LCGC Asia Pacific-03-01-2019

Click the title above to open the LCGC Asia Pacific March 2019 regular issue, Vol 22, No 1, in an interactive PDF format.

The challenges we face in troubleshooting problems with liquid chromatography (LC) separations are highly diverse. This month we take a closer look at topics that have garnered more attention recently.

This article discusses the use of emerging technologies that are complementary to established techniques, to significantly reduce these shortcomings for both synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones. In this vein, the utility of recently reported approaches including ultrahigh performance supercritical fluid chromatography (UHPSFC)–photodiode array (PDA) ultraviolet (UV)–MS, and GC–vacuum UV is discussed. To increase the specificity of analysis, multiple chromatographic techniques are commonly used. For the analysis of emerging drugs, a combination of GC and UHPSFC is recommended. The utility of a previously unreported coupled-columns approach for UHPSFC to significantly enhance resolution of synthetic cathinones is presented.

Biotherapeutics have become the hottest topic in pharmaceutical research over the past decade. With the increased interest in biotherapeutics, there has been a concomitant increase in new analytical methods for characterizing these large, complex molecules. This installment of “Column Watch” discusses advances in “bottom-up” analysis of monoclonal antibodies, while highlighting the role and importance column chemistry still plays in developing highly selective high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods for peptides.

A discussion of hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) theory and its application to the analysis of proteins and biomolecules is presented.

This review article will give a general overview of the liquid chromatographic (LC) and gas chromatographic (GC) methods used by analytical laboratories for the detection and characterization of suspected illegal medicines and health products, including lifesaving drugs (antimicrobials and antimalarials), lifestyle drugs (erectile dysfunction drugs), and biotechnology drugs (doping peptides and skin-tanning peptides). Literature published from 2015 until early 2019 will be surveyed.