A phosphonium surfactant is introduced as a pseudostationary phase for MEKC and its performance and selectivity are compared to that of an analogous ammonium surfactant. The linear solvation energy relationship model has been applied to the two cationic surfactants, allowing the contributions of five chemical factors to the interactions between solutes and the micelles to be evaluated. Differences in the pseudophases cohesivity and acid/base interactions were observed. Despite the significant differences observed in the solvation parameter results the two phases have remarkably similar electrophoretic properties, with the anodic EOF produced by the dynamic coating and the electrophoretic mobility of the two surfactants being statistically equal.