Acidified solvents are commonly used in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) to adjust mobile-phase pH and the ionization state of ionogenic compounds. When methanol-containing solvents are acidified with formic or trifluoroacetic acids, esters can be formed at chromatographically relevant rates, affecting baseline quality, retention, and selectivity. Understanding these effects is the first step toward avoiding the problems that can be caused by esterification in the bottle.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.