Fast separation of water-soluble vitamins by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography based on submicrometer flow-through silica microspheres

•Submicrometer flow-through silica microspheres (Sub-FTSiO2) were prepared.•Sub-FTSiO2 with penetrable macropores and mesopores were used as HILIC matrix.•Fast separation of water-soluble vitamins was achieved with low column backpressure. In the present study, submicrometer flow-through silica microspheres (Sub-FTSiO2) was for the first time obtained via a suspension polymerization method coupled with sol-gel transition and phase separation. The Sub-FTSiO2 was characteristic of rich mesopores, penetrable macropores and small particle size, which would be beneficial to fast mass transfer, low column backpressure and high column efficiency. It was directly used as the hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic (HILIC) stationary phase, and the fast separation of seven water-soluble vitamins in 2.2 min was realized. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of water-soluble vitamins in two functional beverages on the market. The prepared Sub-FTSiO2 was well demonstrated for fast HILIC, and would be potential as the stationary phase matrix for fast liquid chromatography in diverse separation modes.