Comparison of Phenolic Compound Separations by HPTLC and PPEC with SDS as the Mobile Phase Component

The application of the surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate, SDS) as the component of the water-organic mobile phase in thin-layer chromatography and pressurized planar electrochromatography is presented. The influence of various variables on the separation of various phenolic compounds (flavonoids and phenolic acids) as model compounds with systems containing surfactant is discussed. The effect of concentration of butanol and SDS as well as pH of the mobile phase buffer on migration distance of the solute zones is investigated. The presence of SDS in the eluent affects the butanol solubility in the mobile phase. It allows using higher organic solvent concentration systems compared with the mode without surfactant. The amount of SDS in the eluent has the effect on the solute retention, whereas the eluent buffer pH affects the migration distances of ionisable phenolic acids both in HPTLC and PPEC. The migration distances of flavonoid glycosides are considerably longer than those of pure flavonoids. Considering second group of investigated solutes, derivatives of the benzoic acid migrate longer distances in comparison with the cinnamic acid ones. In addition, in the majority of experiments, ionisable compounds (phenolic acids) migrate longer distances in PPEC than nonionisable compounds (flavonoids). Additionally, the order of solutes differs in the PPEC and HPTLC system.