I've run silica with methanol/water and acetonitrile/water.  People will claim that silica dissolves in such polar solvent systems. However, if the mobile phase is basic, silica will dissolve. If a modifier is required, keep the mobile phase acidic. 

I find it best to start with 1-2% water in the organic solvent if running a gradient. I also find it best to dry-load the sample when using this technique for flash chromatography.

Form this reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249561/

"Like NP-LC, HILIC employs traditional polar stationary phases such as silica, amino or cyano [8–12], but the mobile phase used is similar to those employed in the RP-LC mode [7, 11, 12]. HILIC also allows the analysis of charged substances, as in ion chromatography (IC). Figure 2 shows how HILIC complements other areas of chromatography and extends the range of separation options."

Also see: https://books.google.com/books?id=taurNJu0u2AC&pg=PT494&lpg=PT494&dq=Dolan+HILIC+silica&source=bl&ots=yaCH0n-3vu&sig=_v8FuqkLdSPedFbdDlWaFB5qaJ0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tyDeVOG5JoquyQTQjYDgDg&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Dolan%20HILIC%20silica&f=false

From my own work:

http://www.teledyneisco.com/Documents/Liquid%20Chromatography/Application%20Notes/RediSep%20Rf%20Gold%20Silica%20and%20Highly%20Polar%20Solvents%20App%20Note.pdf#search=highly%20polar%20solvent 

http://www.teledyneisco.com/Documents/Liquid%20Chromatography/Posters/Strategies%20for%20Flash%20Purification%20of%20Highly%20Polar%20Compounds%20Poster.pdf#search=highly%20polar%20solvent 

I use this technique for screening silica columns for natural products:

http://www.teledyneisco.com/Documents/Liquid%20Chromatography/Application%20Notes/Wide%20Polarity%20Range%20Chromatography%20App%20Note.pdf#search=wide%20polarity%20range 

http://www.teledyneisco.com/Documents/Liquid%20Chromatography/Posters/Wide%20Polarity%20Range%20Flash%20Purifications%20Poster.pdf#search=wide%20polarity%20range

Web links updated 13 Jan 17

You can try to wash a column consequentially with MeOH, then - CHCl3. Hereafter it's possibe to use up to 15% MeOH eluent. (Note that SiO2 properties will change.)

I would't go higher than 10% MeOH, but if the compound is still stuck to the column at that polarity, try 1%AcOH/10%MeOH/CH2Cl2.

More excotic variations might be acetone containing 0.1 M KPF6, or mixtures of acetonitrile with MeOH and triethylamine.  The acetone/KPF6 fluent made it possible for me to elute and separate heteroleptic terpyridine compounds using column chromatography. 

 J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 6574–6575, 2006.

Faraday Discussions 131, 265–279, 2006.

You can use mix between Ethyl acetate with Hexane as a ratio ( 30% / 70% )

This is the higher polar i used .

I've often used 40-50% MeOH to elute compounds.  A little silica will contaminate your sample but this is not always a problem, for example if you intend to further modify your compound.  If you want the compound pure afterwards you can triturate with acetone which will leave silica behind.  I've heard varying ideas for how much MeOH elutes silica but from my experience 20% MeOH/CHCl3 elutes negligible amounts.  In a first trial use whatever is necessary to elute your compound then get elemental analysis to determine whether the silica levels are acceptable to your requirements.  Hope this helps.

If your compound is very polar (apparently this is the case because your compound stucks the column, you should change the nature of your silica gel). Reverse phase is frequently use to purify polar mix of compounds (salts, aza-molecules etc...) with a good resolution compare with polar silica gel which generally give poor resolution of the initial crude. In particular, you should use preparative HPLC on reverse phase with typically as a binary eluent system : MeOH/H2O. You can re-use prepacked C18 cartridges after several washs with methanol.

 If you don't have these materials in the lab, you can try a purification on alumina gel too.

Good luck for this purification.

All the best !

Which kind of compound do you have to purify? I have purified amines with a mixture of dichloromethane / methanol by adding a 2% ammonia to methanol prior to mix it with DCM. Anyway you can look at this discussion: 

https://www.researchgate.net/post/When_basification_of_silica_gel_is_required_before_using_Column_chromatography

I've run silica with methanol/water and acetonitrile/water.  People will claim that silica dissolves in such polar solvent systems. However, if the mobile phase is basic, silica will dissolve. If a modifier is required, keep the mobile phase acidic. 

I find it best to start with 1-2% water in the organic solvent if running a gradient. I also find it best to dry-load the sample when using this technique for flash chromatography.

Form this reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249561/

"Like NP-LC, HILIC employs traditional polar stationary phases such as silica, amino or cyano [8–12], but the mobile phase used is similar to those employed in the RP-LC mode [7, 11, 12]. HILIC also allows the analysis of charged substances, as in ion chromatography (IC). Figure 2 shows how HILIC complements other areas of chromatography and extends the range of separation options."

