Concluding Remarks on LFER Applications in HPLC

In recent papers [19-21], a correlation between LFER parameters and stationary phase properties such as average pore width, alkyl chain length, bonding density, polar modification, etc., has been described. Such interrelations should extend the knowledge on retention mechanisms in liquid chromatography and hence serve to create alternative strategies for the design of new improved stationary phases. 

An efficient support from LFERs to speed-up method development and optimization is not yet conceivable. Besides the huge effort needed to determine solute parameters of new compoimds, even the most powerful LFER strategies do not yet offer the required accuracy in the prediction of selectivities. This vision, however, has been a focus of interest of HPLC experts for a long time. The future will show whether an LEER strategy is capable of bringing HPLC closer to the goal of computer-assisted precise prediction of retention on a physico-chemical basis. 

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