Fundamental studies of the mass transfer kinetics are as essential as those of the retention equilibrium for a detailed understanding of the characteristics and the mechanisms of chromatographic separations. The acquisition of a large amount of reliable experimental data and of meaningful results is necessary for any further progress of our knowledge of kinetics. The main goal of this review is to provide information on the methods used to perform accurate measurements and on the data analysis procedures used for deriving the kinetic parameters characterizing mass transfer in HPLC. First, the general characteristics of several methods of determination of some kinetic parameters are briefly reviewed. Secondly, we give detailed explanations of the experimental conditions of the pulse on a plateau method (i.e., elution chromatography on a plateau of finite concentration or pulse response method) and of the data analysis procedures based on moment analysis. Thirdly, we explain some important requirements for the acquisition of appropriate experimental data and discuss corrections to be applied when deriving several kinetic parameters. Fourthly, we discuss the accuracy of the kinetic parameters derived from the pulse on a plateau method and from moment analysis. Finally, some results concerning the mass transfer kinetics in RPLC systems are demonstrated as examples.

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The analysis of experimental results in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) allows further discussion of the restricted diffusion model of surface diffusion formulated on the basis of the absolute rate theory. Chromatographic data were acquired on different RPLC systems with two series of homologous compounds, several stationary phases having different alkyl ligand densities and ligands of various lengths, and methanol/water mobile phases of different compositions. The enthalpy-entropy compensation observed and the linear free energy relationships found for surface diffusion suggest that the surface diffusion mechanism remains probably the same in all RPLC conditions studied. Whereas the isosteric heat of adsorption approaches zero with decreasing retention, the activation energy of surface diffusion tends toward a finite limit and the surface diffusion coefficient tends toward a value near the corresponding molecular diffusivity. These results support the validity of the restricted diffusion model. The influence of different factors on the validity of this model (i.e., the activation energy and the frequency factor of surface diffusion, and the surface tortuosity) was also considered.