Capacity gradient anion chromatography with a borate complex as eluent

Complex formation between borate compounds and vicinal diols is well recognized. Generally, in a chemically bonded anion-exchange resin, many hydroxyl groups are introduced on the surface of the resin in order to make the resin hydrophilic. The borate as an eluting reagent also reacts to these hydroxyl groups, and this complex formation decreases the apparent ion-exchange capacity of the column by being dissociated to the anion depending on the eluent pH. In the present work a method is described for the simultaneous determination of anions based on the capacity gradient for suppressed ion chromatography. A Tosoh IC-Anion-PW column and dihydroxyphenylborane–mannitol eluent system were used. To maintain baseline stability, it was helpful to keep the borate concentration constant during a gradient of 16 to 0 mM mannitol as a modifier to prevent the complex formation with the hydroxyl on the resin. The chemical composition of the eluents and gradient profiles are discussed and the application to the analysis of the condensed phosphates with widely varying retention times as food additives in a cheese sample is presented.