Specific Features of the Retention of Lutein Diesters on C16 Stationary Phases with Different Pore Diameters

It is shown that the column dead time determined from the retention of uracil is longer than the one determined from the retention of homologs—lutein diesters—for C16 reversed phases on three columns with sorbents with different pore diameters (80, 110, and 160 Å). This finding confirms the familiar assumption that the sorbate molecules 10% larger than the pore diameter can cause problems with the retention of the sorbate. It is found for smaller molecules (of alkyl benzoates) that the dead time determined from the retention of uracil is less than the one determined from the retention of the homologs on the same stationary phases, confirming that the main cause of the observed effect is the size factor.