POROUS POLYMER RODS AS CHROMATOGRAPHIC OR REACTIVE MEDIA

本续提案旨在以全新的形状和格式设计、制备和测试“模塑”整体分离介质，以补充当前的珠基包装材料，并为生物活性分子的研究、检测、分离和分离提供新的和无与伦比的能力。这些新的分离介质是基于大孔聚合物的连续体，直接成型到分离装置的外壳中，而不是由机械包装在柱中的小珠子制成。“模压”介质具有许多优点，如易于制备和处理，紧凑性，增强的再现性，分离化学的多功能性，以及结合化学梯度的能力。模塑介质是从单相制备的，允许使用许多不能用于制备常规珠的单体。与填充柱相比，单体柱的制备简单，无浪费，劳动强度低，导致每台设备的单位成本低。柱特性的显著改善预计源于重新设计的多孔结构，具有大孔隙体积和整体结构内孔隙的高连通性。利用原位“活”聚合技术在单体的孔内接枝活性链，将进一步增强分离化学的多功能性和整体结合能力。除了通过内置的输送孔显著增强传质能力外，这些新型模铸整体还包括更小的孔，具有更好的连通性，并提供分离装置，如柱和毛细管，大大提高了效率。总的来说，我们的目标是显著增强可用于处理生物样品的分析和诊断工具的阵列。在该项目框架内开发的新介质将有助于在高性能液相色谱、毛细管电色谱和微通道“芯片实验室”分离等领域获得更好的性能和新功能。模制系统无与伦比的多功能性及其独特的功能使其成为开发广泛产品的理想选择，这些产品专门设计用于生物聚合物的高通量分离，使用毛细管电色谱和芯片上的实验室格式，以前所未有的分离模式。

This continuation proposal is aimed at the design, preparation, and testing of "molded" monolithic separation media in entirely new shapes and formats that complement current bead-based packing materials and provide new and unmatched capabilities for the study, detection, isolation, and separation of biologically active molecules. These new separation media are based on a continuous body of macroporous polymer molded directly into the housing of the separation device rather than made of small beads mechanically packed into the column. The "molded" media offer many advantages such as ease of preparation and handling, compactness, enhanced reproducibility, versatility of separation chemistries, and capability of incorporate gradients of chemistry. The molded media are prepared from a single phase allowing the use of many monomers that cannot be used for the preparation of conventional beads. In contrast to packed columns, the preparation of monoliths is simple, waste-free, and less labor intensive, leading to a low unit cost per device. Dramatic improvements in the column characteristics are expected to originate from the redesigned porous structures with both a large pore volume and a high connectivity of pores within the monolithic structure. The versatility of separation chemistries and the overall binding capacities will be further enhanced by the grafting of active chains within the pores of the monoliths using in situ "living" polymerization techniques. These new molded monoliths will, in addition to remarkably enhanced mass transfer through the built-in transport pores, include smaller pores with improved connectivity and afford separation devices such as columns and capillaries with substantially increased efficiencies. Overall, our targets are to significantly enhance the array of analytical and diagnostic tools available for handling biological samples. The new media developed within the framework of this project will contribute to both better performance and new capabilities in areas such as high- performance liquid chromatography, capillary electrochromatography, and microchannel "lab-on-chip" separations. The unequaled versatility of the molded systems and their unique features make them ideal for the development of a broad range of products specifically designed for the high throughput separation of biopolymers using capillary electrochromatography and laboratory-on-chip formats in unprecedented separation modes.