What kind of solvents cannot be used with the polysaccharid based chiral columns?

Some of the most popular eluents for HPLC (such as acetone, chloroform, DMF, DMSO, MEK, toluene, dioxane, ethyl acetate, methylene chloride, pyridine and THF) which may be remaining in your HPLC system from previous analyses, can destroy Eurospher II Chiral AM and OM CSPs, even in small concentrations. In the worst case, this can cause solubilization of the polysaccharide coating at the head of the column and result in a plugged column. It is highly recommended that the HPLC system is flushed with appropriate eluents before the chiral column is installed.

The instruction sheet lists solvents which can be used. Mixtures of three solvents should be avoided.

Operating Procedure: Normal Phase Mode (NP) 

Eluent: suitable mobile phases include: hexane, heptane, 2-propanol and ethanol in different mixtures;

(NOTE: recommended mobile phase: hexane/2-propanol (90/10 v/v)

Modifier: includes N,N-diethylamine for basic samples; trifluoroacetic acid for acidic samples;

(NOTE: minimize use of the modifier; typical use is 0.1 %; maximum 0.5%.)

In NP Mode Retention time is generally shorter with higher alcohol content. Ethanol will shorten the retention time compared to 2-propanol.

Operating Procedure: Polar Organic Mode (POM)

Eluent: suitable mobile phases include: 2-propanol, ethanol, methanol, acetonitrile

Modifier: includes N,N-diethylamine for basic samples; trifluoroacetic acid for acidic samples;  

(NOTE: minimize use of the modifier; typical use is 0.1 %; maximum 0.5%.)

Operating Procedure: Reversed Phase Mode (RP) 

Eluent: neutral: water/acetonitrile or water/methanol in different mixtures

             basic: 0.1 M aqueous salt/acetonitrile (methanol) in different mixtures (recommended salts: PF₆^-, ClO₄^-, NO₃^-, I^-, Br^-,SO₄^2-, CH₃CO₂^-, F^-)

             acidic: aqueous (limit pH 2)/acetonitrile (methanol) in different mixtures (use TFA or phosphoric acid)