Chemically modified chiral monolithic silica column prepared by a sol–gel process for enantiomeric separation by micro high-performance liquid chromatography

In this work a new type of chiral monolith silica column was developed for the chiral separation by micro high-performance liquid chromatography (μ-HPLC). The chiral monolith column with a continuous skeleton and a large through-pore structure was prepared inside a capillary of 100 μm I.D. by a sol–gel process, and chemically modified with chiral selectors, such as l-phenylalaninamide, l-alaninamide and l-prolinamide, on the surface of the monolithic silica column. Based on the principle of ligand exchange, these chiral monolithic columns were successfully used for the separation of dansyl amino acid enantiomers, as well as hydroxy acid enantiomers by μ-HPLC. The chromatographic conditions, the enantioselectivity and the performance of columns are discussed.