An organic polymer monolith modified with an amino acid ionic liquid and graphene oxide for use in capillary electrochromatography: application to the separation of amino acids, β-blockers, and nucleotides.

The preparation of an organic polymer monolithic column modified with an amino acid ionic liquid and graphene oxide (AAIL-GO) and its application to capillary electrochromatography (CEC) was described. The AAIL tetramethylammonium-L-arginine was bonded to a monolithic column that was previously modified with graphene oxide by using an hydrochloride/N-hydroxysuccinimide coupling reaction. The morphology of a poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) monolith was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The incorporation of AAIL and graphene oxide was detected by infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The resulting monolithic column produced a strong and stable electroosmotic flow from the anode to the cathode in the pH range from 3 to 9. Compared with a column modified with AAIL or graphene oxide only, the AAIL-GO-modified column has a better separation ability for amino acids, β-blockers, and nucleotides (the resolution of three amino acids: 2.231 and 2.036, β-blockers: 2.779 and 2.470 and nucleotides: 8.345 and 3.321). Molecular modeling was applied to demonstrate the separation mechanism of small molecules which showed a good support for experimental results. Graphical abstract Schematic representation of capillary electrochromatography (CEC) systems with an amino acid ionic liquid-graphene oxide modified organic polymer monolithic column as stationary phases for separation of amino acids, β-blockers, and nucleotides.