Evaluation of new ionic liquids as high stability selective stationary phases in gas chromatography

Two ionic liquids (ILs), namely (S,S)-1-butyl-3-(2′-hydroxy-cyclohexyl)-3H-imidazol-1-ium tetrafluoroborate and (S,S)-1-butyl-3-(2′-acetyl-cyclohexyl)-3H-imidazol-1-ium tetrafluoroborate have been employed as stationary phases in capillary gas chromatography. These new phases exhibit a column efficiency of 1,600 and 2,100 plates m−1 for IL 1 and IL 2, respectively, a wide operating temperature range and good thermal stability (bleeding temperature of 250 °C for IL 1 and 160 °C for IL 2). Inverse gas chromatography (GC) analyses were used to study the solvation properties of these ILs through a linear solvation energy model. The application of these ILs as new GC stationary phases was studied. These stationary phases exhibited unique selectivity for many organic substances, such as alkanes, ketones, esters, and aromatic compounds. The efficient separation of several mixtures containing compounds of different polarities and the good separation of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and cis/trans isomers indicate that these ILs may be applicable as a new type of GC stationary phases.