INTERPRETIVE STRATEGY FOR OPTIMIZATION OF SURFACTANT AND ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION IN MICELLAR LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

An interpretive procedure for optimization of the retention of the sol utes in a mixture, eluted with mobile phases containing a surfactant a nd an alcohol in micellar liquid chromatography (MLC), is proposed. Th ree optimization criteria were used: positional resolution, valley-to- peak ratio and overlapping. Retention data from several phenols, aroma tic compounds and catecholamines were used to test the procedure. The positional criterion, together with the retention model given by an eq uation of the type 1/k' = c(o) + c(1) mu + c(2) phi + c(3) mu phi, led to a reliable optimum resolution using the retention data for a few m obile phases. However, the resolution criteria that take into account both the position and the peak shape are preferable in MLC, where the chromatographic peaks are asymmetric and have a low efficiency.