Enhancement of retention by ion-pair formation in liquid chromatography with nonpolar stationary phases
In Ion-pair reversed-phase chromatography, the retention of ionized analytes on a nonpolar bonded stationary phase is enhanced by the presence of a "hydrophobic" counterlon (hetaeron) in the mobile phase. Either ion-pair formation in the mobile phase with relatively strong retention of the complex or the conversion of the stationary phase into an ion-exchanger may explain the phenomenon. Analysis of the pertinent equilibria shows that the observed hyperbolic or parabolic dependence of the capacity factors on the hetaeron concentration cannot shed light on the mechanism. The experimental data obtained for the retention of catecholamlnes by using C4-C10 alkyl sulfates and other similar hetaerons in a wide concentration range, however, could be mechanistically interpreted from the chain length dependence of the parameters for the relationship between the capacity factors and hetaeron concentration. Although the results clearly demonstrate that in the system investigated, ion-pair formation governs retention, ion-exchange mechanism can be operative under certain conditions. Changes in retention upon addition of salt to the eluent are treated both theoretically and experimentally. The effect of organic solvents on the behavior of the chromatographlc system is discussed in view of the proposed theory.