A comparison of reversed-phase performance for some commercially available C18 HPLC columns

This article investigates and compares eight presumably identical reversed phase stationary phases used often in high performance liq. chromatog. The authors tested the com. reversed-phase C18 stationary phases using isoeluotropic eluent mixts. and methanol-water, acetonitrile-water, and tetrahydrofuran-water with a test mixt. of acidic, basic, and neutral compds. They obsd. significant differences between com. C18 columns under the same eluent conditions. Moreover, each column showed different chromatog. behavior for the three org. modifiers, esp. when sepg. polar compds. This study demonstrates that choosing a suitable column and mobile phase is of major importance, esp. for the development of anal. procedures for polar substance