Separation of -amino acids using a series of zwitterionic sulfobetaine exchangers

A set of five new covalently bond sulfobetaine exchangers with inner quaternary amines and outer sulfonic acids have been prepared by attachment of a series of zwitterionic precursors to hyperporous divinylbenzene polymers using a grafting reaction. The series of zwitterionic exchangers have the same backbone and identical spacers to the polymeric backbone, as well as comparable capacities. The only difference is the chain length for one to five methylene groups between the charged functional groups. Chromatographic properties are examined by separation of α-amino acids using sodium acetate and nitric acid eluents. The separation mechanism is explored by varying eluent ionic strength and eluent pH, resulting in the conclusion that amino acids are separated due to cation exchange interactions. This is a behavior never before observed using zwitterionic exchangers. It contradicts the fact that sulfobetaine-type materials used in zwitterionic ion chromatography (ZIC) usually are well suited for anion separation and only poorly for cation separation. Contrary to anion separations using the identical set of exchangers, the materials with three and four methylene groups between the charges give the highest retention factors. Materials showing the high potential in ZIC separations of inorganic anions give low retention factors for amino acids and vice versa.