Abstract

The present study describes the application of capillary electromigration techniques; CEC and micellar EKC (MEKC), and the application of spectroscopic methods; ¹H NMR and ¹H NOESY spectroscopy to investigate interactions between CDs (α-CD, statistically methylated β-CD, hydroxypropyl-β-CD, and 2-hydroxypropyl-γ-CD) and different methacrylates (adamantyl, isobornyl, cyclohexyl, and phenyl methacrylate). It is shown that these methods complement each other. While CD-mediated MEKC is a rapid screening technique for comparing complex stabilities in aqueous media, ¹H NMR chemical shift analysis provides quantitative data for very strong methacrylate-CD complexes and CD-mediated CEC provides quantitative data for complexes with lower complex forming constants. CD-mediated MEKC did not prove to be suitable for the calculation of complex forming constants. Reasons are discussed. ¹H NOESY spectra were used to study spatial relationships between host and guest atoms.

Employing solubilization by complexation with CDs, new mixed-mode monolithic stationary phases for CEC and μ-LC were synthesized. Free radical copolymerization was performed in aqueous solution with a CD-solubilized hydrophobic monomer, a water-soluble crosslinker (piperazinediacrylamide), and a charged monomer (vinylsulfonic acid). Different hydrophobic methacrylate monomers (isobornyl, adamantyl, cyclohexyl, and phenyl methacrylate) were investigated. Chromatographic properties of the synthesized monoliths were studied with aqueous and nonaqueous mobile phases with hydrophobic and polar analytes. Due to the amphiphilic nature of the polymers synthesized, the elution orders obtained correspond to the RP mode and to the normal-phase mode dependent on the polarity of the mobile phase. However, observations made with polar solutes and polar mobile phase can only be explained by a mixed-mode retention mechanism. The influence of the total monomer concentration (%T) on the chromatographic properties and on the specific permeability was elucidated. Run-to-run, day-to-day, and capillary-to-capillary reproducibility of electroosmotic mobility and retention factors were determined. Comparison of retention data with those of a commercial octadecyl silica gel HPLC column reveals that the methylene selectivity of the monolithic capillaries prepared in this study is very similar to that of routinely used octadecyl silica gels.