An approach to the evaluation and comparison of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography stationary phases.

An approach to the evaluation and comparison of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography stationary phases with particular emphasis on data analysis and presentation is described. Assessment is based on the peak efficiency, asymmetry (USP tailing factor) and relative retention properties shown by 24 basic compounds having a wide range of structural and physico-chemical properties. A novel approach to data normalisation and presentation is described. This overcomes the problems associated with the quality of the column packing process, as well as differences in stationary phase selectivity which in conjunction with extra column band broadening effects can make comparisons meaningless.