on polar columns: Structural correlations and implementation for 2‐D separations on a single column

We investigated the retention of phenolic acid and flavone antioxidants on five polar columns in buffered aqueous ACN mobile phases. All columns show mixed retention mechanism: RP in highly aqueous mobile phases and normal phase (hydrophilic interaction LC, HILIC) in mobile phases with high concentration of ACN. The Silica Hydride and the ZIC HILIC sulfobetaine zwitterionic columns show rather limited retention in the RP mode. The Luna HILIC column shows higher retention in both the HILIC and the RP modes in comparison to the PEG and DIOL columns. We characterized the selectivity of various HILIC systems using linear solvation energy relationship model with molecular structure descriptors characterizing selective molecular size, dipole-dipole and proton-donor/proton-acceptor interactions and we investigated the effects of the mobile phase composition on the linear solvation energy relationship characteristics of the separation phase systems to select suitable conditions for orthogonal HILIC separations in combination with RP systems. Dual retention mechanism offers possibilities for using complementary selectivity in the HILIC and the RP modes for sequential 2-D separations of natural antioxidants on a single Luna HILIC column. Column equilibration time of 15 min between alternating RP and HILIC gradient runs is sufficient for reproducible results.

TYPE C AMINO COLUMNS FOR AFFINITY AND AQUEOUS NORMAL PHASE CHROMATOGRAPHY: SYNTHESIS AND HPLC EVALUATION

The synthesis of novel stationary phases for the retention of polar compounds and for affinity chromatography was presented. Two amino compounds, 4-diethylamino-2-butyn-1-ol and 3-amino-3-methyl-1-butyne, were bonded to a silica hydride surface using Silica-C and a hydrosilation procedure. The bonding was confirmed using CP – MAS NMR and FTIR techniques. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) evaluation of the synthesized HPLC stationary phases was performed using the Neue Test. Aqueous Normal Phase (ANP) properties of synthesized amino phases were confirmed using a broad range of polar compounds. Type III-O trypsin inhibitor from chicken egg white was used to test the affinity aspect of the amino bonded trypsin column.