From Pittcon 2024 and Beyond: New Gas Chromatography Products to Watch This Year

I am pleased to present our annual review of new products in gas chromatography, introduced between spring 2023 and spring 2024. Pittcon convened in sunny San Diego, California, from February 24–28, 2024, and continued the trend of trade shows becoming smaller over the past several years. The intimacy of the show allowed me to easily converse with many colleagues and vendors who I see in-person once a year. The personal interactions, collaboration, and new ideas were more than worth the cost and effort of travel. Many of the major vendors were not present; I hope that they will reconsider attending and marketing at Pittcon and other conferences both as a means for “waving the flag” and for personal interaction and collaboration with colleagues and decision makers. The smaller conference opens up new venues and opportunities, with future meetings in Boston, Massachusetts, San Antonio, Texas, and back in San Diego.

Pittcon 2025 will be held from March 1–5 in Boston, Massachusetts. Although travel funding and opportunities are tight, I challenge everyone to start or resume attending professional conferences this year. Also, consider participating in a local or regional chromatography discussion group or local section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting. In the remainder of 2024 and early 2025, I plan to attend at least four meetings, including the American Chemical Society in Denver, Colorado in August 2024, the Eastern Analytical Symposium in Princeton, New Jersey in November, 2024 and Pittcon in Boston in March, 2025. I have used the rise of the virtual conferences to attend additional meetings that I would not have attended otherwise due to the travel costs. Coming out of the pandemic, current global economic conditions were extremely difficult for conference organizers and for the many vendors, contractors, and economies that conferences support. They still need your help, even more than last year. Conference and meeting attendance is still the best way to improve skills, learn about new techniques, train, and educate yourself.

For a no-cost virtual experience, look out for the 2024 ChromTalks, in June, sponsored by LCGC International and CHROMacademy, its online training platform.

Gas chromatography (GC) continues to have a strong presence on the conference circuit and in the literature. Topics such as cannabis analysis, biofuels, food and beverages, forensics, pharmaceuticals, and general applications of both GC and two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) are seen in a robust publication space. GC itself is trending toward being less the driver of research than its application to scientific problems. The most effective online search for GC today probably begins with phrases such as “GC of ____” with your analyte or sample of interest filling in the blank.

The information presented in this article is based on vendors’ responses to questionnaires and additional information from press releases, websites, and product literature, not on actual use or experience of the author. Every effort has been made to collect accurate information, but because of the preliminary nature of some of the material, LCGC International cannot be responsible for errors or omissions. This column cannot be considered a complete record of all new GC products introduced in the past year because not all vendors responded to the questionnaire, nor is all the submitted information necessarily included here, because of the limited available space and the editors’ judgment as to its suitability. Table I provides a listing of the vendors highlighted in this review, some of whom are lesser known in the areas they are listed, showcased new products this year, or both. For a more complete picture of the GC space today, I encourage you to also review the three previous years’ reviews (1–3).

TABLE I: Companies mentioned in this review

In new instruments, trends seen over the past few years toward smaller, more automated systems, systems that are more specialized, and spectrometric detectors continue this year. New smaller-footprint products are seen from HyperChrom, Shimadzu, and a newcomer from China, Yoke Instruments. Lucidity has increased its product line in support of its mini GC product, and small footprint GCs are still available from reliable standbys Gow-Mac and Buck Scientific. Table II shows a list of new, complete instruments introduced over the past year. All these systems are designed with optimizing and simplifying workflows, operation, and maintenance. One concern is that systems are becoming so automated and convenient to use that training and education may be viewed as less necessary, a seemingly reasonable view until something goes wrong. They represent a range from a portable instrument about the size of a small briefcase, to a bench-top instrument to a range of options for gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS).

TABLE II: New Instruments and Systems in 2023–2024

Stationary phases continue to be updated by most of the vendors, with nearly all making incremental improvements or showing new applications in their online application note libraries. New stationary phases, from GL Sciences, highlighted in Table III, illustrate this incremental trend. Using classical polydimethysiloxane stationary phases and new polyimide coatings they extend the range of fused silica columns to 400 °C. Users are encouraged to contact and keep up with your column vendor; new phases and improvements are happening continuously.

