RETENTION BEHAVIOR OF C-1-C-4 HYDROCARBONS ON COPPER(II) COMPLEXES OFCYANOPROPYL AND MERCAPTOPROPYL BONDED PHASES

The retention behaviour of light (C-1-C-4) hydrocarbons on micropacked cyano- and mercaptopropyl bonded silica columns and their copper(II) complexes was examined by GC under isothermal conditions (25 degrees C ), All the phases gave excellent separation of a mixture of methane, e thane, propane and butane with high reproducibility of retention times , Presumably due to specific metal-olefin interactions, the metal-cont aining packings gave a better separation of a ten-component mixture of C-1-C-4 saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, However, this effect appears to be weaker than the dispersive interactions between the solu tes and the hydrocarbon chains of the bonded ligands as their chromato grams are similar to those obtained on micropacked n-alkyl and bidenta te alkylsilane silica columns, Among the phases examined, a 3 m column of cyanopropyl-copper(II) complex offered a better resolution of a te n-component mixture of C-1-C-4 hydrocarbons.