Retention behaviour of acidic, neutral and basic drugs on a CN column using phosphate buffers in the mobile phase

The retention behaviour of a set of sixteen more or less drugs on a CN column with methanol-phosphate buffer as eluent was studied. The influence of the volume percentage of methanol, pH and the ionic strength on the capacity factors (k') of the drugs was determined using an experimental design consisting of three pH values (3, 5 and 7), four ionic strengths (0.025, 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1) and three volume percentages of methanol (10, 30 and 50%). The selected drugs were basic, acidic and neutral compounds with different polarity properties. The number of carbon atoms, considered here as reflecting the hydrophobic characteristics of the solutes, varied from 7 to 25. The influence on the retention of drugs on a CN column of the different parameters studied was evaluated. The volume percentage of organic modifier and the pH are the most important factors. A change in ionic strength is important only when large molecules are chromatographed. As the interaction between pH, ionic strength and volume percentage of methanol is small, optimization of the three parameters separately is possible.