CONTROLLED-PORE GLASS AS A STATIONARY PHASE IN CHROMATOGRAPHY

Controlled-pore glass is well known as a stationary phase in chromatography and is used mainly for size-exclusion and adsorption chromatography. Owing to its strong adsorption properties, especially for charged molecules such as proteins, its applicability originally was limited. Nowadays modified controlled-pore glass is available with either an extremely low adsorptivity or with bonded reactive groups, allowing further reactions including biologically specific ligands. Hence the material is used also in affinity and ion-exchange chromatography. In addition to a variable surface chemistry, the pore-size distribution is extremely sharp and can be adapted in a range between 7.5 and 400 nm pore diameter at high pore volumes up to 70%. Both properties are complemented by high strength and hence structural stability, chemical stability and defined chemical composition. Controllable production conditions allow the application of a well characterized material which is used in preparative- and production-scale chromatography. The main applications are in the separation of macromolecules, mainly biologically active compounds.