Special Issues-06-02-2020

Click the title above to open the Recent Developments in LC Column Technology special issue in an interactive PDF format.

To address the quest for greater separation power, the chromatographic community developed comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LCxLC). But even with LCxLC, it can still be challenging to analyze highly complex samples and obtain accurate and correct information. In this article, opportunities for optimizing methods for extracting maximum information from one-dimensional (1D)-LC and two-dimensional (2D)-LC chromatographic data are explained.

Is the desired goal of “shrinking down” capillary liquid chromatography (LC) from large laboratory systems to accurate portable field instruments realistic? This article explores recent progress in the miniaturization of LC components-such as capillary LC columns, micro- and nano-flow pumps, detectors, and other essential system components-and the future outlook for operating capillary LC instruments in remote settings.

Pretreatment of complex samples remains a key step in the analytical workflow, critically impacting the overall accuracy of results. Pretreatment methods have been a challenge for food, biofluids, and environmental samples. Here, the development and evolution of biocompatible solid-phase microextraction (bio-SPME) as a sample pretreatment method are discussed for use in liquid chromatography and direct mass spectrometry applications.

Single-column (batch) chromatography, involving two or more successive single-column (batch) chromatographic steps, is a standard approach for purifying biopharmaceuticals. Step one, known as the capture step, is used to remove product-related impurities, and step two, the polishing step, is used to remove product-related impurities. Here we present and illustrate the advantages of continuous chromatography for these separations: capture simulated moving bed (captureSMB) for the capture step and multicolumn countercurrent solvent gradient purification (MCSGP) for polishing.