SEPARATION OF PRIORITY POLLUTANT PHENOLS ON CHEMICALLY-MODIFIED POLY(STYRENE-DIVINYLBENZENE) RESINS BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A highly cross-linked porous poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) (PS-DVB) resin was prepared using the two-step microsuspension method. The retention behaviour of eleven phenols, listed as priority pollutants by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was investigated using this resin with and without surface modification. The corresponding capacity factors (k') of these phenols were compared. Most of the tested compounds showed distinctly different elution behaviour on derivatized resins. A very fast separation of all eleven priority pollutant phenols (PPPs) could be achieved on a column packed with PS-DVB beads modified with tert.-butyl groups using gradient elution.