The differential migration of sterol acetates on silica gels and its application to the fractionation of sterol mixtures*

Abstract

The retention volumes of 12 sterol acetates relative to cholesteryl acetate were determined on four well-characterized silica gels of different body structure. These values illustrate the contribution of silica gel structure to the chromatographic process and permit the selection of appropriate gels for a given separation. The application of these values to the fractionation of model and biological mixtures of sterol acetates is illustrated.