Abstract: Aseries of ester-containing polymer encapsulated packing material for reversedphase high performance liquid chromatography was prepared by radical polymerization ofmethyl or octyl acrylate and divinylbenzene with vinyl-bonded silica in solution. The polymerlayer was characterized by FTIR, SEMand elemental analysis. Some characteristics such asresidual silanols, column pressure, column efficiency and peak asymmetry were evaluated.The polymer encapsulated packing materials are inorganic packings with organic coatings,thus combining the favorable mechanical properties of silica nuclei with the favorablechemical stability of polymer coatings. The plots of lgk' of solute against methanol content of amobile phase using the packing material. In the case of aniline, benzene, and o-nitrophenol,the plots have a linearity similar to those of reversed phase packings. These packings weresuitable for separation of amino-and hydroxyl groups containing compounds because of thestability and the absence of acidic silanol groups. At the same time, they will play animportant role in rapid separations of complex mixtures because the mass transfer to the stationaryphase is fast. Its superior performance for the analysis of Lovastatin is demonstrated asapplication example.

Key words: Liquid chromatography, Polymer encapsulated packings, Column packing, Acrylate-divinylbenzene copolymer