Adsorption and partition are the most fundamental phenomena involved in various natural and industrial processes, and, in analytical chemistry, have been utilized for various purposes: e.g. separation, condensation, removal of interferents etc. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Silica gel, alumina, activated carbon, and synthetic or natural polymers have found various applications as adsorbents. [1][2][3][4] On the other hand, partition has also long been studied as an essential mechanism in solvent extraction. [5][6][7] Although earlier work of solvent extraction focused on the bulk processes occurring in liquid phases, current methodologies have revealed the important involvements of interfaces in partition phenomena; 8 e.g. interfacial processes determine the kinetics of the entire partition reactions in some cases. However, as far as most of the molecular interactions in condensed phases are concerned, adsorption dominantly occurs on the surface of a solid whereas partition mostly occurs in a liquid phase.The terminology of adsorption and partition is often used for the classification of chromatography, i.e. adsorption chromatography and partition chromatography. 9 Liquid chromatography with silica gel as a stationary phase is a typical example of adsorption chromatography, while reversed-phase chromatography with ODS silica gel is usually considered as partition chromatography. In the latter mode, the retention mechanism is explained on the basis of the assumption that the hydrocarbon layer on the stationary phase surface accommodates a solute in a way similar to the solvation in a bulk solvent. Thus, adsorption and partition mechanisms are clearly distinguished from each other in usual liquid chromatography. Some studies have indicated that the surfaces of an ODS stationary phase show solid-liquid phase transition at a particular temperature; it was detected e.g. by a flection point of a van't Hoff plot. 10 If this consideration were correct, the retention mechanism would also be altered at the phase transition temperature between adsorption and partition. However, such a change actually depends on various factors and occurs over a relatively broad temperature range rather than at a well-defined phase transition temperature. Thus, this is not a real phase transition.The temperature is an important factor affecting chromatographic retention even though the retention relies on a single mechanism. However, if a phase transition occurs, a drastic change in retention is expected. Kanazawa et al. 11 have published a number of papers concerning temperatureresponsive stationary phases. They have utilized polymers showing a temperature-induced change in hydration. An aqueous solution of this polymer gives a well-defined critical temperature, at which its aqueous solution becomes turbid when warmed. This phase transition allows the modification of the hydrophobicity of the stationary phase surface simply by heating a separation column slightly higher than the ambient temperature.We have proposed ice chromatography, in which wa...