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It is shown that the retention indices of polar solutes are affected by the amount of stationary phase in the column. The retention indices increase with decreasing stationary phase loadings. The reasons for this behavior are most likely due to the existence of mixed retention mechanisms. At low amounts of stationary phases, adsorption on the support or column walls can take place. Studies were made using four supports, two of which were Chromosorb W and the other two Chromosorb P. The effects of changing the liquid phase loadings are more pronounced when using Chromosorb P.

The theory of isochronal analysis (time normalization) has been extended to reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Of the possible manipulation of experimental parameters, the present paper develops a framework for optimizing the resolution by the simultaneous change of mobile phase velocity and composition. For that purpose the resolution equation was written in terms of these two parameters and under the constraint of constant analysis time. This treatment allows plotting the resolution versus the mobile phase composition and velocity. The surfaces thus obtained show the changes that the analyst must perform in order to optimize the resolution. The treatment deals with three possible α dependencies on the amount of organic modifier: constant, increasing and decreasing.

The paper deals with composite peaks in which the resolution is not sufficient to allow simple area determinations with conventional integrator procedures. It is proposed to use the second derivatives of composite peaks, since the derivatives accentuate envelope perturbations due to overlapped peaks. In particular, when there are two solutes in the composite, and when the peak separation is between 2 and 4σ, the second derivative of the composite has two minima and three maxima. The second maximum is indicative of the cross point of the two solutes. This point can be used to initiate and/or terminate the integration of the components in the composite. Similarly, the second minimum occurs at a point close to the true maximum of the second peak in the composite. This point can also be used for the quantitative determination of the second component in the composite. The second derivative traces can also be integrated, but their utility in quantitative analysis of the peaks is questionable. An inversion procedure is given in which the second derivative trace is inverted to yield a trace similar to the conventional chromatograms but with better apparent resolution. In special circumstances, the inverted derivatives can be used for integration purposes.