Comparison of the binary equilibrium isotherms of the 1-indanol enantiomers on three high-performance liquid chromatography columns of different sizes.

The competitive isotherm data for the enantiomers of 1-indanol were measured on three columns, a microbore column (15 cm x 0.1 cm), a conventional analytical column (15 cm x 0.46 cm), and a semi-preparative column (20 cm x 1.0 cm), packed with Chiralcel OB. The sets of isotherm data measured on each one of these three columns could be fitted well by a bi-Langmuir isotherm model. The experimental elution band profiles of mixtures of the 1-indanol isomers were recorded on the three columns. The isotherm model, combined with the equilibrium dispersive model of chromatography, gave calculated profiles that are in excellent agreement with the experimental profiles in all cases investigated. It was found that the value of the inner diameter of the column is an important parameter in the calculation of the isotherm parameters from the measured isotherm data. In order to use isotherm data obtained on one column to account for the phase equilibrium on another one, the inner diameters of these columns must be measured accurately. The diameters of the three columns were all slightly off their nominal value. Without correction, an important systematic error was made on the isotherm data obtained with the microbore column while only negligible errors were made on the data obtained with the other two columns. After due correction for this effect, the relative difference between the isotherm data for the microbore and the semi-preparative column is still, on the average, about 10%, a difference that might be explained by the limited precision of the measurement of the microbore column diameter. The relative difference between the isotherm data for the analytical and the semi-preparative columns was about 1%, a reasonable value, since the two columns came from different batches of the same packing material.