Award Symposium: The LCGC Lifetime Achievement and Emerging Leader Awards
March 1st 2017This afternoon, the winners of the LCGC Awards will be honored in an oral symposium at Pittcon. Pat Sandra of the Research Institute for Chromatography will receive the 2017 LCGC Lifetime Achievement Award at 1:30, and Deirdre Cabooter of the University of Leuven will receive the 2017 LCGC Emerging Leader Award at 3:40 pm, just after the break.
Count the Cost, Part 1: Increasing Resolution by Increasing Column Efficiency
March 1st 2017When considering column efficiency, more is not always better. We look at some ways to quickly estimate the effects of changes in column length and particle diameter rather than trying the experiments in the laboratory.
Improving GC Performance Systematically
March 1st 2017Gas chromatographers can control several variables that affect their separations: carrier-gas flow, column temperature, column dimensions, and stationary-phase chemistry. When faced with less than optimum resolution or separation speed, a strategy of changing just one variable at a time can be more productive than trying to hit the goal in one attempt. This month’s “GC Connections” examines how to use such a plan to obtain better gas chromatography results.
Analysis of Limonin in Citrus Juice Using QuEChERS and LC–MS/MS
March 1st 2017This application note outlines a simple, fast, and cost‑effective QuEChERS-based method for the determination of limonin in citrus juice. Limonin is extracted from a variety of juice samples using acetonitrile and citrate-buffered salts. The sample extract undergoes cleanup by dispersive-SPE (dSPE) using primary‑secondary amine (PSA), C18, and graphitized carbon black (GCB) to remove unwanted matrix components, including sugars, acids, and pigments, and to yield a clear sample extract. Analysis is performed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) using a Selectra® C18 HPLC column (although high performance liquid chromatography [HPLC]–UV can also be used).
Ensuring Protein Reagent Quality by SEC-MALS
March 1st 2017Quality and consistency in reagents is critical to successful drug discovery and development. When targeting a particular protein of interest, in vitro experiments should be performed with proteins of biological properties similar to those for in vivo tests. It is important that molecularity, purity, shape, and degree of heterogeneity remain the same when any alterations are made to the model protein or the formulation buffer. Multi-angle light scattering (MALS) combined with size-exclusion chromatography (SEC-MALS) is a very useful technique to monitor the solution properties of the protein as changes to reagents are made.
DAR Analysis of Antibody–Drug Conjugates
March 1st 2017In this application note, an antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) was analyzed using a TSKgel® Butyl-NPR column, the least hydrophobic of the TSKgel HIC columns. Both unconjugated and drug conjugated Trastuzumab samples were successfully separated with baseline resolution. The baseline resolution enabled an easy integration and quantification of different drug pay loads in ADC characterization.
SFC or (U)HPLC? Why Not Try Both...
March 1st 2017Projects in drug discovery and safety constantly aim at development of novel and safer drugs, therapeutics, and diagnostics. During active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) development, drug stereoisomerism is recognized as an issue having clinical and regulatory implications. Enantiomers have essentially identical physical and chemical properties, while potentially showing large differences in toxicity.
A Test Mixture for Performance Verification of Multi-User UHPLC–MS Instruments
March 1st 2017Chromatographic techniques with mass spectrometric detection are important enablers in modern drug discovery. With the development of robust instrumentation and implementation of user-friendly software (or software packages), non-expert users can now walk up to easily accessible advanced chromatographic systems and perform experiments at their own convenience. Although remarkable improvements in robustness and ease-of-use have happened since the introduction of the first high performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS) systems, the instrument performance still needs to be qualified and monitored to ensure consistent high-quality results. This article will demonstrate how a simple test mixture of carefully selected compounds can facilitate both the development of generic ultrahigh-pressure liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS) methods and automated performance monitoring of multiple instruments located in separate laboratories and buildings.
Investigation of Reequilibration in Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography
March 1st 2017Interest in chromatography using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) has continued to build in recent years. Adoption of the technique has been slowed by experiences of poor reproducibility. In particular, reequilibration times in HILIC have been reported as being exceptionally long as compared to reversed-phase chromatography. In this study, reequilibration times in HILIC for both aqueous–organic gradients and buffer gradients are systematically explored. The results not only promise to improve method development practices, but also provide insight into HILIC retention mechanisms across mechanistically differing polar stationary phases.
Chromatography Forum of the Delaware Valley Dal Nogare Award
February 28th 2017The 2017 Chromatography Forum of the Delaware Valley Dal Nogare Award will be presented Monday morning at Pittcon 2017 to Professor Andras Guttman from the Csaba Horváth Laboratory of Bioseparation Sciences at the University of Debrecen in Hungary.
Molar Mass Analysis in Reversed-Phase Chromatography by Multi-Angle Light Scattering
February 28th 2017Wyatt TechnologyReversed-phase chromatography represents one of the most popular applications of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), with particular importance for protein characterization. Because elution depends on the hydrophobicity of the sample, it is generally impossible to identify the separated products on the basis of their elution time (volume). Frequently, each eluted fraction must be isolated further and analyzed with other techniques to gain some understanding of the molecular behaviour of the protein.
The LCGC Blog: The Value of a Student Internship
February 27th 2017Students who have an internship on their resume, and are seeking jobs in a particular sector, are doing so with an informed opinion. While an internship comes in many forms, that real-world experience has provided a clear touchstone of understanding of what it would be like to work in a given sector.
Omar K. Farha Wins the Satinder Ahuja Award for Young Investigator in Separation Sciences
February 21st 2017The Satinder Ahuja Award for Young Investigator in Separation Sciences has been presented to Omar K. Farha, a research professor of chemistry at Northwestern University, Distinguished Adjunct Professor at King Abdulaziz University, and president of NuMat Technologies.