ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the vast amount of experimental material on the chromatography of functional oligomers and their adsorption by stationary phases. In the gradient elution mode of chromatography a mixture of solvents of a variable composition is used, and separation by molecular weight or functionality is achieved by using a mixture of solvents with increasing elution capacity, successively passed through a column. Extensive application of liquid chromatography for the analysis of molecular heterogeneity in high-molecular compounds in the recent 10–15 years is quite justified, since the potentialities of this technique in separating any, however complex, polymer system are practically unlimited. The true mechanism of the adsorption of macromolecules is highly complex and has not been ascertained with sufficient clarity either theoretically or experimentally. Finding itself on the adsorbent surface or in a pore, a macromolecule, after the adsorption equilibrium has been finally reached, comes in contact with several active centres of the surface.
