Facile and green synthesis of PFP@SiO2 as stationary phase for liquid chromatography and its application for pharmaceutical analysis.

The pentafluorophenyl (PFP)-functionalized stationary phases, due to their unique hydrophobicity and fluorophilic affinity, have received increasing attention in separation science. How to introduce PFP group effectively with a green chemistry approach has become an important issue. This work provided a facile and green synthetic route for preparing PFP@SiO2 column. The liquid chromatography (LC) performance towards pharmaceutical molecules such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, and antiviral drugs was systematically explored. The results showed the PFP@SiO2 column possessed a low back pressure and good solvent endurance (less affected by solvent effect). Under gradient elution mode, the column also showed a higher separation efficiency and good quantitative capacity towards complex natural product (Sanguisorbae Radix Carbonisatum extract), which met the requirements of current standards and regulations. This work provides a facile green synthesis approach for preparing highly-performed PFP@SiO2 column for pharmaceutical applications, and a powerful tool for biomedicine.