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Special Issues

Systematic toxicological analysis is an important step in medicolegal investigations of death, poisoning, and drug use. The primary goal is the detection and confirmation of potentially toxic compounds in evidence. This article describes a workflow using nontargeted liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) for reliable compound identification.

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LCGC Europe

In his final column before retirement, John Dolan reminisces about his years as the author of “LC Troubleshooting”, and some of the changes that have taken place in liquid chromatography (LC) technology during that time.

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LCGC Europe

Separating proteins and antibodies is a unique analytical challenge because of the complexity of the analytes. Both sample heterogeneity, because of a number of chemical modifications to the analyte, and nonspecific binding to the silica surface often result in chromatographic peak broadening and tailing. This instalment of “Column Watch” focuses on several different chromatographic strategies that analytical scientists can use to resolve and quantitate various biomacromolecules, including monoclobal antibodies (mAbs) and antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs). Selected aspects of size-exclusion, hydrophobic interaction, ion-exchange, hydrophilic interaction, and reversed-phase chromatography are discussed.

Internal standards (IS) are commonly incorporated into quantitative methods to increase accuracy and precision. An IS is a compound that is different than the analyte of interest, has similar physicochemical properties to the analyte, and is added to samples, calibration standards, and quality control samples in a known quantity. It should not be present in the sample, it should be available in high purity, and it should be easily differentiable from the analyte of interest.

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Digital Watch

The Column

Incognito wonders where we are, where we have been, and where we are going digitally in the analytical laboratory.

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The Column

Researchers from the University of Torino have developed a novel HPLC–HRMS application for evaluating cosmetic ingredient composition. The application was used to analyze and compare sturgeon eggs, commonly known as caviar, and brill eggs, and their use in beauty creams as lipid sources.

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The Column

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is routinely used for chemical and biochemical analysis methods, and recently the technique has been implemented on microchips. R. Scott Martin, a professor and chair of chemistry at Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, has been investigating ways to improve these techniques for years. He recently spoke to us about his research coupling microchip electrophoresis with electrochemical detection, coupling continuous flow with microchip electrophoresis with valving, coupling microchip CE with microdialysis sampling and electrochemistry, and more.

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The Column

The ability to rapidly screen stationary phases through column-switching capabilities provides significantly greater efficiency in method development than was previously possible. The approach does require some additional hardware and software. And, while such capabilities may limit the ability to expand one’s literary knowledge during excessive months in the laboratory developing separation methods, real progress to key decision points for method optimization can be realized instead.