CONTROL OF ADSORPTION AND SOLUBILITY IN GRADIENT HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY .4. SUDDEN-TRANSITION GRADIENT ELUTION OF STYRENE ETHYL-METHACRYLATE COPOLYMERS IN REVERSED-PHASE MODE

Copolymers from styrene and ethyl methacrylate have been separated according to composition by n-heptane gradients on a C18 bonded phase after injection into acetonitrile and subsequent sudden transition to a concentration of either dichloromethane or tetrahydrofuran between 30 and 50% or 20 and 50%, respectively. Acetonitrile is a polar non-solvent for the copolymers under investigation and ensures proper retention of the samples on a non-polar stationary phase. Dichloromethane and tetrahydrofuran are good solvents of moderate polarity. The addition of, e.g., 30 vol% of one of these solvents increased the dissolution power of the starting eluent but not to the extent necessary for elution. The latter was achieved by the addition of n-heptane, which is a non-solvent for the polymers investigated. Thus, its eluting power must be understood as the consequence of its modifying effect on the polarity of the eluent mixture. The higher the content of copolymer in ethyl methacrylate the earlier it was eluted. Since acetonitrile and n-heptane are only partly miscible, phase diagrams were measured after the addition of either tetrahydrofuran or dichloromethane as a third component. Homogeneous mixtures were obtained on addition of about 30% solvent (one of both of the latter).