Retention of opioids and their glucuronides on a combined zwitterion and hydrophilic interaction stationary phase

A stationary phase combining zwitterionic ion chromatography and hydrophilic interaction chromatography (ZIC–HILIC) from SeQuant was evaluated for the chromatography of some opiates and their polar metabolites. The effects of mobile phase constitution on retention and resolution were extensively evaluated. Different aspects of mobile phase constitution such as ion strength and type of buffer, type and amount of organic modifier and pH were examined. The selectivity and retention of the opiates compared to their glucuronides could be substantially altered with small changes of the mobile phase, especially when the type of buffer, i.e., formate or acetate and organic modifier, i.e., acetonitrile or methanol were changed. The retention on the ZIC–HILIC was dominated by hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) but considerable effects on the selectivity was observed, possibly caused by an ion exchange mechanism due to interactions with the charges on the stationary phase.