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We described two novel zwitterionic polymer-terminated porous silica stationary phases containing the same pyridinium cation and anions of different side chains (carboxylate and phosphonate groups) for use in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC). These two novel columns were prepared by polymerizing 4-vinylpyridine and grafting it onto a silica surface, followed by quaternization reaction with 3-bromopropionic acid (Sil-VPC 24 ) and (3-bromopropyl) phosphonic acid (Sil-VPP 24 ), which possess positively charged pyridinium groups, and negatively charged carboxylate and phosphonate groups, respectively. The products obtained were verified through relevant characterization techniques such as elemental analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Zeta potential analysis, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. The retention properties and mechanisms of different types of compounds (neutral, cationic, and anionic) on the two zwitterionic-modified silica stationary phases were studied by varying the buffer salt concentration and pH of the eluent. The separation of phenol and aromatic acids, disubstituted benzene isomers, sulfonamide drugs, as well as nucleosides/nucleobases were investigated on the two packed novel columns and a commercial zwitterionic column in identical HILIC mode, ensuring a thorough comparison between both novel columns and with a commercial standard. The results illustrated that various compounds could be separated up to various efficiencies based on the mechanism of hydrophilic interaction-based retention between the solutes and the two zwitterionic polymer stationary phases. The Sil-VPP 24 column demonstrated the best separation performance out of the three, as well as flexible selectivity and excellent resolution. Both novel columns exhibited excellent stability and chromatographic repeatability for the separation of seven nucleosides and bases., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The synthesis of a new alternating copolymer-grafted silica phase is described for the separation of shape-constrained isomers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and tocopherols in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Telomerization of the monomers (octadecyl acrylate and N-methylmaleimide) was carried out with a silane coupling agent; 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS), and the telomer (T) was grafted onto porous silica surface to prepare the alternating copolymer-grafted silica phase (Sil-alt-T). The new hybrid material was characterized by elemental analyses, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy, and solid-state 13 C and 29 Si cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CP/MAS) NMR spectroscopy. The results of 13 C CP/MAS NMR demonstrated that the alkyl chains of the grafted polymers in Sil-alt-T remained disordered, amorphous, and mobile represented by gauche conformational form. Separation abilities and molecular-shape selectivities of the prepared organic phase were evaluated by the separation of PAHs isomers and Standard Reference Material 869b, Column Selectivity Test Mixture for Liquid Chromatography, respectively and compared with commercially available octadecylsilylated silica (ODS) and C 30 columns as well as previously reported alternating copolymer-based column. The effectiveness of this phase is also demonstrated by the separation of tocopherol isomers. Oriented functional groups along the polymer main chains and cavity formations are investigated to be the driving force for better separation with multiple-interactions with the solutes. One of the advantages of the Sil-alt-T phase to that of the previously reported phase is the synthesis of the telomer first and then immobilized onto silica surface. In this case, the telomer was characterized easily with simple spectroscopic techniques and the molecular mass and polydispersity index of the telomer were determined by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) before grafting onto silica surface. Moreover, both of the monomers were commercially available. Therefore, the technique of preparation was very facile and better separation was achieved with the Sil-alt-T phase compared to the ODS, C 30 and other previously reported alternating copolymer-based columns., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A P-helical quinoline oligoamide foldamer was grafted on silica and applied as an HPLC stationary phase for chiral separation. The P-handedness of the quinoline oligoamide foldamer was induced by a (1S)-camphanyl group, which was introduced at the N-terminus of a tetrameric quinoline oligoamide foldamer (Cmp-Q4). To immobilize the foldamer on porous silica particles, a trimethoxysilyl group was introduced at the opposing end of the foldamer. Elemental analysis indicated that the amount of foldamer on the silica surface was 0.57μmol/m(2). Circular dichroism and vibrational CD spectra of Cmp-Q4 and Cmp-Q4-immobilized silica (Sil-Q4-Cmp) suggested that the helical structure of Cmp-Q4 was altered on the silica surface whilst retaining a chiral structure. The chiral recognition ability of Sil-Q4-Cmp was evaluated with various aromatic enantiomers. Sil-Q4-Cmp showed enantio-selectivity for axially chiral molecules (e.g., αTrigger's base=1.26 and αBinaphthol=1.07). Sil-Q4-Cmp showed remarkable recognition of helical octameric quinoline oligoamides with isobutoxy and triethylene glycol side chains (α=10.35 and 14.98, respectively). In contrast, an (1S)-camphanyl group-immobilized porous silica showed no chiral recognition for any enantiomers tested in this study. To elucidate the chiral separation mechanism of Sil-Q4-Cmp, thermodynamic parameters were calculated using van't Hoff plots. HPLC results and thermodynamic parameters suggested that the chiral recognition of Sil-Q4-Cmp is based on the helical structure of Cmp-Q4 and other thermally dependent interactions such as hydrophobic effects associated with aromatic stacking. This work represents the first known application of aromatic foldamers in chiral separation., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We have reported that self-assembling glutamide lipid-grafted porous silica particles show high selectivity towards polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and bio-molecules. This enhancement of molecular recognition is brought about by the