Tips & Tricks GPC/SEC: Quantify and Get More Than Molar Mass Averages
February 7th 2017Gel permeation chromatography/size-exclusion chromatography (GPC/SEC) is used to determine molar mass averages and the complete molar mass distribution with just one injection. This is possible because GPC/SEC is a fractionating technique. The fractionation power allows the higher molar mass fraction to be characterized and more about low molar mass compounds such as oligomers, additives, or residual educts to be learned.
Bruker Acquires MSI Company SCiLS
February 7th 2017Bruker (Bremen, Germany) has announced the acquisition of SCiLS GmbH in Bremen, Germany. Founded as a spin‑off from the University of Bremen, SCiLS develops software tools such as statistical analysis software, sophisticated visualization viewers, and secure cloud-based services for collaborative interpretation of complex mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) data sets. Currently, 95% of all MSI data is acquired by label-free MALDI imaging systems.
Thermo and ASTM International Work Together to Assess Water Safety
February 7th 2017Thermo Fisher Scientific (Sunnyvale, California, USA) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) have developed an ion chromatography-based method for the simultaneous determination of nitrogen and phosphorous levels in water.
Agilent Purchases Diagnostics Company Multiplicom
February 7th 2017Agilent Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, California, USA) and Multiplicom N.V. (Niel, Belgium) have announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for Agilent to acquire Multiplicom, a European diagnostics company involved in genetic testing. Agilent is acquiring Multiplicom for approximately €68 million in cash.
The LCGC Blog: Drive It Like You Stole It–Getting the Most from Your GC Quadrupole MS
February 6th 2017This time I’m going to be looking at how to get the most from your GC–MS (Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry) system, and I intend to keep things as simple as possible, however I also make no apology in the fact that some of the concepts may be beyond your current understanding. My intention here is to explain some of the basics so that you will be able to use your instrumentation to best effect.
The LCGC Blog: Rethinking Undergraduate Chemistry Education
January 30th 2017For the most part, we are still instructing undergraduate students in the same way as when I went to school, and I think this is a disservice to the students and to the nature of chemistry. No wonder chemistry programs have trouble attracting students compared to other science disciplines, like biology and psychology. Students will take general chemistry, but they cannot see where it may lead. I want to change that.
Microextraction and Its Application to Forensic Toxicology Analysis
January 18th 2017This instalment describes several commonly used microextraction sample preparation techniques and their applications to forensic toxicology analysis. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME), microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS), and different types of liquid-based microextraction (LPME), including single‑drop microextraction (SDME), hollow-fibre supported LPME, three-phase LPME, and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME), are discussed. Examples of application of these techniques to determine illicit drugs and drugs of abuse from various biological specimens are provided as well.
Agilent Thought Leader Award Presented to Shane Snyder
January 17th 2017Agilent Technologies has announced that Shane Snyder, Ph.D., has received an Agilent Thought Leader Award in recognition of his research in water analysis, and the exploration of new approaches to determine the quality and safety of drinking water.
Identifying EDCs in Paper Mill Wastewaters
January 17th 2017Researchers investigating paper mill effluents and their impact on surface waters in Slovenia have identified endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and their mutagenic and genotoxic properties using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS).
The LCGC Blog: Nontraditional Research Funding: More than One Way to Skin a Cat
January 17th 2017As I wrote the title of this LCGC Blog instalment, I could not help but wonder where the cliché “more than one way to skin a cat” came from. Turns out it is from Mark Twain in his 1889 work, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I have never read that book, but I certainly have heard this saying used more than once - even if it might offend some cat lovers. Of course, it means simply that there is more than one way to do something.