Applications of Micellar Liquid Chromatography in Bioanalysis: A Review

Micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) is one of the very important analytical techniques. It contains mobile phase added with surfactants above its critical micellar concentration and the stationary phase is modified with surfactant monomers. So, micelles alter the solubilising capability of the mobile phase which forms diverse interactions with major implications in retention and selectivity. It is an alternative to conventional reversed phase liquid chromatography. It allows direct injection of physiological fluids, analysis of pharmaceutical compounds, physiological partitioning process. MLC (micelle liquid chromatography) has proved time saving as compared to other analytical technique like HPLC and ion-pairing. Applicability of MLC is increased in the field of bioanalysis. It is used to analyze different samples of drugs in serum, urine, food etc. In this review we have focused on the various examples of use of MLC in bioanalysis. This review also contains basic information about MLC such as micellar mobile phase, stationary phase, surfactants, and fundamental studies such as retention behavior and partition coefficient.