This type of chromatography, in which the mobile phase is a liquid belongs to the oldest known form of the preparative methods of separation. This very broad category can be sub-divided depending on the retention phenomenon.
Liquid/solid chromatography (or adsorption chromatography)
The stationary phase is a solid medium to which the species adhere through the dual effect of physisorption and chemisorption. The physico-chemical parameter involved here is the adsorption coefficient. Stationary phases have made much progress since the time of Tswett, who used calcium carbonate or inulin (a very finely powdered polymer of ordinary sugar).
Ion chromatography (IC)
The stationary phase is a solid medium to which the species adhere through the dual effect of physisorption and chemisorption. The physico-chemical parameter involved here is the adsorption coefficient. Stationary phases have made much progress since the time of Tswett, who used calcium carbonate or inulin (a very finely powdered polymer of ordinary sugar).
Ion chromatography (IC)
In this technique the mobile phase is a buffered solution while the solid stationary phase has a surface composed of ionic sites. These phases allow the exchange of their mobile counter ion with ions of the same charge present in the sample. This type of separation relies on ionic distribution coefficients.
Size exclusion chromatography (SEC)
The stationary phase here is a material containing pores whose dimensions are selected as a function of the size of the species to be separated. This methodtherefore uses a form of selective permeability at the molecular level leading to its name, gel filtration or gel permeation depending on the nature of the mobile phase, which is either aqueous or organic. For this technique, the distribution coefficient is called the diffusion coefficient.
Liquid/liquid chromatography (or partition chromatography, LLC)
The stationary phase is an immobilized liquid upon an inert and porous material, which has only a mechanical role of support. Impregnation, the oldest procedure for immobilizing a liquid on a porous material, is a method now abandoned because of the elevated risk of washing out the column, which is called bleeding.
Liquid/bound phase chromatography
In order to immobilize the stationary phase (generally a liquid polymer), it is preferable to fix it by covalent bonding to a mechanical support. The quality of separation depends upon the partition coefficient K of the solute between the two phases, a phenomenon comparable to a liquid-liquid extraction between an aqueous and organic phase in a separating funnel.
The stationary phase here is a material containing pores whose dimensions are selected as a function of the size of the species to be separated. This methodtherefore uses a form of selective permeability at the molecular level leading to its name, gel filtration or gel permeation depending on the nature of the mobile phase, which is either aqueous or organic. For this technique, the distribution coefficient is called the diffusion coefficient.
Liquid/liquid chromatography (or partition chromatography, LLC)
The stationary phase is an immobilized liquid upon an inert and porous material, which has only a mechanical role of support. Impregnation, the oldest procedure for immobilizing a liquid on a porous material, is a method now abandoned because of the elevated risk of washing out the column, which is called bleeding.
Liquid/bound phase chromatography
In order to immobilize the stationary phase (generally a liquid polymer), it is preferable to fix it by covalent bonding to a mechanical support. The quality of separation depends upon the partition coefficient K of the solute between the two phases, a phenomenon comparable to a liquid-liquid extraction between an aqueous and organic phase in a separating funnel.