ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Understanding Chromatography with Sub-2-Micrometer Particles

This Monday morning session was arranged by Michael E. Swartz, of Synomics Pharmaceutical Services (Wareham, Massachusetts). Unfortunately, Swartz was unable to preside over the session or deliver a presentation as planned due to a cancelled flight to Chicago. Ken Fountain of Waters Corporation (Milford, Massachusetts) filled in ably for Swartz in presiding over the session.

Chromatography with sub-2-µm particles currently is a hot topic in separation science because of its potential for high resolution separations and reduced solvent consumption. Many instrument manufacturers have focused their efforts on this area.

The session began with a presentation by Ken Fountain titled “Achieving Maximum Performance with Sub-2-µm Particles.” The presentation focused on the effects of system volume, operating pressure, and separation temperature on separations using sub-2-µm particle columns.

Richard Verseput of S-Matrix (Eureka, California) presented a talk titled “A Quality-by-Design Methodology for Rapid LC Method Development.” Verseput’s presentation described an approach for the development of robust LC methods. The goal of the approach is to accelerate the column screening process and identify optimum LC instrument settings.

A presentation given by Rachel A. Lieberman of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was titled “Investigations of Column Packing Technology Using 1.0-µm Bridged Ethyl Hybrid Particles in Ultrahigh-Pressure Liquid Chromatography.” The bridged ethyl hybrid particles were suspended in acetone, tetrahydrofuran, and methyl ethyl ketone, and the effects of the various solvents on column packing and performance were investigated.

After a brief recess, Michael W. Dong of Genentech (South San Francisco, California) presented a talk titled “Potential Issues of Ultrahigh-Pressure LC Using Sub-2-µm Columns in Regulated Analysis.” His talk focused on various areas of concern in using sub-2-µm columns, including safety issues, compatibility with conventional columns and methods, injection precision and carryover, detector sensitivity, and system reliability and ease of use.

Mark Jacyno of Grace Davison Discovery Sciences (Deerfield, Illinois) then presented “Ultrahigh-Pressure LC Selectivity Options for High-Speed Separations.” Jacyno’s talk described and discussed the use of various sub-2-µm phases with complementary selectivities for pharmaceutical, environmental, and biotech applications.

The penultimate presentation in the session was titled “Using Fused-Core Particle Technology to Achieve Near Sub-2-µm Performance Using Conventional HPLC Equipment” and was presented by Thomas Waeghe of MAC-MOD Analytical (Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania). The presentation discussed research conducted using the company’s Fused-Core particles and HALO columns.

The session’s final presentation was given by Frank Dorman of Restek Corporation (Bellefonte, Pennsylvania) and was titled “The Role and Importance of Particle Dimensions and Stationary Phase Chemistry for Silica-Based UHPLC Columns.” In his presentation, Dorman discussed the effects of particle size, particle size distribution, and stationary phase selectivity on performance and column selection.