Evaluation of the lipophilicity of bile acids and their derivatives by thin-layer chromatography and principal component analysis

The lipophilic character of bile acids and their glyco- and tauro-conjugate s was studied. The classical R-Mo values were measured by means of reversed thin-layer chromatography using a mixture of methanol-water as the solvent system and compared with the factors scores obtained by principal componen t analysis based also onto the TLC-retention data. The reliability of the f actor scores values as lipophilic indices are shown by their high correlati on with the classical R-Mo values. In addition, a better correlation was ob served between scores corresponding to the first principal components and t he partition coefficients (log P) of bile acids. Finally, the "lipophilicit y chart" described by the first two components has the effect of separating compounds from each other most effectively from the congeneric aspect poin t of view. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.