Characterization of Column Packings in Normal-Phase Liquid Chromatography. II. Retention Behavior of Fat-Soluble Vitamins in Amino- and Cyano-Propyl Bonded Silica Gel and Binary Solvent Systems

As continuation of our study on the characterization of column packings in normal-phase HPLC analysis, the retention indices of ten fat-soluble vitamins on aminopropyl and cyanopropyl bonded silica columns were systematically estimated using binary solvents containing ethyl acetate (EtOAc), tetrahydrofuran (THF) or 2-propanol (PrOH) in n-hexane. A linear relationship between the logarithm of the capacity ratio and that of the solvent composition was confirmed. The retentivity and selectivity for these chemically bonded packing columns were determined as follows: the amino-type column has stronger and cyano-type column weaker retentivity than the bare silica column for n-hexane-EtOAc or THF binary systems. Specific adsorption of tocopherol derivatives containing phenolic hydroxyl groups on the amino column was observed. To obtain high efficiency in the separation of fat soluble vitamins, peak sharpness and asymmetry factors were measured using three columns and three binary solvents. The bare silica and PrOH binary solvent generally gave superior peak shape for all vitamin samples.