formation of a highly ordered structure in the glutamide lipid through intermolecular hydrogen bonding. To utilise, for selective separations, the highly oriented structure of glutamide lipids on the silica surface, in this study, we synthesised four glutamide lipids with different substitution groups and studied the separation behaviours of the glutamide lipid-grafted porous silica particles as reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) stationary phases. According to the HPLC studies, the functional group substitutions and the spacer group connecting the glutamide moiety and silica surface had a noticeable effect on the retention behaviours. Particularly, glutamide lipids with a long spacer group (C10) showed a higher selectivity towards positional (o-/m-/p-terphenyl) and geometrical (cis-/trans-stilbene) isomers. Differential scanning calorimetric and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies suggested that the long spacer group induced the assembled structure of the glutamide lipid on the silica surface. Interestingly, the glutamide lipids with dodecyl groups and benzyl groups showed reverse elution orders towards the length to breadth ratio of PAHs., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Double-alkylated glutamic acid and aminoadipic acid derived gel systems (G1 and G2) have been prepared and then grafted onto silica particles. Gel-forming compounds-grafted silica particles (Sil-G1 and Sil-G2) were then applied for the liquid chromatographic separation of shape-constrained isomers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and tocopherols as stationary phases. G1 and G2 were analyzed before and after immobilization onto silica. Elemental analysis and thermogravimentric analysis (TGA) results showed almost the same amounts of organic phases were grafted in Sil-G1 and Sil-G2 phases. However, chromatographic results showed large differences of molecular-shape selectivity between the stationary phases. Little change in the chemical structures of the gel-forming compounds can change the molecular orientation as well as drastic change in molecular recognition in liquid chromatography. Molecular orientation of the functional groups affected the interaction mechanism for the separation of shape-constrained isomers. Comparison of the shape selectivity of Sil-G1 and Sil-G2 phases with other commercial columns is also described., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The short peptide Boc-Phe-Aib-Phe-OH was synthesized and immobilized onto porous silica using grafting methodology. The resulting peptide-bonded silica was characterized using DRIFT-mode FT-IR, elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, solid state C(13) NMR spectroscopy and the successful immobilization of the peptide on the silica support was confirmed. This grafted phase was packed into a stainless steel column and used for mixed-mode chromatography such as reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography for the efficient separation of hydrophobic compounds, small polar molecules, and drug molecules. Compared with ODS and phenyl columns, this new stationary phase shows considerably higher molecular-planarity selectivity towards polyaromatic hydrocarbons and also available for separation of nucleo-analytes and sulfa-drug molecules in a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography mode. The multiple interactions induced by polar carbonyl group and hydrophobic phenyl group allow this peptide-modified silica to serve as a multi-mode stationary phase in high performance liquid chromatography., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This paper demonstrates that in situ anion exchange could be successfully applied as a new method for modifying the surface properties of a poly(octadecylimidazolium)-grafted silica stationary phase to tune and enhance selectivity. Specifically, the original stationary phase was prepared by surface-initiated radical chain-transfer polymerization of 1-vinyl-3-octadecylimidazolium bromide as an ionic liquid monomer; the Br(-) counter anion was then exchanged for methyl orange via an in-column process. As evaluated via the separation of constrained isomers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the in situ exchange enhanced the molecular shape-selectivity performance. Enhanced selectivity was also confirmed using Standard Reference Material (SRM) 869b (column selectivity test mixture) and SRM 1647e (16 priority pollutant PAHs). The reproducibility of new column was tested via the separation of pyrene, triphenylene, benzo[a]anthracene and chrysene with methanol as eluent at 10 °C and the RSD values (n=12) of the retention factors of them are within 0.27-0.77%., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This work aims to clarify that stabilization or increased rigidity of polymer main chains as an organic stationary phase can lead the selectivity enhancement in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). For this purpose, the alternating copolymer of octadecyl acrylate (ODA) with a cyclic monomer (N-octadecylmaleimide, OMI) as a rigid segment was synthesized and compared with the ODA homopolymer. Both of the polymer-grafted silicas (Sil-poly(ODA-alt-OMI) and Sil-poly(ODA), respectively) were prepared by radical polymerization on 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane-modified silica. The characterizations were carried out by elemental analyses, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT), and solid-state (13)C cross-polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (CP-MAS-NMR) spectroscopies. Chromatographic behaviors were evaluated by the retention studies of shape-constrained isomers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), isomers of tocopherol and carotenoids. Higher molecular-linearity selectivity toward PAHs was obtained on Sil-poy(ODA-alt-OMI) regardless of temperature changes but at temperature below 40 °C, Sil-poly(ODA) showed better planarity selectivity than that of Sil-poy(ODA-alt-OMI). As a result, the higher separation ability toward tocopherols and carotenoids was obtained on Sil-poy(ODA-alt-OMI). These results indicate that the stabilization in the polymer main chain by alternating copolymerization and the stabilization in the side chains by a disordered-to-ordered phase transition were effective to enhance the molecular-shape selectivity., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

