Quantitative structure-retention relationships of phenolic compounds without Hammett's equations.

Retention times of phenolic compounds in a given pH eluent in reversed-phase liquid chromatography were predicted from dissociation constants derived from atomic partial charges and log P-values calculated by a computational chemical method. The precision of the calculation of atomic partial charges by AMI and PM3 methods of MOPAC was evaluated. The atomic partial charges obtained by AMI were the more acceptable. The atomic partial charges obtained from the hydrogen of the hydroxyl group included an ortho-effect, therefore an ortho-effect was added to the predicted values. The precision of predicted retention factors obtained using predicted pKa values was similar to that using reference pKa values.