Automated capillary electrochromatography: Reliability and reproducibility studies

The routine application of capillary electrochromatography (CEC) is demonstrated by incorporating 75 mu m I.D. capillaries packed with 3 mu m octadecylsilica (ODS) particles into a commercial CZE instrument. A mixture of several neutral compounds is separated into its components with an average efficiency up to 181 000 plates/m in less than 8 min. Hundreds of consecutive runs are performed over a period of weeks from which it is concluded that the reproducibility of the capacity factors is better than 2% and that CEC separations can be achieved in a reliable and routine manner.