Solute molecules, groupings

The solvent accessible surface area (SASA) method is built around the assumption that the greatest amount of interaction with the solvent is in the area very close to the solute molecule. This is accounted for by determining a surface area for each atom or group of atoms that is in contact with the solvent. The free energy of solvation AG° is then computed by... 

The most widely used particulate support is diatomaceous earth, which is composed of the silica skeletons of diatoms. These particles are quite porous, with surface areas of 0.5-7.5 m /g, which provides ample contact between the mobile phase and stationary phase. When hydrolyzed, the surface of a diatomaceous earth contains silanol groups (-SiOH), providing active sites that absorb solute molecules in gas-solid chromatography. 

The standard free energy can be divided up in two ways to explain the mechanism of retention. First, the portions of free energy can be allotted to specific types of molecular interaction that can occur between the solute molecules and the two phases. This approach will be considered later after the subject of molecular interactions has been discussed. The second requires that the molecule is divided into different parts and each part allotted a portion of the standard free energy. With this approach, the contributions made by different parts of the solvent molecule to retention can often be explained. This concept was suggested by Martin [4] many years ago, and can be used to relate molecular structure to solute retention. Initially, it is necessary to choose a molecular group that would be fairly ubiquitous and that could be used as the first building block to develop the correlation. The methylene group (CH2) is the... 

In contrast to apportioning the standard free energy between different groups in the solute molecule, the standard free energy can also be dispensed between the different types of forces involved in the solute/phase-phase distribution. This approach has been elegantly developed by Martire et al. [13]. In a simplified form, the standard free energy can be divided into portions that result from the different types of interaction, e.g.,... 

The second type of interaction, displacement interaction, is depicted in Figure 10. This type of interaction occurs when a strongly polar solute, such as an alcohol, can interact directly with the strongly polar silanol group and displaces the adsorbed solvent layer. Depending on the strength of the interaction between the solute molecules and the silica gel, it may displace the more weakly adsorbed solvent and interact directly with the silica gel but interact with the other solvent layer by sorption. Alternatively, if solute-stationary phase interactions are sufficiently strong, then the solute may displace both solvents and interact directly with the stationary phase surface. 

In the case of nonionic but polar compounds such as sugars, the excellent solvent properties of water stem from its ability to readily form hydrogen bonds with the polar functional groups on these compounds, such as hydroxyls, amines, and carbonyls. These polar interactions between solvent and solute are stronger than the intermolecular attractions between solute molecules caused by van der Waals forces and weaker hydrogen bonding. Thus, the solute molecules readily dissolve in water. 

This separation is an impressive example of an entropically driven distribution system where the normally random movements of the solute molecules are restricted to different extents depending on the spatial orientation of the substituent groups. For further information the reader is directed to an excellent review of chiral separations by LC (Taylor and Maher (12)) and a monograph on CYCLOBOND materials from ASTEC Inc. (13). 

Finally, in instances in which a bulky solute molecule with several functional groups can be added to the system, a fragile sort of structure can be built up by simultaneous attachment of these molecules to create a network with the characteristics of a gel. This system is then permanently metastable toward settling and caking, but may not withstand the ravages of shear or high temperature. 

---