Tony Taylor is Group Technical Director of Crawford Scientific Group and CHROMacademy. His background is in pharmaceutical R&D and polymer chemistry, but he has spent the past 20 years in training and consulting, working with Crawford Scientific Group clients to ensure they attain the very best analytical science possible. He has trained and consulted with thousands of analytical chemists globally and is passionate about professional development in separation science, developing CHROMacademy as a means to provide high-quality online education to analytical chemists. His current research interests include HPLC column selectivity codification, advanced automated sample preparation, and LC–MS and GC–MS for materials characterization, especially in the field of extractables and leachables analysis.
What if we could make the troubleshooting poster on the laboratory wall come to life? What if we could build an engine which figured out the most likely causes of groups of symptoms and offer these up as a prioritised list for folks to work through and give them supporting information on each problem, why it occurred, how to fix it and, crucially, how to avoid it happening next time?
Many of us use electron ionization (EI) in gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) without a good understanding of the technique and how we might manipulate the process to give more appropriate results or a better understanding of the analytes under investigation.
There are many aspects of analytical science which abound with myth and legend – but gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and more specifically the electron ionization (EI) process, stands out as the technique which has given rise to the largest number of ‘urban myths’ and misunderstandings.
There is a bewildering array of stationary-phase choices available for reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and even within each phase designation (such as "C18") the selectivity of each phase can vary widely.
A guide to selecting the correct HPLC stationary phase.
There are often times in my work when I need to 'mess about' with column dimensions and particle morphologies. For 'mess about' read improve or transfer.
Choosing the correct column selectivity and dimensions is fundamental to successful gas chromatography method development.
An excerpt from LCGC's e-learning tutorial on GC column selection at CHROMacademy.com
LCGC Blogger Tony Taylor asks if we are too scared to properly explore selectivity options in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
A guide to HPLC detector selection.
The ideal UV detector would allow us to monitor the presence of our target analytes without influence from the background eluent and sample matrix components that may be present in the detector measuring cell at the same time
To obtain sensitive, robust, and reproducible gas chromatography (GC) methods, each stage of the chromatographic process needs to be carefully considered and optimized. It is also important to record and report as much detail within the method specification so that the method can be reproduced between operators, instruments, and laboratories. Table I represents a "blueprint" method specification with all of the information that is necessary to faithfully specify and reproduce a split–splitless GC method.
An explanation of why HPLC eluent systems are designed as they are.
How to spot problems in your method before they become an issue.
How to spot weaknesses in methods before problems occur
An investigation into some "typical" HPLC method specifications to highlight ways of critically evaluating the major and minor parameters of a method
An overview of the analytical approaches used for the analysis of biomolecules
Is 0.1% TFA (aq) / 0.1% TFA in acetonitrile the ultimate robust HPLC mobile phase? Maybe not...
If you change your GC carrier gas to hydrogen or nitrogen, you will need to consider various aspects of how that change will affect your methods.
A series of real life problems submitted by ChromAcademy members
The power of MS-MS analysis applied to GC analysis, including the instrumentation, experiment types, and application areas
Why do core–shell particles provide an increase in efficiency?
The mechanisms of mixed-mode chromatography are explained, with reference to the parameters that are used to optimize selectivity and retention.
Key considerations for setting up or troubleshooting a GC method.
Secondary parameters in the interface and mass analyzer can have a major impact on sensitivity and reproducibility. Here, we examine how and when to consider optimizing these parameters through a study of the working principles of LC–MS analysis.
In this technical tip from CHROMacademy we re-visit some of the lesser known or remembered facts relating to silica particles used in chromatography.
A review of the principles of these analyzers and their relative advantages and disadvantages over other mass analyzer types
We explain the working principles of the most popular of all mass analyzing devices.
An overview of the principles and equipment required for scaling analytical separations to the preparative scale and considerations for the scale of analyte required.
