Selectivity changes towards steroids in packed column supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) induced by temperature and pressure variation

Summary Pressure/temperature variation in SFC was shown to influence selectivity towards steroids. Major changes were observed for polar column packings compared to non-polar packings and variation of the amount of modifier showed that this is valid over the whole investigated range. The effect is underlined by a fall in resolution in the low density range (low pressure/high temperature) for polar stationary phases and appears to be significantly larger than for non-polar phases. Major selectivity shifts induced by variation of the physical properties of the mobile phase are considered to be due to the greater effect of polar modifiers on the nature of polar stationary phases than on non-polar phases.