Tris(2-methyl-8-quinolinolato)gallium(III) as a fluorescent probe for sensitive silanol-testing.

The peak shape of tris(2-methyl-8-quinolinolato)gallium(III) by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was found to be very sensitive to trace amounts of silanol groups on the surface of octadecylsylanized silica gel (ODS silica gel). The variation of the peak of the gallium(III) complex can be used as a probe of the residual silanol groups in an ODS column. The chromatographic peak parameters of the complex were compared with the silanol activities output by some silanol-detecting tests using nitrogen-containing compounds as probes. The comparison was performed with several commercially available ODS columns and laboratory-packed columns in which the amount of silanol groups was controlled by mixing fully endcapped ODS materials and a non-endcapped ODS material. The peak height was the most effective parameter among the peak parameters, and much more sensitive than the silanol-detecting tests using nitrogen-containing compounds, in detecting a trace amount of silanol groups that could not be detected by other silanol-detecting tests.