Ion interaction chromatography of neutral molecules: a potential approximation to obtain a simplified retention equation

The chromatographic behavior of neutral molecules in Ion Interaction Chromatography (IIC) was theoretically investigated. The use of a potential approximation to obtain a simplified retention equation was successfully tested. The most reliable experimental literature results, concerning the retention behavior of neutral molecules in IIC, were successfully fitted by the retention equation. The wide variability among them was elucidated on the basis of the developed retention equation. A new separation strategy, to improve the selectivity of the chromatographic method, for difficult to separate mixtures of neutral eluates was proposed.