High-performance liquid chromatography on dynamically modified silica : II. Modification of various silica packings with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

High-performance liquid chromatography on silica using eluents containing cetyltrimethylammonium (CTMA) bromide was investigated, and adsorption isotherms were determined for two silica packings of different pore diameter and surface area. It was found that about one CTMA ion was adsorbed per square nanometer of the silica surface at pH 7.5 and at a concentration of 6 mM CTMA bromide in 50% of methanol.Fourteen different silica packings were compared using a test mixture, and thirteen were found to exhibit the same selectivity towards the test mixture, which included acids, bases and non-ionic compounds, thus providing a chromatographic system that is largely independent of the origin of the column material.The retention mechanisms for the five test compounds are discussed.