Characterization and High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Evaluation of a New Amide-Functionalized Reversed Phase Column

Abstract
A new amide-functionalized silica stationary phase, Supelcosil ABZ Plus, suitable for reversed phase HPLC applications, was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), solid-state 29Si and 13C CP/MAS NMR and FTIR. The degree of hydration of this material was found to be much higher compared to amide-functionalized silica phases prepared by acid chloride treatment of aminopropylsilylated silica reported earlier and also compared to conventional C18 reversed phase columns. The liquid chromatographic performance of this ABZ+ Plus column was found to be superior to the C18 columns, especially for polar analytes. The enhanced selectivity and better peak shape with this ABZ Plus material was attributed to greater compositional differences between the surface and mobile phases coupled with more effective shielding of residual silanols and a more oriented alkyl chain structure.