March 2000

This month's column begins our annual roundup of new column technologies shown at the Pittsburgh Conference. In part I, we'll look at HPLC columns and packings for reversed-, normal-, and bonded-phase; ion-exchange; ion; size-exclusion; and large- and preparative-scale chromatography as well as specialty columns.

In part III of this column series, John Dolan demonstrated that systematic variation of the solvent strength can change selectivity and retention, and changing solvent type can amplify the effect. This month, he looks at three additional parameters (pH, temperature, and column type) for adjusting selectivity.

This month's "GC Connections" begins a multipart series about gas chromatograph performance optimization. In this first part, John Hinshaw addresses questions of instrument capabilities and chromatographers' expectations, as well as manual–hardware optimization strategies and software-separation strategies.

The last "Data File" column discussed three of the six main parts found in a desktop database management system. In this installment, Glenn Ouchi introduces the other three parts: reports, macros, and modules.