To further elucidate the complexity of partitioning of multiprotic solutes, we plot in Figure ) the concentrations of various ionized stated of the diprotic acid in the supernatant. This figure shows that the concentration of the uncharged state in the complex is about two times lower than in the supernatant. This is because the interaction of the uncharged species is dominated by the steric repulsion which favours the more dilute supernatant over the highly concentrated interpolyelectrolyte complex. In contrast, the concentrations of monovalent species are almost the same in both, supernatant and the complex phase with a slight preference of the supernatant phase, in agreement with the partitioning of monovalent salt, discussed in Sec. 3.2. Finally, the concentration of divalent species is about six times higher in the complex phase than in the supernatant, in agreement with the partitioning of divalent salt. Thus, we can conclude that partitioning of a diprotic acid as a function of pH represents a gradual transition from the behaviour dominated by steric repulsion to that dominated by electrostatic interactions. However, this transition is strongly affected by deviations from the ideal behaviour, therefore, it cannot be correctly described by the ideal model of acid-base ionization.