ABSTRACT
Modern high-speed liquid chromatography is an extremely powerful method for the separation and analysis of complex chemical mixtures. The chief consequence of the developments leading to high-speed liquid chromatography is a major gain in resolving power. To perform effective liquid chromatography separations, a column must have the capacity to retain samples, must separate sample components, and must operate efficiently. Since the purpose of liquid chromatography is separation of two or more components, the relative capacity factors of two components become a measure of the column's ability to separate them. As separated sample components elute from the column, they pass through one or more detectors. Absorption at a specific ultraviolet wavelength is a more selective detection mode for ultraviolet-absorbing compounds. There are some instances in which the sample is strongly solubilized, and even a substantial change in solvent polarity does not increase the elution time or improve resolution.
