Junjie Ou

Determination of phenolic compounds in river water with on-line coupling bisphenol A imprinted monolithic precolumn with high performance liquid chromatography

The bisphenol A (BPA) imprinted monolithic precolumn has been prepared by in situ polymerization using 4-vinylpyridine (4-VP) and ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) as functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively. The column with good flow-through property was obtained by changing the molar ratio of the porogens (toluene and dodecanol). The selectivity and retention properties of the monolith for the BPA and other phenolic compounds were evaluated. The results show that the hydrophobic and hydrogen-bonding interaction plays important roles in the recognition process. The determination of BPA and other phenolic compounds with on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) by monolithic precolumn coupled with conventional particulates packed and monolithic reversed-phase columns, respectively, was performed. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of phenolic compounds in river water.

Recent advances in preparation and application of hybrid organic-silica monolithic capillary columns

Hybrid organic‐silica monolithic columns, regarded as a second generation of silica‐based monoliths, have received much interest due to their unique properties over the pure silica‐based monoliths. This review mainly focuses on development in the fields of preparation of hybrid monolithic columns in a capillary and their application for CEC and capillary liquid chromatography separation, as well as for sample pretreatment of solid‐phase microextraction and immobilized enzyme reactor since July 2010. The preparation approaches are comprehensively summarized with three routes: (i) general sol–gel process using trialkoxysilanes and tetraalkoxysilanes as coprecursors; (ii) “one‐pot” process of alkoxysilanes and organic monomers concomitantly proceeding sol–gel chemistry and free radical polymerization; and (iii) other polymerization approaches of organic monomers containing silanes. The modification of hybrid monoliths containing reactive groups to acquire the desired surface functionality is also described.

Recent development of hybrid organic-silica monolithic columns in CEC and capillary LC

As an attractive alternative to organic and silica monoliths, hybrid organic–inorganic monolith somewhat combines the advantages of them, such as high surface area, excellent mechanical strength, and thermal stability. We have reviewed the preparation and application of hybrid monoliths in 2011 and 2013. The preparation approaches have been mainly summarized into three categories: (1) common sol–gel process using trialkoxysilanes and tetraalkoxysilanes as precursors; (2) “one‐pot” process of alkoxysilanes and organic monomers simultaneously via sol–gel chemistry and free radical polymerization; and (3) other polymerization of silane‐containing monomers. Herein, we would focus on the recent progress and development of preparation approaches, mainly covering the literatures since July of 2012. First, the direct synthesis approach of hybrid monoliths via sol–gel chemistry and following postmodification was an important route to fabricate various monolithic stationary phases, particularly, to modify the hybrid monoliths containing amino, epoxy, vinyl, and other groups. Second, “one‐pot” process, as a novel preparation approach of hybrid monoliths, was further developed in the past 2 years, in which various organic functional monomers, not only water‐soluble monomers, but also hydrophobic monomers could be added in the preparation system. Other polymerization techniques in the preparation of organic monolithic materials, particularly, free radical polymerization and ring‐opening polymerization, were successfully transferred to fabricate the hybrid monoliths by using silane‐containing monomers including POSS monomers or other self‐synthesized monomers.

Synthesis of zwitterionic polymer brushes hybrid silica nanoparticles via controlled polymerization for highly efficient enrichment of glycopeptides

Zwitterionic hydrophilic interaction chromatography (ZIC-HILIC) materials have been increasingly attractive in glycopeptide enrichment. However, the traditional ZIC-HILIC materials are modified with monolayer zwitterionic molecules on the surface, therefore, the hydrophilicity, detection sensitivity and loading capacity are limited. In this work, we synthesized novel silica nanoparticles with uniform poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl)dimethyl-(3-sul-fopropyl)ammonium hydroxide (PMSA) brushes grafted onto the surface via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization (denoted as SiO2-RAFT@PMSA). The resulting SiO2-RAFT@PMSA nanoparticles demonstrated low detection limit (10 fmol) and high recovery yield (over 88%) for glycopeptide enrichment from tryptic digest of human IgG. The SiO2-RAFT@PMSA nanoparticles were further applied for the analysis of mouse liver glycoproteome, a total number of 303 unique N-glycosylation sites corresponding to 185 glycoproteins was reliably profiled in three replicate nano-LC-MS/MS runs. Significantly, more glycopeptides were identified than those of nanoparticles, monolayer MSA molecules modified SiO2@single-MSA and nonuniform multi-layer PMSA brushes coated SiO2@PMSA, as well as commercial ZIC@HILIC beads and Click Maltose beads. The excellent performance of SiO2-RAFT@PMSA nanoparticles results from the non-fouling property, a large quantity of functional molecules and suitable link arms provided by uniform PMSA brushes, as well as efficient interaction between glycopeptides and uniform PMSA brushes. It is concluded that the synthesized SiO2-RAFT@PMSA nanoparticles exhibit great potential in glycoproteome analysis. Moreover, this strategy to modify nanopaticles with uniform polymer brushes via RAFT polymerization can also be explored to design other types of materials for bioseparation application.

