Hydrophilic Stationary Phase for Liquid Chromatography

The ZIC®-HILIC column is the ideal choice for separation of polar and hydrophilic compounds as it is truly orthogonal to reversed phase chromatography (RPLC) columns. Analytes such as amino acids, peptides, carbohydrates, plant extracts and various other polar compounds that usually have little or no retention and may be affected by wettability problems in RPLC, generally have strong retention on the ZIC®-HILIC column.

The zwitterionic ZIC®-HILIC stationary phase is attached to porous silica and is available in columns from capillary to preparative dimensions. The separation is achieved by a hydrophilic partitioning mechanism superimposed on weak electrostatic interactions. Typical eluents contain a high content of an organic solvent (e.g., acetonitrile) mixed with buffer, i.e., comparable to RPLC eluents, however, water being the strong solvent. Also, the low content of water in the eluents enables higher detection sensitivity in many LC/MS applications.

Polymeric Column for Hydrophilic Compounds

The ZIC®-pHILIC Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography column is the ideal choice for separation of polar and hydrophilic compounds as it is orthogonal to reversed phase chromatography (RPLC) columns. For example, compounds such as amino acids, peptides, carbohydrates, plant extracts and various other polar compounds that might have little or no retention in RPLC, generally have strong retention on the ZIC®-pHILIC column.

The columns have a zwitterionic stationary phase on porous polymer particles and the separation is achieved by a hydrophilic interaction mechanism superimposed on weak electrostatic interactions.

Due to the polymeric support particle, the column can be operated in a broad pH range, which can be used to improve the retention and selectivity for many compounds. Also, the detection sensitivity in LC/MS applications might benefit from the use of eluents in the alkaline pH range.