Recent Developments in HPLC and UHPLC

In this issue, we feature fundamental and innovative efforts from within the walls of some the leading companies in the separation science industry. The theme was inspired by the continuous output of essential separation tools and the seemingly endless streams of pertinent information that these companies provide the scientific community.

Sustainability concerns are renewing interest in SFC, often as a substitute for HPLC. With the broader application of SFC, we need a better understanding of selectivity in SFC, where stationary phase classification is not well established. This study assessed and measured the selectivity differences afforded by three prototype SFC phases.

Superficially porous particles (SPPs) are routinely used in analytical liquid chromatography (LC) columns, but they also provide benefits for preparative LC columns for use in pharmaceutical discovery laboratories and high-throughput environments. In this study, a preparative method using SPP-packed column had a 45% decrease in run time over a method using columns packed with fully porous particles, at standard flow.

A novel surface modification technology has been developed to reduce interactions between analytes and metal surfaces in HPLC instruments and columns. We demonstrate the impact of this technology on peak symmetry, peak area, and injection-to-injection and column-to-column reproducibility for several metal-sensitive analytes.