TABLE III: New Stationary Phases Introduced in 2023-2024

In 2023–2024, after a strong several years, there were relatively few new developments in developments in new accessories, sampling devices, and detectors. These continue to trend toward simplifying analysis and making chromatographers’ work easier. A new sulfur and nitrogen chemiluminescence detector was offered by PAC, summarized in Table IV. VUV Analytics continues to improve its small-footprint LUMA vacuum ultraviolet detector, making it now compatible with most major vendors’ data systems. LECO continues to develop its Precision Flow Modulator, making GC×GC more accessible and simpler to use. For more information on sample preparation, see the specific sample preparation article by Doug Raynie in LCGC International next month. As with the GC reviews, it is worthwhile to review the past two years as well for a complete picture of sample preparation products (4,5). Table IV provides a listing of products released in the past year that illustrate this trend. Many of the accessories are instrumental improvements in detectors and sampling devices.

TABLE IV: New Sampling Devices and Detectors for 2023–2024

Software and online resources continue to evolve along with the new technology and upgrades to existing platforms. Shimadzu and Jeol highlight the addition of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in method development and spectral interpretation in their GC–MS and GC–MS/MS systems. With the emergence of AI throughout society and science, it is worthwhile to inquire of any software and instrument control vendor, where they stand with implementing AI capabilities. Restek continues to develop and improve its online GC and LC method development tools, Pro-RZGC and Pro-EZLC. These are both simple to use and worth a look, even if you just like to play around with seeing the effects of changes in conditions on separations.

Our emergence from the pandemic provides more opportunities to continue education and training. Besides numerous short courses associated with Pittcon and other major conferences, many additional training and educational resources are available for 2024. The pandemic has resulted in much growth in online training and seminar offerings by vendors and training organizations, so check with your vendor. Opportunities for in-person short courses, seminars and training are moving again and are offered by most major instrument vendors and through many conferences and organizations, including the American Chemical Society, Eastern Analytical Symposium (Princeton, New Jersey, November 2024), local and regional chromatography discussion groups and, of course, Pittcon. LCGC International’s online training system, CHROMacademy, is continuously adding content and is again hosting ChromTalks, a virtual symposium in June 2024.

As GC moves through 2024 and beyond, development and innovation are ongoing and include all areas: sampling and supplies, new instruments, columns, detectors, data systems, and educational opportunities. I look forward to more innovation and advancements in the coming years and I hope to see many of you at EAS 2024 in my home state of New Jersey, or at Pittcon 2025 in Boston.

References

(1) Snow, N. H. From Pittcon 2023 and Beyond: The Gas Chromatography Products to Watch This Year. LCGC North Am. 2023, 41 (4), 129–131. DOI: 10.56530/lcgc.na.kr7285g3

(2) Snow, N. H. New Gas Chromatography Products for 2021–2022. LCGC North Am. 2022, 40 (4), 158–164. DOI: 10.56530/lcgc.na.la4187p6

(3) Snow, N. H. New Gas Chromatography Products for 2020–2021. LCGC North Am. 2021, 39 (4), 167–171.

(4) Raynie, D. E. New Sample Prep Products and Accessories for 2023. LCGC North Am. 2023, 41 (5), 181–185, DOI: 10.56530/lcgc.na.ei5965e7

(5) Raynie, D. E. New Sample Preparation Products and Accessories. LCGC North Am. 2022, 40 (5), 218–222. DOI: 10.56530/lcgc.na.hx9178z7

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nicholas H. Snow is the Founding Endowed Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Seton Hall University, and an Adjunct Professor of Medical Science. During his 30 years as a chromatographer, he has published more than 70 refereed articles and book chapters and has given more than 200 presentations and short courses. He is interested in the fundamentals and applications of separation science, especially gas chromatography, sampling, and sample preparation for chemical analysis. His research group is very active, with ongoing projects using GC, GC–MS, two-dimensional GC, and extraction methods including headspace, liquid– liquid extraction, and solid-phase microextraction.