Introduction

The ability to retain and separate highly polar compounds is one of the primary advantages of HILIC chromatography. In many cases, compounds such as carbohydrates, metabolites, nucleobases, and other polar analytes exhibit little retention in conventional reversed phase methods.

This study evaluates the chromatographic efficiency of the Cogent™ Diamond Hydride™ column under HILIC conditions using glucose, sorbitol, and uracil as model analytes. Efficiency was measured across a range of flow rates to evaluate column performance and retention behavior.

Study Overview

Two separate experiments were conducted to evaluate column efficiency.

Figure A

Glucose and sorbitol were analyzed on a:

• Cogent™ Diamond Hydride™ Column
• 2.1 × 150 mm
• 4 µm particles

Column efficiency was evaluated by plotting:

Flow Rate vs. HETP (Height Equivalent to a Theoretical Plate)

Results showed that increasing the flow rate by approximately 2.5-fold resulted in only a modest reduction in column efficiency, demonstrating robust performance across a broad operating range.

Figure B

Uracil was analyzed using:

• Cogent™ Diamond Hydride™ Column
• A commercially available HILIC column of comparable dimensions and particle size

Efficiency was compared over a range of flow rates.

The results demonstrated that the Cogent™ Diamond Hydride™ column maintained excellent efficiency as flow rates increased, while the comparison HILIC column exhibited a significant reduction in efficiency over the same operating range.

Chromatographic Performance

The study indicates that Cogent™ Diamond Hydride™ columns can maintain strong efficiency across a wide range of operating conditions commonly used in HILIC methods.

Observed benefits include:

• Strong retention of polar compounds
• Stable efficiency over changing flow rates
• Excellent suitability for LC-MS applications
• Reproducible chromatographic performance
• Effective separation of challenging analytes

These characteristics can be valuable for laboratories developing methods for carbohydrates, metabolites, and other highly polar compounds.