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According to a report in Nature News, nitrogen trifluoride is an extremely potent greenhouse gas used in the electronics industry, which is at least four times more abundant in the atmosphere than previously thought. Scientists recommend that to better control its use, NF3 should be added to the list of gases regulated under future climate-change agreements.

Researchers from US EPA National Exposure Research Laboratory (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) and East Carolina University (Greenville, North Carolina) used supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) to recover aflatoxin B1 from fortified soil.

Chemists from the University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, North Dakota) used solid-phase microextraction (SPME) to extract aldehydes from an aqueous solution.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is awarding the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2008 to Osamu Shimomura (Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts and Boston University Medical School), Martin Chalfie (Columbia University, New York), and Roger Y. Tsien (University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California) for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein (GFP).

A research group from the University of Lisbon (Lisbon, Portugal) studied the use of stir-bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) with polyurethane and polydimethylsiloxane polymeric phases and high performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection for the analysis of six acidic pharmaceutical compounds in environmental water matrices such as river, sea, and wastewater samples.

The David H. Murdock Research Institute (Kannapolis, NC) announced that Waters (Milford, MA) will be the primary supplier of analytical science solutions, including mass spectrometers, liquid chromatographs, and associated scientific data management software.

A look at some of the cutting-edge chromatography groups in The Netherlands

What causes split or fronting peaks?

A look at some of the cutting-edge chromatography groups in The Netherlands

Protein and peptide analysis via tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) has resulted in a wealth of information regarding protein identification, structure, and abundance levels over the past 10 years. Techniques such as neutral loss scanning and collision-induced dissociation (CID) have been especially helpful in facilitating the identification of a multitude of previously unknown sites of protein phosphorylation. However, many of the techniques used to obtain this information are labor intensive and work inconsistently. To address this problem, much effort has been put forth to find alternative methods of fragmenting peptides and proteins that are less difficult and applicable to a wide gamut of peptide classes. Examples of recently developed dissociation techniques include infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD). The implementation of these new techniques has widened the spectrum of peptides amenable to tandem mass spectral analysis.

Two decades ago, MS was the preserve of experts and skilled technicians as the instrumentation required constant attention and adjustment. At that time, liquid chromatography (LC)–MS was in its infancy and atmospheric pressure ionization (API) source interfacing was just beginning. Samples requiring analysis were passed from the requesting scientist to these "experts for analysis." The samples would be analyzed, processed, and interpreted, and the results returned via a written report. Two decades later, the users and capabilities of LC–MS have changed significantly. Now mass spectrometers and LC–MS systems are ubiquitous in the analytical laboratory, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. These instruments are used by a wide variety of scientists for a diverse range of tasks, from purity screening in medicinal chemistry, to the quantification of drugs in blood and the identification of proteins for biomarker discovery. The usability of the current MS platforms has improved..

For drug discovery workflows, the issue of metabolite detection and identification in in vivo systems is a critical challenge. The wide range of complex matrices (such as bile, plasma, urine, and fecal extracts), and the ion suppression effects of these biological fluids, can cause a severe decrease in the ability to detect metabolites. Greater instrument sensitivity is necessary to detect these compounds and, at the same time, helps to minimize sample preparation, simply diluting the negative effects of these complex matrices and avoiding the time- and labor-consuming sample cleanup or concentration steps that otherwise might be required.

For many years, and after several notable failures, many researchers were convinced that it was impossible to design a quadrupole time-of-flight (qTOF) mass spectrometer that was able to retain its ability to perform the high-resolution measurements necessary for definitive molecular formula determination of unknowns. Conventional wisdom indicated that there were many reasons (for example, temperature stability, ion diffusion, and ion loss on grids of reflectrons) that would make it impossible to improve resolution of these types of instruments. Figure 1 shows a schematic of an instrument designed for high-resolution measurements with fast chromatography (Maxis UHR-TOF mass spectrometer, Bruker Daltonics, Billerica, Massachusetts). The instrument includes an ion chiller, a series of ion refocusing operations, a single reflectron, and temperature control of the overall flight tube of the instrument.

Upcoming education courses in the chromatography field.

Current news in the chromatography field.

A compound?s vapor pressure inside a gas chromatography (GC) column is a function of two opposing forces - vaporization and the intermolecular interactions between the compound and the stationary phase.

Current news in the chromatography field.

Upcoming education courses in the chromatography field.

Upcoming events in the chromatography field.

Upcoming events in the chromatography field.

The FDA has bought seven of Applied Biosystems' 4000 QTRAP systems to assist in monitoring potential harmful pesticides in American food...

LabLogic Systems has announced the introduction of web conferencing as an additional means of maintaining dialogue with its customers...

Agilent Technologies has stepped in to help China following melamine being found in milk and milk products in China, which led to the tragic death and hospitalization of children...

Raising the Bar in Performance is a free seminar to be hosted by Thermo Fisher Scientific at its Hemel Hempstead facility in the UK on 13 November 2008...

Raising the Bar in Performance is a free seminar to be hosted by Thermo Fisher Scientific at its Hemel Hempstead facility in the UK on 13 November 2008...

Agilent Technologies has stepped in to help China following melamine being found in milk and milk products in China, which led to the tragic death and hospitalization of children...

Hian Kee Lee from the National University of Singapore is at the cutting edge of developing an array of simple and ?environmentally friendly? sample preparation techniques for environmental analysis, writes Alasdair Matheson.

Separation techniques will be key in future research following the discovery of a link between arsenic in drinking water and type 2 diabetes...