This Research at an Undergraduate Institution project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, focusses on the preparation and characterization of stationary bonded phases on high performance liquid chromatography packing material surfaces and on the walls of open capillary chromatography columns. During this three year continuing grant Professor Pesek and his research students at San Jose State University will continue studies on silanization/hydrosilation reaction schemes that they have developed for making these robust chromatography stationary phases. These modified surfaces will be characterized using the spectroscopic methods diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy, cross-polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermal gravimetric analysis will also be used in this work. This project is intended to develop new, rugged, and more efficient stationary phases for use in separation science. The materials that serve as stationary phases in chromatographic separation methods determine whether a chromatography procedure will be successful and whether the procedure will be reproducible over an acceptable period of time. This Research at an Undergraduate Institution project will involve undergraduate and Master's level students in the preparation of stationary phases that are superior in use to existing materials. These new chromatographic stationary phases can be used to separate useful amounts of desired compounds and to quantify and identify the compounds present is a sample. These new stationary phases have application in chemical process control, synthesis, and biotechnology.
