All News

Thermo Fisher Scientific (Sunnyvale, California, USA) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) have developed an ion chromatography-based method for the simultaneous determination of nitrogen and phosphorous levels in water.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, California, USA) and Multiplicom N.V. (Niel, Belgium) have announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for Agilent to acquire Multiplicom, a European diagnostics company involved in genetic testing. Agilent is acquiring Multiplicom for approximately €68 million in cash.

Eurofins Scientific (Luxembourg) has acquired ASL Análises Ambientais (“ASL”), an environment testing service provider in Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil.

Click the title above to open The Column February 07, 2017 North American issue, Volume 13, Number 2, in an interactive PDF format.

Click the title above to open The Column February 07, 2017 Europe & Asia issue, Volume 13, Number 2, in an interactive PDF format.

This time I’m going to be looking at how to get the most from your GC–MS (Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry) system, and I intend to keep things as simple as possible, however I also make no apology in the fact that some of the concepts may be beyond your current understanding. My intention here is to explain some of the basics so that you will be able to use your instrumentation to best effect.

Click the title above to open the LCGC North America February 2017 Application Notebook Supplement, Vol 35 No s2, in an interactive PDF format.

Discovering and identifying molecular biomarkers in large liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) data sets requires automation without loss of accuracy.

John Dolan’s final LCGC column will appear in October. We are sad to see him go! Fortunately, we have just the person to follow in his footsteps: Dwight Stoll.

Click the title above to open the LCGC Europe February 2017 regular issue, Vol 30, No 2, in an interactive PDF format.

Click the title above to open the LCGC North America February 2017 regular issue, Vol 35 No 2, in an interactive PDF format.

For the most part, we are still instructing undergraduate students in the same way as when I went to school, and I think this is a disservice to the students and to the nature of chemistry. No wonder chemistry programs have trouble attracting students compared to other science disciplines, like biology and psychology. Students will take general chemistry, but they cannot see where it may lead. I want to change that.

A glimpse of what’s on offer for chromatographers at Pittcon 2017, which will be held from 5–9 March 2017 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Separation scientists may seek an optimum spot between chromatographic performance required to obtain sufficient results quality, and the time and resources needed to do so. This instalment of “GC Connections” examines the factors that control peak resolution - one of the main drivers of separation quality - and how chromatographers can use this information to find an optimum between time, cost, and performance.

This instalment describes several commonly used microextraction sample preparation techniques and their applications to forensic toxicology analysis. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME), microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS), and different types of liquid-based microextraction (LPME), including single‑drop microextraction (SDME), hollow-fibre supported LPME, three-phase LPME, and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME), are discussed. Examples of application of these techniques to determine illicit drugs and drugs of abuse from various biological specimens are provided as well.

The mobile-phase pH can be a powerful tool to control retention and selectivity, but it can also get you in trouble if it is not controlled properly.

Eurofins Scientific has announced the purchase of Exova’s environment testing business located in Eastern Canada in a deal estimated to be worth $13 million CAD.

Agilent Technologies has announced that Shane Snyder, Ph.D., has received an Agilent Thought Leader Award in recognition of his research in water analysis, and the exploration of new approaches to determine the quality and safety of drinking water.

AOAC International are now accepting nominations for the Harvey W. Wiley and the Fellow of AOAC International awards.

Selected highlights from The Columns 2016 archives.

Researchers investigating paper mill effluents and their impact on surface waters in Slovenia have identified endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and their mutagenic and genotoxic properties using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS).

Do you produce data or information?

As I wrote the title of this LCGC Blog instalment, I could not help but wonder where the cliché “more than one way to skin a cat” came from. Turns out it is from Mark Twain in his 1889 work, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I have never read that book, but I certainly have heard this saying used more than once - even if it might offend some cat lovers. Of course, it means simply that there is more than one way to do something.

A preview of the 8th International Symposium on the Separation and Characterization of Natural and Synthetic Macromolecules (SCM-8).

A group of researchers from India have chemically characterized food waste using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and GC with flame ionization detection (GC–FID) and identified possible reuse and disposal techniques.

Click the title above to open The Column January 17, 2017 North American issue, Volume 13, Number 2, in an interactive PDF format.

Click the title above to open The Column January 17, 2017 Europe & Asia issue, Volume 13, Number 1, in an interactive PDF format.