Frank Steiner

Surfactants present a real challenge to the analytical chemist as they are a very complex class of chemical compounds.

LC method development for new drug candidates or screening methods for new active structures in botanicals present the same type of challenges: How do I know that I have separated all main components, as well as important, sometimes hidden, impurities? Is my resolution good enough? Am I missing small, co-eluting peaks?

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with light absorbance detection (UV) is limited by the dependence of detector response on the structure of the analyte. Some detection techniques based on nebulization of the mobile phase and formation of Aerosol particles demonstrate an analyte independent response that approaches "universal."