1-Allyl-3-butylimidazolium bromide ionic liquid [AyBIm]Br was prepared and used for the modification of mercaptopropyl-functionalized silica through surface radical chain-transfer addition. The obtained ionic liquid-modified silica (SiImBr) was characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The selective retention behaviours of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including some positional isomers were investigated using SiImBr as a stationary phase in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The results showed that SiImBr presented multiple interactions including hydrophobic, pi-pi, and ion-dipole interactions during the separation of PAHs and dipolar compounds. However, it is proposed that pi-pi and ion-dipole interactions play important roles in the separation of PAHs and dipolar compounds. These results indicate that the ionic liquid-modified silica stationary phase is promising for future applications. A commercially available monomeric octadecylated silica (ODS) column and a custom-made poly(styrene)-grafted silica (Sil-St(n)) column were used as references., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The copolymer with a terminal reactive group (copoly-VP17MA12) was newly designed and prepared by selecting 4-vinylpyridine (VP) as an electron-donating monomer and methyl acrylate (MA) as an electron-accepting monomer. Copoly-VP17MA12 was grafted onto porous silica particles by a silanol coupling reaction with the terminal group. Individually, poly-VP15 and poly-MA20 with a terminal reactive group were also synthesized and co-grafted onto silica (Sil-cograft-VP17MA12) to compare the effect of the copolymer-grafted (Sil-copoly-VP17MA12) and polymer co-grafted stationary phases in HPLC separation. All the polymers were characterized by 1H NMR and FT-IR analysis before grafting on silica. Polymer grafting was confirmed by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT), elemental analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The intra- and intermolecular interaction between monomer units in copolymer-grafted and polymer co-grafted systems, respectively was observed by DRIFT measurement. The detailed chromatographic study revealed using PAHs as solutes that remarkably higher selectivity for planar/non-planar discrimination was observed with the copolymer-grafted phase than with the co-grafted stationary phase. In this paper, it is also discussed that the selectivity enhancement by copolymer-grafting in the Sil-copoly-VP17MA12 phase can be brought through intramolecular interaction between VP and MA.

