SELECTIVITY OF BONDED STATIONARY PHASES CONTAINING URACIL DERIVATIVES FOR LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY OF NUCLEIC-ACID COMPONENTS

Dioxopyrimidine-bonded stationary phases were synthesized by the gas-phase derivatization of halo- and aminoalkyl silicas with uracil, 6-aminouracil, and barbituric acid. The retention of nucleic bases, nucleosides, and nucleoside-5′- monophosphates on these phases obtained within pH range of 3–7 was investigated, and the effect of the bonded phase composition on retention and on the selectivity of their resolution was analyzed. The highest selectivity was observed with those stationary phases whose dioxo-fragments of the bonded uracil residues were turned away to the utmost from the surface of the silica matrix. This corroborates the suggestion that specific interactions between the bonded nucleo-bases and those dissolved in the mobile phase play a large role in the separation of nucleic acid components on such stationary phases. © 1993 OUP Publishing Ltd.