Liquid Crystals as Stationary Phases for High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract
Liquid crystals have not yet been used as stationary phases in High Performance Liquid Chromatography. This is surprising since Gas Chromatography has demonstrated some remarkable separations, many of which are not possible with normal stationary phases, that have been achieved where liquid crystals have been employed as the stationary phase. The objective of the work reported here was to evaluate the chromatographic properties of several cholesteric liquid crystals as stationary phases in HPLC. Included in this study was an investigation of the feasibility of bonding a cholesteric moiety to a solid support for use in HPLC. The columns showed a dramatic increase in capacity factor for steroid molecules as the temperature of the column was increased.