Kinetic study on the epimerization of trityloxymethyl butyrolactol by liquid chromatography

The epimerization of trityloxymethyl butyrolactol has been investigated using dynamic chromatography and an approximation function introduced by Trapp and Schurig that is based on stochastic and theoretical plate models. The epimerization rate constants and Gibbs activation energies of epimerization are directly calculated from chromatographic peak parameters, i.e. retention times of the interconverting species, peak width at half height and the relative plateau height by using the approximation function. The relationships between peak shape and chromatographic conditions, such as flow-rate, temperature and pH are investigated.