Facile construction of macroporous hybrid monoliths via thiol-methacrylate Michael addition click reaction for capillary liquid chromatography

A facile approach based on thiol-methacrylate Michael addition click reaction was developed for construction of porous hybrid monolithic materials. Three hybrid monoliths were prepared via thiol-methacrylate click polymerization by using methacrylate-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) (cage mixture, n=8, 10, 12, POSS-MA) and three multi-thiol crosslinkers, 1,6-hexanedithiol (HDT), trimethylolpropane tris(3-mercaptopropionate) (TPTM) and pentaerythritol tetrakis(3-mercaptopropionate) (PTM), respectively, in the presence of porogenic solvents (n-propanol and PEG 200) and a catalyst (dimethylphenylphosphine, DMPP). The obtained monoliths possessed high thermal and chemical stabilities. Besides, they all exhibited high column efficiencies and excellent separation abilities in capillary liquid chromatography (cLC). The highest column efficiency could reach ca. 195,000N/m for butylbenzene on the monolith prepared with POSS-MA and TPTM (monolith POSS-TPTM) in reversed-phase (RP) mode at 0.64mm/s. Good chromatographic performance were all achieved in the separations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenols, anilines, EPA 610 as well as bovine serum albumin (BSA) digest. The high column efficiencies in the range of 51,400-117,000N/m (achieved on the monolith POSS-PTM in RP mode) convincingly demonstrated the high separation abilities of these thiol-methacrylate based hybrid monoliths. All the results demonstrated the feasibility of the phosphines catalyzed thiol-methacrylate Michael addition click reaction in fabrication of monolithic columns with high efficiency for cLC applications.

Preparation of Monolithic Polymer Columns with Homogeneous Structure via Photoinitiated Thiol-yne Click Polymerization and Their Application in Separation of Small Molecules

Two monolithic polymer columns were directly prepared in the UV-transparent fused-silica capillaries via photoinitiated thiol-yne click polymerization of 1,7-octadiyne (ODY) with a dithiol (1,6-hexanedithiol, 2SH) or a tetrathiol (pentaerythriol tetrakis(3-mercaptopropionate), 4SH) within 15 min. The rapid polymerization provided a time-saving approach to optimize preparation conditions. Then, two porogenic systems of diethylene glycol diethyl ether (DEGDE)/tetrahydrofuran (THF) and DEGDE/poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG, Mn = 200) were found to effectively control the porous structure of two kinds of polymeric monoliths (O2SH and O4SH), respectively. The almost disappearance of thiol and alkynyl vibrations (2560 and 2115 cm(-1), respectively) in infrared spectra and Raman spectra indicated a high conversion of the thiol-yne polymerization reaction. The thiol-yne polymerization was further proved by analyzing the energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDS), MALDI-TOF mass spectrum, and elemental data. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed the monolithic polymer columns with homogeneous porous structure and macropore size of 0.5-1.0 μm, which facilitated the minimum plate heights of 10.0-12.0 μm for alkylbenzenes in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). The low values of the A and C terms (<1.0 μm and <15.5 ms, respectively) in the van Deemter equation were similar to those obtained by some monolithic silica columns. The BSA tryptic digest was also separated on the monolithic polymer column by cLC-MS/MS. The result with 85% protein coverage was better than those given by some hybrid monolithic columns. The monolithic polymer columns were further applied for separation of phenols, natural products, and standard proteins and demonstrated satisfactory separation ability.

