ALIPHATIC-ALCOHOLS AS COMPONENTS OF THE MOBILE-PHASE FOR REVERSED-PHASE HPLC

In reversed-phase HPLC, acetonitrile and chlorinated organic solvents, such as chloroform, are often used as a major organic component and a n organic modifier of the mobile phase, respectively. However, the sol vents usually damage the environment and require specific waste treatm ent compared with non-chlorinated compounds. In this work, several ali phatic alcohols were investigated as mobile-phase components for the s eparation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with a C-18 column and c ompared with the results of acetonitrile and chloroform; they were the n evaluated concerning the column efficiency, analysis time, and effec t on the elution order of some PAHs. It was found that methanol is a g ood solvent as a major component of the mobile phase concerning the co lumn efficiency and ability to perform elution control. Octanol and de canol have enabled a change in the elution order of acenaphthene and t riptycene as well as chloroform. Thus, aliphatic alcohols can be used instead of acetonitrile or chloroform with excellent properties.