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Is your gas chromatography system functioning as well as it could be? Are you taking advantage of the latest innovations in this analytical technique? In this ebook, experts explore troubleshooting tools and resources for GC users.

Looking back, the start of my penning of blog articles matches quite well with the start of efforts to investigate the potential environmental impacts of unconventional oil and gas extraction, and the formation of the Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis and Remediation (CLEAR; http://clear.uta.edu) at the University of Texas Arlington. It also well coincided with my effort to begin some outside consulting activities, predominantly the review of forensics evidence for blood alcohol determination. Both of these activities have blossomed considerably in the past seven years, and it has become interesting to contemplate the most rewarding way to spend my time going forward.

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Drug substance development requires a complex range of analytical methods, presenting a challenge to analytical chemists to reliably transfer and execute these fit-for-purpose methods to external manufacturing sites. Here, we provide guidelines to follow, and share examples of realworld problems and the strategies used to remedy them.

I have edited the “GC Connections” column in LCGC for over 32 years. In that time, gas chromatography (GC) has changed from a specialized separations technique to being more routine for standardized methods, while expanding outward to complex multidimensional separations and scaling downward towards miniaturization and portability. In my last “GC Connections” article before stepping away from the role of Editor, I give some perspective on how GC has changed and grown over the years, and where it might go in the future.

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Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) is a mainstay in the biopharmaceutical industry, serving as a gold standard analytical tool for the characterization of therapeutic proteins in development and manufacturing settings. Contemporary SEC separations can be performed using columns packed with sub-2-μm particles, and these platforms offer the highest efficiencies available for the separation of monoclonal antibody monomer species from low- and high-molecular-weight product-related impurities. Compared to other chromatographic modes used to characterize proteins, SEC is unique in that analytes are not retained by the stationary phase. As a result, special care is required to achieve in practice the chromatographic efficiency that is expected in theory. In this article, we describe the fundamental aspects of achieving high performance using sub-2-μm SEC columns. In addition, we discuss trends in the biopharmaceutical industry, including challenges that can be addressed using modern size-exclusion technologies.

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A new technique, ice concentration linked with extractive stirrer (ICECLES), provides highly efficient isolation of trace compounds from aqueous samples. ICECLES combines freeze concentration with stir-bar sorptive extraction into a seamless analytical extraction methodology. This month, we discuss how to perform this relatively simple technique, and discuss its advantages and limitations.

Chicago Bound

Chicago, Illinois, USA, will host the 71st annual Pittcon conference and exposition. Thousands of separation scientists from across the globe and from a wide spectrum of industries will gather at the McCormick Place convention centre to discuss, investigate, and assess the latest scientific advances in technology and instrumentation.

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The Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Fields of Analytical Chemistry was presented to Joel M. Harris at EAS 2019 on Wednesday 20 November.

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LCGC is proud to announce that Daniel W. Armstrong and Szabolcs Fekete are the winners of the 13th annual LCGC Lifetime Achievement and Emerging Leader in Chromatography Awards, respectively.