New insights into perfluorinated adsorbents for analytical and bioanalytical applications

Perfluorinated (F-) adsorbents are generally prepared by bonding perfluoro-functionalized silanes to silica gels. They have been employed for a long time essentially as media for solid-phase extraction of F-molecules or F-tagged molecules in organic chemistry and heterogeneous catalysis. More recently, this approach has been extended to proteomics and metabolomics. Owing to their unique physicochemical properties, namely fluorophilicity and proteinophilicity, and a better understanding of some fundamental aspects of their behavior, new applications of F-adsorbents in the field of environmental science and bio-affinity studies can be envisaged. In this article, we revisit the most important features of F-adsorbents by focusing, in particular, on some basic information that has been recently obtained through (nonlinear) chromatographic studies. Finally, we try to envisage new applications and possibilities that F-adsorbents will allow in the near future.