Effect of Temperature and Mobile Phase Composition on RP-HPLC Separation of Cephalosporins

Abstract

The effects of mobile phase composition and column temperature on resolution in reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) were used to separate the following cephalosporins: cefonicid, cefaclor, cephazolin, cefodizime, cephaloridine, cephamandole and cephalotin, from a single sample. The capacity factor (k') was described as a function of temperature and mobile phase composition. Semi-empirically estimated values of k' were determined using a small number of experimental data for different temperatures between 20°C and 60°C, and mobile phase compositions (acetate buffer/isopropanol). The capacity factor of each cephalosporin was observed to decrease with increasing temperature and the volume fraction (V) of isopropanol in the mobile phase; linear relationships were obtained for plots of In k' versus 1/T and log k' versus log V. The method developed, while simple, reveals the optimal isocratic elution conditions for column temperature and eluent concentration for the complete separation and rapid analysis of the cephalosporins studied.