Thiol-Epoxy Click Polymerization for Preparation of Polymeric Monoliths with Well-Defined 3D Framework for Capillary Liquid Chromatography

A facile approach was developed for direct preparation of organic monoliths via the alkaline-catalyzed thiol-epoxy click polymerization. Two organic monoliths were prepared by using tetraphenylolethane glycidyl ether as a multiepoxy monomer, and trimethylolpropane tris(3-mercaptopropionate) and pentaerythritol tetrakis(3-mercaptopropionate) as the multithiol monomer, respectively, in the presence of a ternary porogenic system (DMSO/PEG200/H2O). The obtained organic monoliths showed high thermal, mechanical and chemical stabilites. Benefiting from the step-growth polymerization process, two organic monoliths possessed well-defined 3D framework microstructure, and exhibited high permeabilities and column efficiencies in capillary liquid chromatography. A series of neutral, basic and acidic small molecules were used to comprehensively evaluate the separation abilities of these monoliths, and satisfactory chromatographic performance with column efficiencies ranged from 35,500 to 132,200 N/m was achieved, demonstrating good separation abilities of these organic monoliths prepared via thiol-epoxy click polymerization approach. Besides, multiple retention mechanisms, including hydrophobic, hydrophilic and π-π conjugate interactions were observed during the separation of analytes on these monoliths, which would make them promising for more extensive applications in capillary liquid chromatography.

Facile preparation of a stable and functionalizable hybrid monolith via ring-opening polymerization for capillary liquid chromatography

An organic-inorganic hybrid monolith was prepared by a single-step ring-opening polymerization of octaglycidyldimethylsilyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) with poly(ethylenimine) (PEI). The obtained hybrid monoliths possessed high ordered 3D skeletal microstructure with dual retention mechanism that exhibits reversed-phase (RP) mechanism under polar mobile phase and hydrophilic-interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) retention mechanism under less polar mobile phase. The high column efficiencies of 110,000N/m can be achieved for separation of alkylbenzenes in capillary reversed-phase liquid chromatography (cLC). Due to the robust property of hybrid monolith and the rich primary and secondary amino groups on its surface, the resulting hybrid monolith was easily modified with γ-gluconolactone and physically coated with cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (CDMPC), respectively. The former was successfully applied for HILIC separation of neutral, basic and acidic polar compounds as well as small peptides, and the latter for enantioseparation of racemates in cLC. The high column efficiencies were achieved in all of those separations. These results demonstrated that the hybrid monolith (POSS-PEI) possessed high stability and good surface tailorbility, potentially being applied for other research fields.

Fast preparation of a highly efficient organic monolith via photo-initiated thiol-ene click polymerization for capillary liquid chromatography

A novel organic monolith was firstly prepared in a UV-transparent fused-silica capillary by a single-step approach via photo-initiated thiol-ene click polymerization reaction of 1,2,4-trivinylcyclohexane (TVCH) and pentaerythriol tetra(3-mercaptopropionate) (4SH) within 10min. The effects of both composition of prepolymerization solution and polymerization time on the morphology and permeability of monolithic column were investigated in detail. Then, the optimal condition was acquired to fabricate a homogeneous and permeable organic monolith. The chemical groups of the monolithic column were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The SEM graphs showed the organic monolith possessed a uniform porous structure, which promotes the highest column efficiency of ∼133,000 plates per meter for alkylbenzenes at the linear velocity of 0.65mm/s in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Finally, the organic monolithic column was further applied for separation of basic compounds, pesticides and EPA610, indicating satisfactory separation ability.

Preparation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-based hybrid monolith by ring-opening polymerization and post-functionalization via thiol-ene click reaction

A polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) hybrid monolith was simply prepared by using octaglycidyldimethylsilyl POSS (POSS-epoxy) and cystamine dihydrochloride as monomers via ring-opening polymerization. The effects of composition of prepolymerization solution and polycondensation temperature on the morphology and permeability of monolithic column were investigated in detail. The obtained POSS hybrid monolithic column showed 3D skeleton morphology and exhibited high column efficiency of ∼71,000 plates per meter in reversed-phase mechanism. Owing to this POSS hybrid monolith essentially possessing a great number of disulfide bonds, the monolith surface would expose thiol groups after reduction with dithiothreitol (DTT), which supplied active sites to functionalize with various alkene monomers via thiol-ene click reaction. The results indicated that the reduction with DTT could not destroy the 3D skeleton of hybrid monolith. Both stearyl methylacrylate (SMA) and benzyl methacrylate (BMA) were selected to functionalize the hybrid monolithic columns for reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC), while [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]-dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl)-ammonium hydroxide (MSA) was used to modify the hybrid monolithic column in hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC). These modified hybrid monolithic columns could be successfully applied for separation of small molecules with high efficiency. It is demonstrated that thiol-ene click reaction supplies a facile way to introduce various functional groups to the hybrid monolith possessing thiol groups. Furthermore, due to good permeability of the resulting hybrid monoliths, we also prepared long hybrid monolithic columns in narrow-bore capillaries. The highest column efficiency reached to ∼70,000 plates using a 1-m-long column of 75μm i.d. with a peak capacity of 147 for isocratic chromatography, indicating potential application in separation and analysis of complex biosamples.