Correcting Peak Tailing Problems in Reversed Phase HPLC Peak tailing in reversed phase HPLC continues to be a common complaint
It is particularly prevalent when separating basic compounds and, therefore, a source of constant problems to those analyzing pharmaceutical compounds by HPLC
Peak tailing causes a number of problems, including lower resolution, reduced sensitivity, and poorer precision and quantitation
Figure 1 illustrates how resolution between peaks and sample sensitivity is negatively affected by peak tailing
Figure 2 illustrates how accuracy and precision of an analysis can suffer because of the inability of data systems to identify exactly where a tailing peak begins and ends
FIGURE 1 Effect of Peak Tailing on Resolution and Sensitivity As peak tailing (T, Tailing factor