title: Calix[4]pyrroles: highly selective stationary phases for gas chromatographic separations.
abstract: Calix[4]pyrroles offer a great potential as stationary phases for gas chromatography (GC) due to their unique structures and physicochemical properties. Herein we present the first report of using two calix[4]pyrroles, namely meso-tetra-cyclohexylcalix[4]pyrrole (THCP) and meso-octamethylcalix[4]pyrrole (OMCP). These stationary phases were statically coated onto capillary columns and investigated in terms of column efficiency, polarity, separation performance, thermal stability and repeatability. The columns achieved column efficiencies of 2200-3000plates/m and exhibited nonpolar nature with an average polarity of 67 for THCP and 64 for OMCP, respectively. THCP stationary phase shows high selectivity for analytes of different polarity and exhibits nice peak shapes, especially for aldehydes, alcohols and anilines that are prone to severe peak tailing in GC analysis. Interestingly, THCP stationary phase possesses superior resolving ability for aniline and benzenediol positional isomers while OMCP shows preferential selectivity for nonpolar analytes such as hexane isomers. Moreover, calix[4]pyrrole columns also have good thermal stability up to 260°C and repeatability with a relative standard deviation (RSD%) of less than 0.10% for run-to-run and less than 5.2% for column-to-column. This work demonstrates the unique separation performance of calix[4]pyrroles and their promising future as a new class of GC stationary phases.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials and School of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Northwestern Plant Resources, Key Laboratory for Natural Medicine of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Zhenzhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Northwestern Plant Resources, Key Laboratory for Natural Medicine of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials and School of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China. Electronic address: mlqi@bit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Meiling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Northwestern Plant Resources, Key Laboratory for Natural Medicine of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
authors.forename: Shijun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials and School of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Ruonong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D047250:Calixarenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000737:chemistry*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D011166:Porphyrins; C469811:calix(4)pyrrole; D047250:Calixarenes
keywords: Calix[4]pyrroles; Gas chromatography; Isomers; Separation performance; Stationary phase