p-tert-Butylcalix[8]arene-bonded silica monoliths for liquid chromatography

Monolithic silica columns have inspired considerable research interests in the separation science because of their unique properties in permeability, mass transfer, efficiency and throughput. In this paper, a chemically p-tert-butylcalix[8]arene-bonded silica monolith was prepared as the promising candidate for versatile LC separations. Micrometer-sized macropores and nanometer-sized mesopores in this derivatized silica monolith reduce the diffusion path length and provide both low backpressure and high column efficiencies, leading to high-speed and high-throughput separations. Since p-tert-butylcalix[8]arene possesses a pi-donors cavity composed of benzene rings while polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, anthraquinones, phenol regio isomers and fullerenes are pi-systems with appreciable electron affinity, they may have a chance to get involved in forming host-guest inclusion complexes through non-covalent interactions, e.g. hydrophobic and pi-pi interactions. Compared with RP-18e, the prepared calixarene-bonded monolith exhibited better selectivity to molecules which contains more pi-electrons and more condensed cyclic moieties. The column efficiency was about 22,000 plates/m. The calixarene-bonded monolith also showed its good performances in separation of fullerenes and dihydropyridines, indicating a promising approach for purification of fullerenes with high purity from the carbon soot.