Solvophobic theory attempts to explain interactions between polar

solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

s and non-polar solutes. In the pure solvent, there are relatively strong cohesive forces between the solvent molecules due to

hydrogen bonding In chemistry, a hydrogen bond (or H-bond) is a primarily electrostatic force of attraction between a hydrogen (H) atom which is covalently bound to a more electronegative "donor" atom or group (Dn), and another electronegative atom bearing ...

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