LCGC Europe-10-01-2020

Column hardware in liquid chromatography—that is, the tubing, the frits, and fitting—has a strong influence on separation performance or the reproducibility of chromatographic data. Flow distributors and frits can introduce serious band broadening when separation is performed in short, narrow-bore columns. The kinetic performances of packed and monolithic columns are usually similar for well-retained analytes. However, monolithic columns may show significantly better performance for early-eluting compounds, which can be attributed to the moderate mobile phase dispersion caused by the simpler column hardware because no frits are required.

In the present research, similar chromatography fingerprints were obtained using finely-tuned cryogenic-modulation (CM) and flow-modulation (FM) comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC×GC–MS) experimental conditions.

This article is first in a series of two white papers on stability studies and testing of pharmaceuticals, which focuses on the development of stability-indicating high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods for drug substances and products. It provides an overview of the fundamentals, including the traditional approaches, as well as modern trends and software tools for expediting the process. The regulatory guidance on the necessary contents of a well-written method, strategies for efficient method execution, and life cycle management of analytical procedures, are described in Part 2 of the series.

Douglas E. Raynie explores formal and informal training opportunities that may be available to educate all chemists in the fundamentals of necessary laboratory sample preparation skills.