Preparation and Evaluation of a Cholesterol Derivatized β-Cyclodextrin-bonded Phase for Achiral and Chiral HPLC.

A cholesterol mono-derivatized β-cyclodextrin was synthesized and bonded onto silica gel (SBA-15) to obtain a cholesterol mono-derivatized β-cyclodextrin-bonded stationary phase (CHCDP). The chemical structures of mono-derivatized β-cyclodextrin and CHCDP were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, elemental analysis and thermogravimetric analysis, correspondingly. Furthermore, the separation ability of CHCDP in terms of achiral compounds was systematically evaluated by separating benzene homologs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and some positional isomers. As a result, CHCDP completely separated five benzene homologs and nine PAHs within 30 min under the reversed-phase. In addition, the chiral chromatographic property of CHCDP was also evaluated by separating some racemic compounds including flavanones, triazoles, β-blockers, etc. The results showed that the CHCDP exhibited high enantioselectivities towards most of selected analytes. The enantioresolutions were in the range from 1.43 to 2.51 on CHCDP. Especially the resolutions of 2'-hydroxyflavanone, hexaconazole, Dns-serine and atenolol were as high as 1.94, 1.91, 2.15 and 1.57, respectively. Obviously, the CHCDP was a versatile stationary phase with chiral and achiral separation capabilities in multi-mode chromatography, which was related to the introduction of cholesterol to the port of cyclodextrin, enhancing the hydrophobic interaction of cyclodextrin with achiral compounds, while maintaining the inclusion complexation of it with chiral compounds as well.