SEPARATION OF METAL-CONTAINING COMPOUNDS BY SUPERCRITICAL FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Supercritical fluid chromatography using packed, analytical-scale chromatographic columns was applied to gain separations of several metal-contalnlng systems. Mixtures of substituted ferrocenes and metal ß-dlketonates were separated by using methanol-modified C02 under moderate temperatures (50–100 °C) and pressures (2000–5000 psl) as the mobile phase. Two different types of chromatographic behaviors were observed which were found to be dependent on whether the separated metallic species was either substltutlonally Inert or substltutlonally labile. For Inert species, proper chromatographic behavior indicative of a reversible adsorption mechanism was found. For labile species, retention time variation with Injected amount, appearance of broad component peaks, and observation of multiple species for a single injection gave Indication of an irreversible adsorptive mechanism. © 1987, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.