Looking for recommendations for PEG cleanup from neutral small molecule LCMS workflow
I've got an annoying problem: the Powers that Be want quantitative analysis of a neutral small molecule active from a sample context that contains pretty large quantities of nonionic surfactants. The LOQ for HPLC-UV isn't low enough, so it's fallen into my lap to do this by LCMS. Unfortunately, oligomeric PEGylated impurities from the surfactants coelute, leading to large nonlinear matrix effects that make quantitation impractical (not to mention requiring additional system washing).
There's a fair bit of literature out there on removing PEG from peptide, protein, and nucleotide workflows, but as far as I've found they all operate based on some form of ion-exchange retention of the analyte. However, the compound of interest in my case is neutral and non-basic (under pH ranges where it is stable, i.e. >1). Edit: logP is \~1.5-2
Anyone have suggestions for a PEG cleanup that doesn't rely on SEC (which is the excruciating backup plan atm) and, in a perfect world, was higher-throughput than SPE?
Edit2: Yes, I know the issue is separation of analyte from matrix interferents. If you have a suggestion for how to accomplish that, I’ll take it.