Determination of chlorinated phenols by high-performance liquid chromatography

The separation of mono-, di-, tri- and tetrachlorinated phenols and pentachlorophenol has been investigated by high-performance liquid chromatography using three different systems, adsorption chromatography on silica and reversedphase chromatography on a polar bonded phase (aminoalkyl) and a non-polar bonded phase (octadecyl). A satisfactory group separation as well as a satisfactory separation of isomers could not be obtained by adsorption chromatography on silica. A reasonable separation of isomers was obtained with amino columns, but the group separation was not satisfactory. The octadecyl columns were superior with reference both to separation of groups and of isomers within these groups as well as to stability and speed of analysis. A mixture of nineteen different phenols was resolved on a C18 column with a 30-min linear gradient of 56–80% methanol and 44-20% of 0.02 M KH2PO4 (pH 4.0).