Poly(2-N-carbazolylethyl acrylate) having terminal trimethoxysilyl groups was newly synthesized by radical polymerization and immobilized onto the silica surface (Sil-CEA). The chromatographic property of Sil-CEA was examined by applying polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as solutes. Poly(4-vinylpyridine)-modified silica (Sil-VP) and monomeric octadecylated silica (ODS) columns were used as the reference columns. Less sensitivity to molecular hydrophobicity and enhanced molecular planarity selectivity were obtained with Sil-CEA compared to ODS. On the other hand, high retention factors for the analyzed solutes and an opposite elution order for linear and disc-shaped solutes were obtained with Sil-CEA compared with Sil-VP. In this paper, the application for separation of tocopherols was also described.

Poly(vinyl octadecanoate)-grafted porous silica (Sil-VODn, n=23) was newly prepared to investigate the efficiencies of the carbonyl groups in the polymer chain for recognition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in RP-HPLC. In Sil-VOD23, the octadecyl side chains were connected to the polymer main chain through ester linkage in opposite direction to that in poly(octadecylacrylate)-grafted silica (Sil-ODAn, n=25) which has been reported by us. Sil-ODAn performs enhanced molecular shape selectivity of PAHs in RP-HPLC through multiple carbonyl-pi interaction of aligned carbonyl groups which are induced by the formation of highly oriented structure of side chains. Differential scanning calorimetry of VOD23 demonstrated that octadecyl alkyl chains showed crystalline to isotropic phase transition with endothermic peak at 48.7 degrees C which was similar to ODA25 (at 47.8 degrees C). After grafting of both polymers, phase transition phenomenon was completely disappeared in Sil-VOD23 whereas Sil-ODA25 still exhibits phase transition although at lower endothermic peak top temperature (38.5 degrees C). This indicates that the slight structural change in Sil-VODn and Sil-ODAn influence the ordered structure of side alkyl chains. Moreover, solid-state 13C NMR revealed that the long alkyl chain in Sil-VOD23 is highly disordered as compared with that of Sil-ODA25. Sil-VOD23 was applied to RP-HPLC stationary phase using PAHs as pi-electron containing elutes, and compared with Sil-ODA25 and conventional monomeric octadecylated silica (ODS). Results confirmed that Sil-VOD23 showed much higher selectivity for PAH isomers than ODS, but lower than Sil-ODA25. For example, the separation factors for trans-/cis-stilbene were 1.47 (Sil-VOD23), 1.70 (Sil-ODA25) and 1.07 (ODS), respectively. These results indicate that carbonyl groups in Sil-VOD23 are effective for molecular shape recognition of PAHs through carbonyl-pi interactions even in the disordered state.

Poly(l-alanine)-grafted porous silica (Sil-Ala(22)) was prepared by polymerization of N-carboxyanhydride of l-alanine initiated by 3-aminopropylated silica. The retention behaviors of the column packed with Sil-Ala(22) were investigated by using alkylbenzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as injection samples in liquid chromatography. The Ala(22) phase was in a rigid beta-form structure and thus provided specific interaction sites, which were derived from the highly ordered carbonyl and methyl groups. These interaction sites bring unique molecular-shape discriminations: molecular-length and non-planarity selectivity, which are controllable by altering organic solvent used as a part of mobile phase.

With the successful implementation of poly(4-vinylpyridine)-grafted silica prepared by grafting-from approach (GF-VP(n)) as a stationary phase for the separation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in normal-phase HPLC, this paper describes the chromatographic retention behaviors of PAHs with GF-VP(n) in reversed-phase HPLC. Significantly higher retention factor along with enhanced shape selectivity were observed with GF-VP(n). Thermodynamic study on the retention behaviors of PAHs with GF-VP(n) in normal-phase and reversed-phase HPLC revealed that retention of PAHs was exothermic in both phases. Furthermore, higher entropic contribution was observed in reversed-phase HPLC compared to normal-phase HPLC.

Silica-polymer hybrid materials (Sil-T1) have been successfully synthesized from a self-assembling polymerizable organogelator; N'-octadecyl-N(alpha)-(4-vinyl)-benzoyl-L-phenylalanineamide (C(18)-L-Phe-St or 1). Telomerization of compound 1 has been done with commonly used silane coupling agent; 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS), and the telomer (T1) was grafted onto porous silica surface to prepare a stationary phase (Sil-T1) for reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The composition of the new hybrid material (Sil-T1) was determined by elemental analysis, DRIFT-IR, TGA and by (13)C and (29)Si (CP/MAS) NMR spectroscopic measurements. The elemental analysis measurements revealed that the surface coverage by organic phase in Sil-T1 is significantly (about 135%) lower than commercial polymeric octadecylsilyalted silica (ODS-p). In addition, the results of (13)C CP/MAS NMR demonstrated that the N-alkyl moieties of the grafted polymers chain in Sil-T1 remained disordered, amorphous, and mobile represented by gauche conformational form. Furthermore, from the characterization data, the successful grafting process and unagglomerated state of the grafted particles (as observed by scanning electron microscopic, SEM measurements) prove the material to be suitable for HPLC application. The evaluation of chromatographic performance has been done from the retention studies of different size and shape PAHs and aromatic positional isomers. Significantly higher selectivity for PAHs was attributed by Sil-T1 than ODS-p regardless it has low surface coverage and lower order of alkyl chain. The enhancement of selectivity obtained by Sil-T1 can be explained by the contribution of multiple pi-pi interactions between the guest PAHs and the pi-electrons sources (carbonyls and aromatic moieties) of the organic phase of Sil-T1.

In this study, we introduce an attractive stationary phase, poly(4-vinylpyridine)-grafted silica (VP(n)) for normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The retention behavior of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was investigated with VP(n) column under n-hexane/2-propanol mixture as mobile phase. Conventional octadecylated silica, aminopropyl-bonded silica, bare silica and poly(styrene)-grafted silica columns were used as reference columns. Extremely high retention factors were observed for PAHs but not for alkylbenzenes and distinct higher selectivity towards PAHs was observed for the detailed molecular shape such as planarity and aspect ratio. The reason for these results seems to be a multiple interaction effect including an inductive interaction between the pyridyl and aromatic rings.

