LCGC Europe-09-01-2004

In the first instalment of this new column, Massart and Vander Heyden review the subject of chemometrics, and in particular its relevance to separation science. The column aims to explain how application of chemometrical techniques can improve both the design of robust analytical methods and the subsequent interpretation of derived results.

The authors look at how achieving both greater throughput and increasing informational content is a driving force in small-molecule analysis. They describe how analysts should address mechanical increases in productivity, software implementation flow and data management, and effective sample preparation to improve efficiency and reduce frustration.

In response to a reader's question, John Hinshaw examines the effects on retention times and peak shapes when a retention gap is added to a capillary column.

This article is an adaptation of one written in the German publication Nachrichten aus der Chemie and discusses how gas chromatography instrumentation, columns and techniques have improved over the past 10–15 years, making even relatively new equipment obsolete for many applications. In particular, the authors look at how older equipment is unsuitable for fast GC, better trace analysis and comprehensive multidimensional GC.

A report on the meeting that took place in April this year in York.

Column author, John Dolan, presents a simple but powerful isolation technique for identifying problems with LC methods and equipment.

This month's LC?GC Europe features the first instalment of a brand-new column. Following many requests from readers, "Practical Data Handling" will concentrate on chemometrics.