INNOVATIVE PILLAR[6]ARENE-BASED STATIONARY PHASES FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSES

In this work, the synthesis, fabrication, and characterization of new stationary phases based on pillar[6]arene derivative modified by long alkyl chains (P6A-C10) for high-resolution gas chromatographic (GC) analyses are reported. Pillar[n]arenes are a new class of macrocyclic hosts that can accommodate specific guests due to their highly symmetrical and rigid pillar architectures with π-electron rich cavities. Quantum chemistry calculations have been performed, showing a difference in non-covalent interactions with the P6A-C10 pillar framework, which leads to specific selectivity for aromatic compounds. The GC columns prepared with these innovative stationary phases exhibited a medium polarity, and good reproducibility for run-to-run, day-to-day, and column-to-column analyses [1], demonstrating great potential as new stationary phases in separation science. Furthermore, peculiar advantages are achieved if compared with the commercial HP-5, HP-35, DB-17, and PEG-20M columns, showing unmatched resolving capabilities toward chloroaniline, bromoaniline, iodoaniline, toluidine, and xylene isomers [2]. References: 1. Sun, T., Chen, R., Huang, Q., Ba, M., Cai, Z., Hu, S., Liu, X., Nardiello, D., & Quinto, M., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 14 (2022) 56132−56142. 2. Sun, T., Chen, R., Huang, Q., Ba, M., Cai, Z., Chen, H., Qi, Y., Chen, H., Liu, X., Nardiello, D., & Quinto, M., Anal. Chim. Acta 1251 (2023) 340979.