Separation of pesticides on an octadecyl-coated alumina column

Abstract

The retention times of 33 commercial pesticides were determined on an octadecyl alumina HPLC column using water-methanol mixtures. The retention of the pesticides decreased with an increasing concentration of methanol in the eluent proving the regular retention behaviour of the solutes. The retention characteristics of pesticides did not correlate to their hydrophobicity parameters indicating that the absorption centers of alumina not covered by the hydrophobic octadecyl ligand considerably influence the retention. The opposite linear correlation between the retention of pesticides on alumina and octadecyl alumina supports proves that octadecyl alumina supports behave as real reversed-phase supports, however, their retention characteristics differ considerably from those of traditional octadecylsilica supports.