Alkyl-modified siloxanes as pseudostationary phases for electrokinetic chromatography

Anionic siloxane polymers with novel linker arm structures have been synthesized and characterized with respect to their performance and selectivity as pseudophases for electrokinetic chromatography. The linker arm between the siloxane backbone and the sulfonate head group is shorter and does not have the tertiary amine structure found in the siloxane pseudophases studied previously. This change in the linker arm structure and chemistry has dramatic effects on the chemical selectivity of the pseudophases. Linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) studies show that the greatest contributor to the difference in selectivity is that the new polymers are not as nonpolar as those previously studied. This result indicates that siloxane polymers are not by their nature more nonpolar or hydrophobic than other pseudophases. The LSER studies also demonstrate that siloxane pseudophases have a strong tendency to accept hydrogen bonds that cannot be attributed to the presence of the tertiary amine in the linker arm.