Preparation of a novel porous poly (trimethylol propane triacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) monolithic column for highly efficient HPLC separations of small molecules

A novel poly (trimethylol propane triacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) [poly (TMPTA-co-EDMA)] monolith was prepared by in situ free-radical polymerization in a 50 mm×4.6 mm i.d. stainless steel column and was investigated for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The porous structure of monolith was optimized by changing the conditions of polymerization. The chemical group of the monolithic column was confirmed by a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) method and the morphology of column structure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanical strength and permeability were also studied. Finally, a series of low-molecular-weight organic compounds were utilized to evaluate the retention behaviors of the monolithic column. The result demonstrated that the prepared column exhibited an RP-chromatographic behavior and good separation performance. The method reproducibility was obtained by evaluating the run-to-run and column-to-column with relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 0.7% (n=6) and 2.9% (n=6), respectively, which indicated that prepared monolithic columns had good reproducibility and stability.