Separation Performance of MOFs Zn(ISN)2·2H2O as Stationary Phase for High-Resolution GC

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as a new type of porous materials have attracted tremendous attention for their potential applications in recent years. Here, we used a simple chiral MOF, Zn(ISN)2·2H2O, as chiral stationary phase for high-resolution gas chromatography. A Zn(ISN)2·2H2O-coated fused-silica capillary column (3 m long × 75 μm i.d.) was fabricated by using a dynamic coating method with ethanol suspension of Zn(ISN)2·2H2O (1 mg mL−1). Then, the coating properties, polarity, and column efficiency of the column were studied. The column efficiency of Zn(ISN)2·2H2O-coated column was up to 3,020 plates m−1. The separation performance was investigated by separating a wide range of organic compounds such as Grob test mixtures, alkanes, alcohols, isomers, and racemates. The relative standard deviations for the five replicate separations of alanine were 0.32 and 2.6 % for retention time and peak area, respectively. The experimental results showed that the new stationary phase possesses high column efficiency, good reproducibility, excellent selectivity, and chiral recognition ability.