This dissertation focuses on improving the chromatographic efficiency of polymeric organic monoliths by characterizing and optimizing the bed morphology. In-situ characterization techniques such as capillary flow porometry (CFP), 3-dimensional scanning electron microscopy (3D SEM) and conductivity measurements were developed and implemented to quantitatively characterize the morphology of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) monoliths. The CFP measurements for monoliths prepared by the same procedure in capillaries with different diameters (i.e., 75, 150, and 250 μm) clearly showed a change in average through-pore size with capillary diameter, thus, certifying the need for in-situ measurement techniques. Serial sectioning and imaging of PEGDA monoliths using 3D SEM gave quantitative information about the average pore size, porosity, radial heterogeneity and tortuosity of the monolith. Chromatographic efficiency was better for a monolith with smaller average pore size (i.e., 5.23 μm), porosity (i.e., 0.49), radial heterogeneity (i.e., 0.20) and tortuosity (i.e., 1.50) compared to another monolith with values of 5.90 μm, 0.59, 0.50 and 2.34, respectively. Other than providing information about monolith morphology, these techniques also aided in identifying factors governing morphological changes, such as capillary diameter, polymerization method, physical/chemical properties of the pre-polymer constituents and weight proportion of the same. A statistical model was developed for optimizing the weight proportion of pre-polymer constituents from their physical/chemical properties for improved chromatographic efficiency. Fabricated PEGDA columns were used for liquid chromatography of small molecules such as phenols, hydroxyl benzoic acids, and alkyl parabens. The chromatographic retention mechanism was determined to be principally reversed-phase (RP) with additional hydrogen bonding between the polar groups of the analytes and the ethylene oxide groups embedded in the monolith structure. The chromatographic efficiency measured for a non-retained compound (uracil) was 186,000 plates/m when corrected for injector dead volume. High resolution gradient separations of selected pharmaceutical compounds and phenylurea herbicides were achieved in less than 18 min. Column preparation was highly reproducible, with relative standard deviation (RSD) values less than 2.1%, based on retention times of the phenol standards (3 different columns). A further improvement in chromatographic performance was achieved for monoliths fabricated using a different polymerization method, i.e., living free-radical polymerization (LFRP). The columns gave an unprecedented column performance of 238, 000 plates/m for a non-retained compound under RP conditions.

L’intérêt grandissant porté au cours de ces dix dernières années aux monolithes organiques pour des applications électroséparatives se justifie en partie par leur préparation aisée au sein de systèmes miniaturisés, le large choix des monomères précurseurs disponibles, ainsi que la possibilité d’ajuster les paramètres structuraux du matériau final par un contrôle judicieux des conditions opératoires. Au cours de ce travail, la synthèse de nouvelles phases monolithiques a été mise au point selon une stratégie en deux étapes. Dans une première étape, la copolymérisation radicalaire photo-initiée du Nacryloxysuccinimide avec le diméthacrylate d’éthylène glycol réalisée en présence de toluène, a permis l’élaboration de monolithes macroporeux réactifs et hautement perméables. La présence d’esters de succinimide dans la structure chimique du monolithe polymère a été mise à profit pour fonctionnaliser la surface du monolithe par des greffons de nature variée par réaction de substitution nucléophile faisant intervenir des dérivés aminés. Le choix judicieux des greffons a permis la mise au point rapide de phases stationnaires présentant des propriétés électrochromatographiques ciblées. Ainsi, le contrôle du caractère hydrophobe des supports obtenus par greffage d’alkylamines de taille variable a été mis en évidence par la séparation de dérivés benzéniques selon un mécanisme à polarité de phase inversée avec de très bonnes efficacités (200000 plateaux par mètre). L’utilisation de phases stationnaires monolithiques greffées par des sélecteurs aromatiques a été proposée comme alternative aux monolithes aliphatiques hydrophobes. La synthèse de monolithes organiques hydrophiles a été possible par la fonctionnalisation du support réactif par des alkyldiamines. La préparation d’une phase stationnaire chirale a été réalisée selon une approche originale de chimie click consistant à immobiliser un dérivé de cyclodextrine. Dans le but d’étendre l’application des monolithes à base de NAS au greffage de biomacromolécules, une nouvelle matrice monolithique incorporant dans sa structure chimique un co-monomère hydrophile a été élaborée. Les résultats préliminaires ont montré que l’augmentation du caractère hydrophile du squelette monolithique permet d’accroître sensiblement la réactivité des esters de Nhydroxysuccinimide en milieu aqueux / The continuously growing interest observed over the past ten years in the field of organic monoliths dedicated to electroseparation applications is mainly due to their easy preparation methods which are also well-suited to the development of miniaturized systems, the wide range of available monomers and the possibility of tuning the structural parameters of the final material by a judicious control of the synthesis conditions. In the present work, the synthesis of new monolithic stationary phases has been developed using a two-stage strategy. In a first step, the photo-initiated free radical copolymerization of Nacryloxysuccinimide with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate was performed in the presence of toluene allowing the preparation of reactive and macroporous monoliths with high permeability properties. The presence of succinimide esters in the chemical structure of the polymer monolith was used to functionalize the surface of the monolith by various grafts through nucleophilic substitution reaction involving amino derivatives. The judicious choice of the grafts permits the fast development of stationary phases with target electrochromatographic properties. Indeed, the tuning of the hydrophobic nature of the monolithic materials was obtained by the grafting of varied alkylamines and was demonstrated by the separation of benzene derivatives by reversed phase mechanism with very good efficiencies (200 000 plates per meter). The use of monolithic stationary phases grafted with aromatic selectors has been proposed as an alternative to the aliphatic-grafted hydrophobic monoliths. The synthesis of organic hydrophilic monoliths was possible by functionalization of the reactive support by alkyldiamines. The preparation of a chiral stationary phase was performed using an original click chemistry approach involving the immobilization of a cyclodextrin derivative. With the aim to extend the application range of NAS-based monoliths to the grafting of biomacromolecules for selective capture and enzymatic digestion applications, a new monolithic matrix incorporating in its chemical structure a hydrophilic comonomer was prepared. Preliminary results showed that the increase in the hydrophilic character of the polymeric skeleton allows increasing significantly the reactivity of N-hydroxysuccinimide esters in aqueous medium