The difficulty in separating two compounds generally increases as the molecular structures of the two compounds become more similar. Isomers represent a "worst case" scenario, which can serve as a test of the efficacy of a given method development approach. We have advocated the use of DryLab for method development, with particular stress on simultaneous changes in temperature T and either isocratic %B or gradient time tG for the purpose of optimizing selectivity and band spacing. The application of the latter procedure to 137 different isomer pairs resulted in the separation of 90% of these pairs with a resolution of at least Rs = 1.0. It is concluded that optimizing temperature and gradient time is a good first step in method development.

When separations by reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) are carried out at temperatures other than ambient, resulting retention times and bandwidths can depend on the equipment used. As a result, an RP-LC separation that is adequate when carried out on one LC system may prove inadequate when the separation is repeated on a second system. In the present study, various temperature-related problems that can result in a failure of method transfer for non-ambient RP-LC methods were examined using DryLab. Means for correcting for such effects, and thereby ensuring method transferability, are described. Using temperature to optimize HPLC separation, care must be taken to ensure that the column is at the correct temperature. An experimental study is described that leads to simple rules for ensuring good method transfer for methods run at temperatures > ambient.

Optimization of the HPLC separation conditions for the determination of albendazol and its main metabolites by gradient elution using a 2-dimensional tG-T-DryLab-model is demonstrated. The optimal separation of the compounds of interest from endogenous plasma constituens was obtained by simultaneously optimizing gradient range, temperature and gradient time. DryLab sufficiently resolved the peaks of interest from the endogenous plasma components. The results show excellent comparisons of the DryLab models with the real experiments.

Different C18 columns were used with DryLab for the optimization of temperature and gradient steepness for the separation of impurities from a pharmaceutical product. For this application, each of nine different columns gave similar results (a resolution Rs equal to 2.1-2.7), while a column with an embedded polar group gave somewhat better separation (Rs = 3.2).

Four experimental runs where temperature T and gradient time t_G are varied allow the computer-prediction of reversed-phase liquid chromatographic (RPLC) separation for different combinations of temperature and gradient time. This in turn can provide significant changes in selectivity and a resulting optimization of separation. If this procedure is repeated for different columns, additional control over selectivity and resolution becomes possible. The simultaneous variation of T and t_G for columns from different sources was studied for two samples, as a means of evaluating the general advantage of this approach for RPLC method development. Changes in relative retention with T were found to be approximately constant for different values of t_G and for different RPLC columns; similarly, changes in relative retention with tG were roughly independent of changes in temperature or the column. The latter relationships can be useful in matching ("tracking") peaks between runs during method development based on the present approach, as well as for other applications discussed in here and in Part II.

The separation of samples that contain more than 15 to 20 analytes (n>15–20) is typically difficult and usually requires gradient elution. We have examined the reversed-phase liquid chromatographic separation of 24 samples with 8≤n≤48 as a function of temperature T and gradient time tG. The required peak capacity was determined for each sample, after selecting T and tG for optimum selectivity and maximum sample resolution. Comparison of these results with estimates of the maximum possible peak capacity in reversed-phase gradient elution was used to quantify the maximum value of n for some required sample resolution (when T and tG have been optimized). These results were also compared with literature studies of similar isocratic separations as a function of ternary-solvent mobile phase composition, where the proportions of methanol (MeOH), tetrahydrofuran (THF) and water were varied simultaneously. This in turn provides information on the relative effectiveness of these two different method development procedures (optimization of T and tG vs. % MeOH and % THF) for changing selectivity and achieving maximum resolution.

By optimizing column temperature T and gradient time tG, complex samples can often be separated by means of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-LC). Conclusions reached in Part I suggest that the complete separation of such samples will be difficult, however, when more than 15–20 components are present in the sample. An alternative approach is to carry out two separations with different conditions (T, tG) in each run. The combination of results from these two runs then allows the total analysis of the sample, providing that every sample component is adequately resolved in one run or the other. Examples of this approach, carried out by means of computer simulation, are shown here for several samples of varying complexity. Also considered is the ability of a single separation where T and tG are optimized to enable the separation and analysis of one or more individual sample components from complex mixtures (e.g., drugs in animal plasma), including the resolution of isomeric compounds from each other.