Del Nogare Award Session Honors Terry Berger’s Contributions to Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

This morning at Pittcon, The Chromatography Forum of Delaware Valley (CFDV) held an award session for the late Terry Berger, who was this year’s recipient of the Del Nogare Award. Sadly, Berger was informed of his winning of the award back in April 2024, but he passed away in May 2024 before he could accept (1). His wife Leslie and his daughter Blair were at the symposium to accept the Del Nogare Award on his behalf, and they provided a video tribute to him that highlights his career accomplishments and the impact he had made in the field of supercritical fluid chromatography (1).

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Berger was the 2025 recipient of the Dal Nogare Award because of his extensive career and contributions to the fundamental understanding of chromatography and SFC more particularly. His work in SFC helped popularize the technique and played a crucial role in its commercialization, first through Berger Scientific and later through Aurora, with further advancements following Agilent’s acquisition (1). His technical achievements demonstrated a strong conviction in the viability and importance of SFC across various industries (1).

Throughout his career, Dr. Berger’s key contributions include the development of advanced flow and pressure control systems for SFC instruments, methods to enhance chromatographic efficiency, and investigations into unique instrumental broadening effects that differentiate SFC from liquid chromatography (LC) (1). In addition, he was awarded 32 patents, with a strong emphasis on SFC innovations, particularly in preparative-scale applications (1). His work highlighted SFC’s potential as a sustainable alternative to normal-phase LC because of its significant reduction in solvent waste (1).

In the video tribute to Berger, numerous colleagues, friends, and business partners recounted their favorite memories of Berger, and highlighted the work they collaborated with him on. The rest of the symposium featured talks from some of the colleagues highlighted in the video, including Bill Farrell from Virscidian, Inc., Jeff Caldwell from Princeton Chromatography, and Professor Caroline West from Université d’Orléans in France (1).

Caldwell’s talk was titled, “Comparison of Superficially Porous Particle and Traditional Porous Silica Bonded Phases for SFC”, and it discussed the use of superficially porous particles (SPPs) in SFC compared to traditional porous silica phases (3). Although SPP materials are well-established in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for their rapid mass transfer and mechanical stability, Caldwell discussed that their adoption in SFC has been “limited because of fewer available stationary phases and the speed of SFC” (3). Comparative data on various SFC phases will highlight performance differences, demonstrating that optimized porous silica can rival SPP in speed and selectivity.

West’s talk was titled, “Recent Developments in Hyphenated Supercritical Fluid Systems Including Extraction and Chromatography”, and it went over the integration of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and SFC into a single workflow, along with the challenges of hyphenating SFC to mass spectrometry (MS) (3). Additionally, West explained the potential of two-dimensional SFC (2D-SFC) for complementary separations, highlighting both opportunities and technical challenges (3). Key topics included fluid compatibility, sample transfer efficiency, and instrument optimization for improved chromatographic performance in advanced SFC-based analytical systems (3).

Farrell’s talk was titled, “High Throughput Analysis Applications (using SFC/MS)”, and it was a reflection on the 30 years that he collaborated with Berger on various projects (4). Farrell explained how Berger’s advancements in SFC technology enabled high-throughput analysis and purification of combinatorial and medicinal chemistry compounds, which in turn has helped accelerate chemical research and drug discovery (4).

The Del Nogare Award Symposium served as a fitting tribute to Berger. Because of his numerous collaborations with other chromatographers, Berger has laid the groundwork for SFC to continue to advance in the years to come.

References

1. Pittcon, Chromatography Forum of Delaware Valley Dal Nogare Award. Lab Science Events. Available at: https://labscievents.pittcon.org/event/pittcon-2025/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMjQ4NTY2Mw== (accessed 2025-03-03).
2. Caldwell, J. Comparison of Superficially Porous Particle and Traditional Porous Silica Bonded Phases for SFC. Presented at the 76th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Boston, Massachusetts, March 3, 2025.
3. West, C. Recent Developments in Hyphenated Supercritical Fluid Systems Including Extraction and Chromatography. Presented at the 76th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Boston, Massachusetts, March 3, 2025.
4. Farrell, B. High Throughput Analysis Applications (using SFC/MS). Presented at the 76th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Boston, Massachusetts, March 3, 2025.