Quantitative Structure-Retention Relationships Applied to Reversed-Phase High-Perfromance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

A quantitative structure-retention relationships (QSRR) approach, as one of the all-important areas in modern chemical science, gives knowledge that is practical and necessary for drug design, combinatorial, and medicinal chemistries. A QSRR derived by means of various statistical procedures are reviewed from the viewpoint of identifying retention affecting various factors and understanding the mechanism of chromatographic separations. A brief summary of the theoretical background of QSRR is followed by presentation of reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) separation theories of applications to the reported QSRR. Structural and physicochemical descriptors derived by RP-HPLC are discussed in relation to retention factors with special accent on properties of reversed-phase materials. Reported QSRR models are critically reviewed, bearing in mind their statistical predictability physical meaning. Information on retention mechanisms is briefly analyzed also. It is concluded that QSRR employing molecular descriptors expected to model fundamental intermolecular interactions. A QSRR studies are already demonstrated their great potential in most essential areas of contemporary chemistry. A quantity of scientific publications steadily grows from year to year, this implyies that the QSRR enormous advantage and potential in chemistry, biology, and pharmacology.