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Published on: April 26, 2016
Retention in reversed-phase chromatography: partition or adsorption?
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8286, USA.
Journal of Chromatography. A
|January 29, 1999
Summary
The solvophobic theory unifies the understanding of hydrophobic interactions across reversed-phase chromatography (RPC), oil-water partitioning, and charcoal adsorption. This framework reveals energetic similarities in these processes, challenging distinct partition or adsorption models.
Area of Science:
- Physical Chemistry
- Chromatography
- Thermodynamics
Background:
- Hydrophobic interactions are crucial in various chemical and biological processes.
- Existing models for reversed-phase chromatography (RPC) often rely on partition or adsorption mechanisms.
- A unified theoretical framework is needed to explain the energetics of nonpolar substance interactions in aqueous systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To apply the solvophobic theory to experimental data from RPC, oil-water partitioning, and activated charcoal adsorption.
- To investigate the energetic similarities between these processes driven by the hydrophobic effect.
- To evaluate the suitability of different stationary phase models in RPC.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a unified framework based on the solvophobic theory.
- Employed the isolated solvated hydrocarbon chains model for RPC stationary phases.
- Calculated the free energy change per unit nonpolar surface area for partitioning and adsorption processes at 25°C.
Main Results:
- The solvophobic theory accurately describes experimental data for nonpolar and weakly polar substances in RPC, partitioning, and adsorption.
- Energetic quantities were found to be similar across these diverse processes, aligning with solvophobic theory predictions.
- Results contradicted predictions from lattice theory regarding the similarity of these processes.
Conclusions:
- The solvophobic theory provides a unified description of energetics for processes involving hydrophobic interactions.
- It highlights the energetic similarities between RPC, oil-water partitioning, and adsorption.
- Distinguishing between partition and adsorption in RPC for nonpolar analytes is challenging based solely on thermodynamic analysis using partition models.
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