Ronald E. Majors

There has been a revival of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) in recent years, especially in the chiral preparative field, but also more recently in the analytical area. However, SFC is considerably more complex than liquid chromatography (LC), mainly because of the compressibility of the mobile phase. One can say that SFC is a “rubber variant” of LC where everything considered constant in LC varies in SFC. In this review, we go through advances in theory, instrumentation, and novel applications.

The retention and selectivity of stationary phases in HILIC is discussed.

Ron Majors presents a brief introduction to the articles presented in this supplement.

To obtain the best performance from your UHPLC system, you need the right tubing and fittings. Here is what you need to know.

In this instalment, guest authors Jeff Hurst and Kendra Pfeifer from Hershey Foods explore high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultrahigh-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC), and mass spectrometry (MS) approaches being adopted to keep ahead of the food adulteration game.

This year's HPLC symposium was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. In this review, Ron Majors covers HPLC and UHPLC column and sample preparation highlights, summarizes the awards presented, and reviews the overall liquid-phase chromatography trends.

Many problems encountered executing HPLC methods are a result of decisions made during early method development. This article discusses one critical variable in method development, the choice of stationary phase chemistry.

This year's symposium was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. In this review, Ron Majors covers HPLC and UHPLC column and sample preparation highlights, summarizes the awards presented, and reviews the overall liquid-phase chromatographic trends.

Mechanical strength, acid and alkaline durability, loadability, and overload characteristics are a few of the parameters evaluated.

This year's symposium was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. In this review, Ron Majors covers HPLC and UHPLC column and sample preparation highlights, summarizes the awards presented, and reviews the overall liquid-phase chromatographic trends.

Highlights of the discussions on column-technology topics - such as monoliths, high-pH columns, SPPs, and HILIC - and an analysis of the larger trends observed at the conference.

Sample preparation has often been viewed as the bottleneck in analytical procedures. Surveys have shown that time is typically the most frequent problem area for sample preparation procedures. While newly developed extraction techniques address time, modern chromatography advances are also moving towards faster separations. Based on these considerations, what is high-throughput sample preparation? Do modern extraction methods adequately address the issue of time? How can we address the analytical need for speed?

This month's "LC Troubleshooting" instalment looks at two reader-submitted questions regarding method calibration.

New GC columns, SFC columns, and products for sample preparation, including small benchtop instruments

Part 2 of our yearly report on new products introduced at Pittcon. This instalment of "Column Watch" covers GC columns, SFC columns, and products for sample preparation including small benchtop instruments.

New product introductions in the areas of HPLC columns for reversed-phase LC, HILIC, ion-exchange and ion chromatography, SEC, and specialty columns for specific types of analyses are covered.

A brief introduction to the articles presented in this supplement

Part 1 of our annual report on new products introduced at Pittcon. This month, columns are highlighted, covering HPLC/UHPLC columns, packings, and related products.

In this column, the selective removal of a fat-substitute in food products is discussed to demonstrate options for obtaining selectivity during extraction.

A look at five sample preparation methods where the application of a charge across barriers provides enhanced selectivity

Entirely new sample preparation technologies continue to be introduced, mainly in the academic sector. Some of these technologies will undoubtedly stay in the academic laboratory. However, some new technologies may "cross the chasm" and eventually become a standard laboratory procedure. This instalment will examine some of those methods.

In this instalment Ron Majors discusses new sample preparation media that could result in improved or even "breakaway" performance for solid–liquid extractions. Some of these sorbents are based on new novel bonded phases to existing media while others are based on new extraction phases, such as carbon on silica, other metal oxides, or polymeric media. With resulting new selectivities, sample preparation could be performed more quickly in fewer steps than typical of usual adsorbents

Some solid–liquid extraction sorbents that have had significant development recently include MIPs, dSPE for QuEChERS, nanomaterials, and mixed-mode and silicone monolith sorbents.

To keep readers informed of the latest developments and trends in sample preparation, LCGC North America occasionally runs reader- and expert-surveys that provide information on overall technology and usage patterns.

In the final part, the top 10 HPLC and UHPLC column myths are presented and attempts are made to demystify them by offering some evidence that they are untrue. This part will feature myths five to one.

Some sample preparation techniques that were introduced in the past are now being used for new applications.

In any field, there are "misconceptions" or "myths" that arise and are perpetuated and passed on to the next generation. These myths are often driven by a lack of understanding of the real issues by practitioners. In the first of a two-part feature from Ron Majors, the top 10 high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column myths are presented and attempts are made to demystify them by offering some evidence that they are untrue. This part will feature myths 10 to six.

In any field, there are "misconceptions" or "myths" that arise and are perpetuated and passed on to the next generation. These myths are often driven by a lack of understanding of the real issues by practitioners. In the first of a two-part feature from Ron Majors, the top 10 high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column myths are presented and attempts are made to demystify them by offering some evidence that they are untrue. This part will feature myths 10 to six.

Highlights of the column technology observed at the symposium