Behavior of adsorbed and fluid phases versus retention properties of amino acids on the teicoplanin chiral selector.

The relationship between adsorption equilibria of two amino acids, i.e., l,d-threonine and l,d-methionine on the teicoplanin chiral selector and their phase behavior has been analyzed. The experimental and numerical methods have been proposed to determine activity coefficients of amino acids in different solvent systems. The procedure was based on the analysis of solubility properties of the amino acids in aqueous solutions of methanol, ethanol and propanol-2-ol used as the mobile phases in chromatographic elution. The solubility measured in mixed alcohol-water solutions was correlated with the non-random-two-liquid (NRTL) model for the activity coefficients. The values of activity coefficients were incorporated into the adsorption isotherm equation, which allowed the analysis of retention properties of the amino acids versus their fluid phase behavior. For the investigation the experimental data of adsorption equilibria of amino acids as well as of the mobile phase constituents acquired in a previous work were exploited. The composition of both the mobile and the adsorbed phases was found to affect the retention properties of the amino acids. For water-rich mobile phases the activity in the adsorbed phase determined the retention mechanism, while for the alcohol-rich systems activity in the mobile phase was predominant.

Influence of preferential adsorption of mobile phase on retention behavior of amino acids on the teicoplanin chiral selector.

The adsorption behavior of two amino acids, i.e., l,d-threonine and l,d-methionine has been investigated on the chiral stationary phase (CSP)column packed with teicoplanin bonded to a silica support. The study has been performed under non-linear conditions of adsorption isotherm for various types of organic modifiers (methanol, ethanol, propan-2-ol and acetonitrile) in the reversed-phase mode. A heterogeneous adsorption mechanism of amino acids has been identified that was strongly affected by the nature of organic modifier. Generally, isotherm non-linearity and retention decreased with decrease of the modifier content in the mobile phase exhibiting a minimum at water-rich mobile phases. These trends were suggested to result from a combined effect of the mobile as well as the adsorbed phase composition. To determine the composition of the adsorbed phase the excess adsorption of modifiers in aqueous solutions has been measured and their binary adsorption equilibria have been quantified and compared. Strongly non-ideal behavior of solvents in the mobile phase and the adsorbed phase has been accounted for by activity coefficients. The fraction of the modifiers in the adsorbed phase decreased in the sequence: methanol, ethanol, propan-2-ol and acetonitrile.

Deformation of gradient shape as a result of preferential adsorption of solvents in mixed mobile phases.

Gradient elution has been studied in typical normal and reversed-phase systems. Deformations of gradient profiles have been evidenced as a result of preferential adsorption of modifiers of the mobile phase. This phenomenon was pronounced in the normal-phase system, for which gradient profiles deviated significantly from those programmed. This influenced the retention and shapes of band profiles of the eluting solute. Hence, in order to predict gradient propagation correctly the adsorption equilibrium of modifiers has been quantified. Moreover, at low modifier content, deformations of band profiles of the solute has been registered as a result of the competitive adsorption in the system solute-modifier. This effect has been predicted by a competitive adsorption model. For the reversed-phase systems the influence of the modifier adsorption on gradient propagation was insignificant for typical mobile phases investigated. Therefore, the work has been focused on gradient predictions in the normal-phase system.