New calixarene-bonded stationary phases in high-performance liquid chromatography: comparative studies on the retention behavior and on influences of the eluent

The chromatographic behavior of six calixarene-bonded stationary phases is reported. Varying analyte selectivities (i.e., for phenols, substituted aromatics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, barbituric acid derivatives, xanthines) exist as a function of the ring-size of the calix[n]arenes (n=4, 6, 8) and the substitution at the “upper rim” with para-tert.-butyl groups. Although eluents with unusually high proportions of water were used, a comparison with conventional reversed-phase (RP) columns shows a predominantly reversed-phase character with remarkable selectivities of these phases. The influences of several organic solvents on retention variations of solutes are compared for RP-C18, phenyl and calixarene phases.