To introduce high-density polymeric organic phase onto silica, initiator-modified silica was prepared and then surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) ("grafting-from" method) was carried out with octadecyl acrylate. The resultant polymer-grafted silica was characterized by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform, suspension-state (1)H NMR, solid-state (13)C cross-polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (CP-MAS-NMR), solid-state (29)Si-CP-MAS-NMR spectroscopies, elemental analysis and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. ATRP-based poly(octadecyl acrylate)-grafted silica (Sil-ODA(n)-1), was used as a stationary phase in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the chromatographic behavior was evaluated by the retention studies of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and aromatic positional isomers. Compared with previous poly(octadecyl acrylate)-grafted silica (Sil-ODA(n)), which was prepared by the "grafting-to" method, we have observed longer retention and greater selectivity for Sil-ODA(n)-1 towards PAHs event at higher temperature.

Double alkylated L-glutamide-derived noncrystalline stationary phases Sil-DSG and Sil-DBG have been prepared by coupling N',N''-dioctadecyl-N-[4-carboxybutanoyl]-L-glutamide (DSG) and N',N'',-dibutyl-N-[4-carboxybutanoyl]-L-glutamide (DBG) with aminopropylated silica (Sil-APS). TEM observations of DSG and DBG showed that lipid DSG can aggregate in organic solvents (methanol, chloroform, toluene, etc.) and self-assembled nano fibers are observed while such fibrous aggregations are not observed for DBG. The resulting chromatographic data have been provided information about its selective interaction with guest molecules (PAHs) in RP-HPLC. We have observed that the carbonyl groups in Sil-DSG exist in ordered state by forming a condensing thin layer over silica surface while DBG cannot form such an ordered state due to its lower order of short alkyl chain. The ordered carbonyl groups present in Sil-DSG promotes multiple carbonyl pi-benzene pi interactions with guest PAHs isomers which enhance the selectivity for these compounds. The contribution of pi-pi interactions was also supported by the substantial effects on the selectivity of benzene and nitrobenzenes. The effect of pi-electron containing solvent on the retention behavior of the PAHs was also studied. The selectivity for nucleic acid constituents, i.e. nucleosides and its bases were also evaluated by Sil-DSG and the selectivity for these compounds on Sil-DSG was compared with the selectivity of conventional polymeric ODS phase. It has been found that Sil-DSG provided higher selectivity for nucleic acid constituents than polymeric ODS and that HPLC packing materials can be efficiently employed for routine analysis of these compounds. The effect of methanol content on the separation behavior of nucleosides was also studied.

Poly(octadecylacrylate) having plural trimethoxysilyl groups in the side chain (co-ODA(n)) was newly synthesized and immobilized onto silica through these groups. The liquid chromatographic behavior of silica-supported co-ODA(n) (Sil-co-ODA(n)) was investigated and compared with that of Sil-ODA(n), in which poly(octadecylacrylate) was immobilized through a terminal trimethoxy group at one side of the polymer main chain. Sil-co-ODA(n) showed higher selectivity for molecular shape, especially molecular planarity of PAHs than Sil-ODA(n).

Dialkyl L-glutamide-derived lipids have been found to form supramolecular assemblies and to show specific properties based on their highly ordered structures in aqueous and organic media. To use these unique properties to create molecular recognition systems, dioctadecyl L-glutamide-derived lipid-grafted porous silica particles (Sil-DSG) were newly prepared and used as a stationary phase in reversed phase liquid chromatography. Compared with conventional ODS (octadecylated silica), the Sil-DSG column showed remarkably higher selectivity for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Especially, Sil-DSG recognized the molecular linearity and planarity of PAHs. Suspension state 1H NMR and 13C CP/MAS-NMR spectroscopies showed that the alkyl chains on the Sil-DSG are in gauche form and their mobility is strongly restricted at room temperature. This paper discusses higher selectivity of Sil-DSG with a carbonyl pi-benzene pi interactions.

Poly(L-alanine)-grafted porous silica (Sil-Ala22) was prepared by polymerization of N-carboxyanhydride of L-alanine initiated by 3-aminopropylated silica. Its selective interaction with aromatic guest molecules was evaluated by the retention time in liquid chromatography using the column packed with Sil-Ala22. Sil-Ala22 showed a specific selective retention with discriminating molecular shapes, such as molecular length, linearity and planarity. This selectivity can be explained by a multiple pi-pi interaction with the carbonyl groups one dimensionally-aligned on the rigid beta-form structure in the peptide main chain. Chiral separation with Sil-Ala22 was also described.