Performance of two countercurrent chromatographic models, high-speed countercurrent chromatograph (HSCCC-4000) and analytical toroidal coil centrifuge (TCC), is evaluated in terms of theoretical plate number, resolution factor and separation time to assess their analytical capability. A series of experiments was conducted to investigate the effects of internal diameter and length of the coiled column and flow rate of the mobile phase on the separation of indole auxins in two-phase solvent systems composed of n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water at different volume ratios. The three components of the indole auxins were completely resolved in 16 min with the HSCCC system equipped with a multilayer coil of a 0.55 mm ID PTFE tube with theoretical plates ranging from 829 to 1,290. Similar separation was achieved in 24 min with the TCC system equipped with a 0.3mm ID PTFE tube with theoretical plates ranging from 969 to 1,811. It is concluded that both systems have comparable analytical capability at the present stage of development.
