Preparation of a Novel Skeletal Porous Polymeric Monolith by Reverse Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization for Application to High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

A novel polymeric monolith was synthesized by reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (R-ATRP) with I₂ being added in the polymerization as moderator. The polymeric monolith had skeletal, porous, and uniform structure. In this process, vinyl carboxylate was used as the monomer; 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator; and FeCl₃ as catalyst. The polymeric monolith was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, mercury proximate, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The prepared polymeric monolith was used as the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) stationary phase to successfully separate lysozyme from chicken egg white. Additionally, four standard proteins [bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme, human immune globulin (IgG), and papain] were separated successfully by using the monolith.

Keywords:

• High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
• Lysozyme (Lys)
• Polymeric monolith
• Reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (R-ATRP)

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21175031); the Applied Basic Research Program Key Basic Research Project of Hebei Province (No. 11966411D); the “12th Five-Year Plan” of “Significant New Drug Major Science and Technology” of Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2012ZX09103-101-057); and the Key Project of Science and Technology of Research of College of Department of Education of Hebei Province (No. ZD2010234).