Surface‐initiated living radical polymerization of self‐assembling L‐phenylalanine‐derived monomer from silica for RP‐HPLC application

A novel organogelator with a polymerizable head group N′-octadecyl-Nα-(4-vinyl)-benzoyl-L-phenylalanineamide has been synthesized and characterized. The detailed characterization results revealed that the intermolecular hydrogen bonding among the amide moieties, π–π interactions between the aromatic groups, and the ordered alkyl chain contributes to the self-assembly. Surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of was successfully done from silica, which was previously grafted by a self-assembled monolayer (initiator). The new silica–-polymer hybrid material can be potentially applied as high-density HPLC stationary phase. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at www.interscience.wiley.com.]