Principe : Liquid chromatography allows for the separation or purification of one or more compounds of a mixture in view of their identification and their quantification.
The compounds to be separated (solutes) are put into solution in a solvent. this mixture is introduced into the mobile phase liquid (eluent). depending on the nature of the molecules, they interact more or less with the stationary phase in a tube called a chromatographic column. the mobile phase impelled by a pump under high pressure, travels through the chromatographic system. the mixture to be analyzed is injected and then transported through the chromatographic system. compounds in solution are divided so according to their affinity between the mobile phase and the stationary phase. the output of the column through a detector appropriate for the different solutes are characterized by a peak. all the peaks recorded is called a chromatogram.
There are different modes of separation in liquid chromatography: adsorption, partition (80% of separations), the ion-exchange and exclusion.