Solvophobic theory attempts to explain interactions between polar

solvent A solvent (from the Latin language, Latin ''wikt:solvo#Latin, solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a Solution (chemistry), solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas ...

s and non-polar

solutes In chemistry, a solution is defined by IUPAC as "A liquid or solid phase containing more than one substance, when for convenience one (or more) substance, which is called the solvent, is treated differently from the other substances, which are ...

. In the pure solvent, there are relatively strong cohesive forces between the solvent molecules due to

hydrogen bonding In chemistry, a hydrogen bond (H-bond) is a specific type of molecular interaction that exhibits partial covalent character and cannot be described as a purely electrostatic force. It occurs when a hydrogen (H) atom, Covalent bond, covalently b ...

or other polar interactions. Hence, non-polar solutes tend not to be soluble in polar solvents because these solvent-solvent binding interactions must be overcome first. When applied to liquid chromatography (LC), solvophobic theory attributes the retention of solutes on the stationary phase partly to the rejection of solute molecules by the solvent, and partly to the attraction of the solute molecules by the stationary phase.Satinder Ahuja, Selectivity and detectability optimizations in HPLC ,

References

Solutions Chromatography Separation processes {{Chromatography-stub