Ion-pair chromatography of dianionic species by dionium reagents

Summary Dionium cations, polymethylenebis(tributylphosphonium)s (BuC_nBPs), were used as ion-pair reagents for ion-pair chromatography of dianionic species, such as maleate, fumarate, phthalates, and naphthalenedisulfonates. The longer the length of methylene chain connecting the two phosphonium cationic ceterns within BuC_nBP, the larger was the retention of these dianionic species. The dionium reagents had a higher retention ability compared to conventional monoonium reagents, and enabled a higher resolution among the dianionic species of structural isomers. The extraction behavior of the dianionic species in a loctanol/water system was also investigated. The retention behavior by the use of BuC_nBP was discussed in comparison with the extraction behavior.