ABSTRACT
A major problem arising in both affinity and immunoaffinity chromatography is the inefficiency of analyte recovery as a result of steric hindrance between the ligand (capture molecule) support and the analyte (molecule to be isolated), resulting in reduced or no recovery. This situation commonly occurs when low molecular weight ligands, such as pharmaceutical drugs, enzyme substrates, or receptor-binding ligands, are employed as the immobilized capture molecules. An accepted approach to rectify this situation is the employment of an accessory molecule or spacer arm to extend the capture molecule or ligand from the support surface.
