Electrostatic Interactions between Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) and Chromatographic Surfaces

In HPLC, the zones of organic bases tail when silica-based stationary phases are used because the analytes and the surface are oppositely charged. In developing new stationary phases to achieve lower surface charge, a measure of surface charge is needed. The choice of a suitable analyte to quantitate electrostatic interactions is complicated by the acid-base equilibrium of the analyte itself and by nonelectrostatic interactions between the analyte and the surface, which alter the charge-induced tailing. This paper describes the study of the pH dependence of adsorption to isolate electrostatic interaction and the use of a cationic probe, tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium chloride (Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)), to sense surface charge without the complication of the probe's acid-base equilibria. The paper further describes the application of Gouy-Chapman theory to reveal the surface charge density. The results confirm that type A silica is considerably more acidic than type B silica and that horizontal polymerization makes type A silica perform as well as type B silica.