Advantages and disadvantages of ion-pair chromatography

Reversed-phase ion-pairing chromatography is an extremely useful technique in analytical chemistry to separate the charged molecules that would not be retained in regular RP-HPLC. It can be used for both positively and negatively charged types of analytes and is a sophisticated chromatographic technique.Here some advantages and disadvantages of ion-pair chromatography are mentioned.Advantages of ion-pair chromatography:

The separation of ion-pairing chromatography includes two additional variables that can be used to manage the selectivity.

It can separate both ionized and non-ionized analytes simultaneously.

It can improve peak shapes.

This significantly reduces separation time compared to ion-exchange chromatography.

The preparation of buffers is simple.

Has a high reproducibility of results.

It has the broadest selection of carbon chain length for better separation and retention.

Easy and quicker preparation compared with gas chromatography.

It gives very precise and reproducible results.

It can separate the compound in short retention time.

It has Low limit of quantification (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD)

Disadvantages of ion-pair chromatography:

More operational complexity

Interpretation of results is more challenging

Column equilibration takes longer time after changing the mobile phase

The cost of analysis is a little high since ion pairing is used to separate the compounds.

The ion-pair materials are non-reproducibility from batch to batch.

The lower activity and stability.