Temperature effect on HPLC retention of PCBs on porous graphitic carbon

Summary The effect of column temperature on solute retention was investigated for 10 PCBs with different degrees of planarity (degree of ortho position substitution). The variation of retention values (lnk) with temperature was measured using two solvents, n-hexane and dichloromethane, as mobile phase: retention decreases as temperature increases. The relationship between lnk values and temperature (1/T) exhibits a good linearity. The ΔH ⁰ values calculated are in the −2 to −5 kcal mole^{− 1} range: they are very similar for compounds with the same degree of ortho-substitution and are significantly higher for non-ortho substituted congeners. High temperature significantly improves separation efficiency (plate number significantly increases): this effect is the dominant factor controlling chromatographic resolution, which improves with increasing temperature. Operating at 40 °C, an efficient separation of planar PCBs was obtained with low solvent consumption.     

Rapid analysis of triterpenic acids by liquid chromatography using porous graphitic carbon and evaporative light scattering detection

An original system which uses Porous Graphitic Carbon as support and a mixture of organic solvents as mobile phase is proposed for the analysis of triterpenic acids by liquid chromatography. The separation of betulinic acid, ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, and 18alpha- and 18beta-glycyrrhetinic acids was carried out within a short time and monitored by evaporative light scattering detection as universal detection method. Molecular modelling studies show that the main contribution to the selectivity comes from the electrostatic interaction characterised by the dipole moment of the products.