Polystyrene gel permeation chromatography packings grafted with polar monomers—synthesis and use in aqueous organic mobile phases

A number of polystyrene resins of chromatographic quality (5–10 μm) have been prepared with significant residual double bond contents (∼ 2 mmol·g−1). These groups have been used as sites for the grafting of eight polar macromolecules in an attempt to produce a thin uniform coating of the resin surface. Three different grafting procedures have been examined and all products characterized in terms of their toluene and water imbibition. Materials showing promise as universal column packings for gel permeation chromatography have been synthesized on a larger scale and packed in tetrahydrofuran (THF) into standard columns. The plate count of each packed column has been evaluated, and the chromatographic performance of each assessed using polystyrene standards when the eluent was THF and polyethylene oxides when water and methanol were employed. The results are discussed in terms of some simple models describing the grafted resins.