Trimethylammonium modification of a polymer-coated monolith column for rapid and simultaneous analysis of nanomedicines

Abstract Drug-containing nanoparticles (nanomedicine) are ideal targeted-drug-delivery systems. However, methods for the simultaneous analysis of the drug within the nanoparticle and free drug in a short time are rather limited. In this study, we developed a polymer-modified monolithic column with cationic groups (trimethylammonium) for the simultaneous analysis of the drug within the nanoparticle and the free drug. The use of the acrylamide group was determined as the optimum connecting group, and the optimum concentration of the modifier was 6%. The prepared column retained the drug within the nanoparticle by anion exchange, and its elution time was controlled by the ionic concentration (tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, Tris) of the mobile phase. The separation of two typical nanomedicines was studied on the prepared column. For DOXIL and Abraxane, the drugs within the nanoparticle were well separated from the free drugs, on the developed column. The developed polymer-coated monolithic column with trimethylammonium modification is expected to enable the rapid analysis of various nanomedicines.