ABSTRACT
Retention values should be considered as basic qualitative parameters for the characterization of the compounds being analyzed; these values reflect interactions between analyzed compounds and stationary liquid phase, and therefore their values are defined by the nature of the separated components. This chapter considers possible utilization of retention values for identification of substances being analyzed in gas-liquid-solid chromatography. It seems worthwhile to pay special attention to a discussion of adsorption influence on the experimental traditional relative retention values, as well as taking them into account for the purpose of obtaining invariant retention values. The chapter examines the possibility of enhancing the reliability of the library approach by improving the interlaboratory reproducibility of the retention values involved in this approach. The major reason for the poor interlaboratory reproducibility seems to lie in adsorption of the compounds under analysis.
