Alternative solvents for improving the greenness of normal phase liquid chromatography of lipid classes.

An evaluation of solvents alternative to n-heptane (d-limonene and hexamethyldisiloxane) and chloroform (cyclopentyl methyl ether, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran and isopentyl acetate) was developed for lipid classes separation of non-polar cholesteryl ester to highly polar phospholipids by high-performance liquid chromatography on bare silica stationary phase and evaporative light-scattering detection. Screening of alternative solvents was used to estimate their compatibility with liquid chromatography and evaporative light-scattering detection and to evaluate their chromatographic selectivity. This work shows that n-heptane can be advantageously replaced by hexamethyldisiloxane.