The Column-02-06-2019

Traditional sample preparation method development can often be laborious and costly. Understanding the underlying concepts of the technique can help food and environmental laboratories develop methods in notoriously complex matrices, faster, more efficiently, and provide better chromatography. With the presence of many unique matrices and analytes, methods such as QuEChERS, supported liquid extraction (SLE), or solid-phase extraction (SPE) provide the necessary adaptability for many types of extractions. With customizable methods to work with unique matrices and with the addition of automation, extractions can be improved to save time and provide consistent recoveries.

Incognito recalls the words of wisdom from an “old-school” supervisor who mentored him on the art of effective trace analysis.

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Environmental Chemistry Group, Water Science Forum, and the Separation Science Group Joint Meeting will be held on Friday 22 February 2019 in the Science Suite of the Royal Society of Chemistry, in Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, UK.

Extraneous peaks, unrelated to the solute to be characterized, are quite common in gel permeation chromatography/size-exclusion chromatography (GPC/SEC), especially when refractive index (RI) detection is used. This instalment of Tips & Tricks explains why system or ghost peaks appear and how to minimize their appearance.

A surge in the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based ther-apeutics has driven the requirement for accurate and reproducible analytical methods for pro-tein characterization. Monoclonal antibodies are popular biologic drug candidates, but are sus-ceptible to a myriad of modifications during manufacture and complex degradation pathways during purification and storage, often leading to distinct charge variants that require character-ization and quantification. Ion‑exchange liquid chromatography (IEX) is a well-accepted and widely used technique to separate various mAb charge variant species for the sake of charac-terization and profiling. With the most recent advances in analytical technologies, IEX can be used to help ensure the selection of stable and efficacious mAb drug candidates, from discov-ery through manufacturing.

Researchers from Postnova have used asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation coupled to AF4-MALS to successfully characterize a polydisperse cellulose nanocrystal for size and thickness.

Researchers from the PUC-Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, have found unexpectedly high uranium concentrations in groundwater samples from the mountainous region near Rio de Janeiro City.

Chiral Technologies Inc. has announced the acquisition of Arbor Biosciences.

Researchers from Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, have developed an UHPLC–MS/MS method to determine serotonin in raw and roasted nuts and nut products, including bars, chocolate, and spreads.

Click the title above to open The Column February 2019 North American issue, Volume 15, Number 2, in an interactive PDF format.

Click the title above to open The Column February 2019 Europe & Asia issue, Volume 15, Number 2, in an interactive PDF format.