Facile synthesis of high-density poly(octadecyl acrylate)-grafted silica for reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization

To introduce high-density polymeric organic phase onto silica, initiator-modified silica was prepared and then surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) (“grafting-from” method) was carried out with octadecyl acrylate. The resultant polymer-grafted silica was characterized by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform, suspension-state 1H NMR, solid-state 13C cross-polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (CP-MAS-NMR), solid-state 29Si-CP-MAS-NMR spectroscopies, elemental analysis and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. ATRP-based poly(octadecyl acrylate)-grafted silica (Sil-ODAn-1), was used as a stationary phase in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the chromatographic behavior was evaluated by the retention studies of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and aromatic positional isomers. Compared with previous poly(octadecyl acrylate)-grafted silica (Sil-ODAn), which was prepared by the “grafting-to” method, we have observed longer retention and greater selectivity for Sil-ODAn-1 towards PAHs event at higher temperature.