Also see: https://books.google.com/books?id=taurNJu0u2AC&pg=PT494&lpg=PT494&dq=Dolan+HILIC+silica&source=bl&ots=yaCH0n-3vu&sig=_v8FuqkLdSPedFbdDlWaFB5qaJ0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tyDeVOG5JoquyQTQjYDgDg&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Dolan%20HILIC%20silica&f=false

From my own work:

http://www.teledyneisco.com/Documents/Liquid%20Chromatography/Application%20Notes/RediSep%20Rf%20Gold%20Silica%20and%20Highly%20Polar%20Solvents%20App%20Note.pdf#search=highly%20polar%20solvent 

http://www.teledyneisco.com/Documents/Liquid%20Chromatography/Posters/Strategies%20for%20Flash%20Purification%20of%20Highly%20Polar%20Compounds%20Poster.pdf#search=highly%20polar%20solvent 

I use this technique for screening silica columns for natural products:

http://www.teledyneisco.com/Documents/Liquid%20Chromatography/Application%20Notes/Wide%20Polarity%20Range%20Chromatography%20App%20Note.pdf#search=wide%20polarity%20range 

http://www.teledyneisco.com/Documents/Liquid%20Chromatography/Posters/Wide%20Polarity%20Range%20Flash%20Purifications%20Poster.pdf#search=wide%20polarity%20range

Web links updated 13 Jan 17

4:2:1 ethyl acetate:iso-propyl alcohol:water works like a dream. Add 0.1% AcOH for purifying acids or 0.1% NH4OH for amines and phosphates.

I would say water (including acid or base solutions).

water for sure, mixture including water and NH4OH also for example.

It depends on your problem. MeOh dissolves silica, so you cannot use too muchof it; in this case, it is not a solvent, but an additive.

I commonly use 90:9:1 DCM:MeOH:NH4OH for amines I'm columning, with no appreciable amount of silica dissolved. I believe you can get up to about 20% methanol before it becomes a problem. The attached link examines the solubility of silica in methanol. Short story, stir 1g silica in 100ml MeOH for 2 days, filter through celite, 4mgs residue comes through. 

https://chemtips.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/is-silica-soluble-in-methanol/

Try water/acetonitrile reverse phase chromatography. You need a C18 resin instead of silica.

11:1 methanol/water is miscible in any proportions with Chloroform. At about 20:11:1 you can elute compounds as polar as sucrose from normal phase silica. If you are trying to isolate a base, add volatile base (e.g. NH4OH or Et3N). If you are trying to isolate an acid, add (volatile) acid (AcOH, TFA). Acetone can also perform miracles...

Você poderia usar água acidificada com ácido fórmico ou acético, fazendo com que o alcaloide se torne um sal. Depois de eluído o alcaloide, você alcaliniza o meio e extrai o alcaloide na forma de base livre.

De não conseguir, use metanol e amônia

I´ve used a system of n-hex/AcOEt in the relation 5:1.

If your compound is basic and bind strongly with silica, you can use neutral alumina as adsorbent instead of silica

thanks sir,

Jack Silver sir thanks once again we are faceing same problem.

Why are you worrying about dissolved silica? Find a separation or two that gives satisfactory results (i.e. minimal column loss and good separation)  then worry about the silica. It can always be filtered away after you have dried down the mobile phase with your compound in it.

Also, ammonia does suck... try TEA :)

DMSO is extremely polar, and its unique solvent powers are legendary.  The sulfur-oxygen bond has been determined to be a single, not double, bond; with oxygen bearing a full negative charge, sulfur a full positive charge. In essence, a zwitterion. Dipole moment of 4.1 D, vs 2.9 D for solvated H2O in bulk water. Higher viscosity probably precludes using it neat (100%). U can take it from there...

10 % Methanol in methylene chloride

acetone containing 0.1 M KPF6 is a good solvent in this area.

Please study the link below:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0013468687870615

Solvent systems for use as mobile phases in CC can be determined from previous TLC experiments, the literature, or experimentally. Normally, a separation will begin by using nonpolar or low polarity solvent, allowing the compounds to adsorb to the stationary phase, then SLOWLY switching the polarity of the solvent to desorb the compounds and allow them to travel with the mobile phase. The polarity of the solvents should be changed gradually. On a macroscale, the mixing of two solvents can create heat and crack the column leading to a poor separation. Some typical solvent combinations are ligroin-dichloromethane, hexane-ethyl acetate and hexane-toluene. Often an experimentally determined ratio of these solvents can sufficiently separate most compounds. Solvents such as methanol and water are normally not used because they can destroy the integrity of the stationary phase by dissolving some of the silica gel.

@Mohamed-

Your reference appears to contain some old information. If the methanol/water were basic, I would agree that silica would dissolve; keep the mobile phase neutral or acidic to prevent the silica from dissolving. Please see the links I posted in my reply above. Also note that C18 bonded-phase columns are run many years in methanol/water without ill effect. The C18 doesn't protect the silica very well.

Hi,

You can use: Propylene carbonate ,

with my best regards!

Adel

Hello,

30%MeOH in DCM works for the majority of polar compounds

A more exotic mixture would be 10%THF in DCM

Regards

Hi,

Is it possible to use 3K filter centrifugal filters to remove the dissolved silica from the elution solvent.

You can use Propanol : Ethyl acetate

3 : 2

or Ethanol : Benzene

3 : 3

Hi Eric

You can use of of the following solvents to remove anything left in the column:

Ethyl acetate or acetonitrile, those are really the most efficient solvents used in organic synthesis and silica gel chromatography.

Good luck