ABSTRACT
Solute identification from retention data alone is not a primary method of qualitative assessment, because a pure sample of the solute must always be available for reference purposes. Solute interactions with the surface of the wall can play a significant part in solute retention on capillary columns due to the stationary phase layer being very thin, and the amount of stationary phase on the column being relatively small. Consequently retention is not solely due to solute interactions with the stationary phase. Any qualitative chromatographic data used for forensic purposes and the results from chromatographic analyses are frequently used in medical and environmental litigation are strongly supported by confirming data from other analytical techniques. Nonetheless, data derived directly from the distribution coefficient of a solute, such as the corrected retention volume, capacity ratio, separation ratio or retention index, are all extensively employed for the proximate identification of solutes.
