Adsorption behavior and prediction of the band profiles of the enantiomers of 3-chloro-1-phenyl-1-propanol: Influence of the mass transfer kinetics

The single-component and competitive adsorption isotherms of the enantiomers of 3-chloro-1-phenyl-1-propanol were measured by frontal analysis. The stationary phase was a cellulose tribenzoate coated on silica, the mobile phase an n-hexane–ethyl acetate (95:5) solution. The adsorption data measured fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm model. The band profiles of single components and of their mixtures were calculated using the equilibrium-dispersive model. These profiles were found to match quite satisfactorily the experimental band profiles. However, the agreement between calculated and experimental band profiles was significantly improved when a more complex model taking into account the mass transfer kinetics was used. The mass transfer rate coefficients, kf, for both single components were determined by using the transport-dispersive model of chromatography. The coefficients obtained were used to predict the band profiles of mixtures of the two enantiomers to good agreement.