A facile process for the preparation of organic gel-assisted silica microsphere material for multi-mode liquid chromatography.

• The adhesion of organic gel simplify the synthesis of stationary phase materials. • It doesn't need any silane coupling agent so it reduces the waste of raw materials. • The prepared stationary phase materials can separate in multiple separation modes. • A new idea of using organic gel as liquid chromatography packing for separation. Organic gel (OG) has excellent characteristics, including a large surface area, adjustable pore/channel size, and good chemical stability, and has attracted great attention in the field of materials. However, the OG packed column is difficult to pack due to the weak mechanical strength and poor monodispersity. Herein, 1-allyl-3-methyl imidazolium hexafluorophosphate-co-1-dodecanethiol ([AMIm]PF 6 -co-TDDM) was prepared on the silica microsphere for chromatographic packing available in multimode liquid chromatography (LC) mode with the good mechanical properties of silica microspheres through a simple OG synthesis method. [AMIm]PF 6 -co-TDDM@SiO 2 hybrid microspheres with uniform particles and narrow particle size distribution are used as stationary phases of LC. These microspheres are used in anion-exchange (IEC), reversed-phase (RP), and hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) mode for the separation of different analytes. Such microspheres can also be used for the preliminary qualitative analysis of active ingredients in actual samples in addition to organic acids, alkylbenzenes, and nucleoside bases. The [AMIm]PF 6 -co-TDDM@SiO 2 chromatography packing also has good reproducibility and stability. The adhesive properties of organogels and the adsorption properties of silica gel simplify the synthesis of stationary phase materials. This simple and effective strategy for preparing [AMIm]PF 6 -co-TDDM@SiO 2 composite microspheres by one-pot method can expand the application of OG as a functional additive on silica microspheres in LC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]