Facile one-pot synthesized hydrothermal carbon from cyclodextrin: A stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography.

A new hydrothermal carbon was prepared by a "one-pot" hydrothermal transformation of β-cyclodextrin on silica microspheres (noted as silica@HTC microspheres), which was featuring as a new stationary phase for the hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC). The synthesized silica@HTC possessed polar groups of hydroxyl, carbonyl and carboxyl groups arising from the carbonization transformation of β-cyclodextrin. As demonstrating great hydrophilicity, the silica@HTC was applied as an excellent HILIC stationary phase for the separation of polar compounds including phenols and the endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). In comparison with commercial available HILIC stationary phases, the separation performance of the silica@HTC stationary phase was superior in the separation of phenols and EDCs. The mild hydrothermal carbon transformation of the β-cyclodextrin on the silica microspheres in the "one-pot" manner would represent a new and simple approach to prepare a new class of saccharide-derived stationary phases by using saccharides as precursors.