Sample Preparation

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are synthetic polymeric materials that mimic immunosorbents. They are widely used as sorbents for solid-phase extraction (SPE). The most common way to synthesize them is bulk polymerization because of its simplicity and versatility. This produces a hard monolith that has to be ground and sieved to obtain particles in the desired size range. However, the partial loss of the materials as fine dusts; the irregular shape of the particles produced and their wide size distribution, have led to a search for different polymerization methods to offset the drawbacks of the bulk polymerization process.

This month's Technology Forum looks at the topic of Sample Prep and the trends and issues surrounding it. Joining us for this discussion is LCGC columnist Ron Majors of Agilent Technologies, Willam Ciccone of Mircosolv Technology Corporation, and and Yibai Chen of Fox Chase Cancer Research Center.

The laboratory life science and analytical instrument industry is comprised of a large, diverse group of organizations that manufacture and distribute their products worldwide. However, overall industry sales are concentrated among a small set of companies. Approximately 950 firms are included in the industry, but only about 100 companies have sales above $50 million.

The major advantages of preparative supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) include separation speed; the ability to achieve chiral separations; lower viscosity of the mobile phases, which allows high flow rates with acceptable pressure drops and results in higher productivity; reduction of solvent use of as much as 90% compared with liquid chromatography; and ease of processing collected sample fractions.

Optimizing peak shape in capillary gas chromatography (GC) is essential for the consistent, accurate analysis of residual solvents in pharmaceutical compounds.

Analysis by mass spectrometry (MS) of integral membrane proteins and those associated with membrane is an important aspect of proteomics.

This month's installment of "Sample Prep Perspectives" describes a new extraction technique called QuEChERS (standing for quick, easy, cheap, effective, and safe and is pronounced "catchers") for the sample preparation of pesticides in foods and agricultural samples.

This month's installment of "Column Watch" is the conclusion of a two-part series in which columnist Ron Majors examines trends in column and sample prep introductions at Pittcon 2007.

This month's installment of "Column Watch" is the first of a two-part series in which Ron Majors examines the trends and highlights in columns and consumables at Pittcon 2007.

Modern Liquid Chromatography was the hot topic of the day in a standing room only technical session on the third day of Pittcon 2007. Arranged by Peter W Carr (University of Minnesota) and Stephen G Weber (University of Pittsburgh), the session's favorite subject seemed to be high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

For a young scientist, being recognized for your hard work at such an early stage in your career is a tremendous honor.

A topic on everyone's minds these days, especially those of us who traveled by air to get to Pittcon, is Homeland Security.

The Ancient Greeks ate sheep testicles before competitions. Contemporary athletes have designer steroids. What techniques can we use to test our athletes for banned substances?

The 2007 Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award was presented Tuesday morning to Jonathan V. Sweedler, Lycan Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign.

Well-known LCGC Columnists John Dolan and John Hinshaw provide their list of recommended sessions.

Good morning and welcome to LCGC's third and final day of conference coverage from Pittcon 2007.

Well-known LCGC Columnists John Dolan and John Hinshaw provide their list of recommended sessions.

Good morning, fellow Pittcon conferees, and welcome to Day 2 of LCGC North America's ongoing coverage from Pittcon 2007.

Chromatography Forum of Delaware Valley Dal Nogare Award Dr. John W. Dolan was the proud recipient of the Dal Nogare Award at Pittcon 2007, adding another bright note to his illustrious career.

The 2007 Ralph N. Adams Award in Bioanalytical Chemistry was presented to Norman J. Dovichi, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Washington, on Monday afternoon at Pittcon 2007.

Attendees continue to trickle in, as snowstorms around the country continue to disrupt air travel. For those like me who thought, "Chicago in February? Hooray!"

Yesterday, Andrew Tiplerwas going nowhere fast because of airport delays. Today, he was discussing how to accelerate your gas chromatography runs.

Shana Kelley received the Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award in a ceremony on Monday morning of Pittcon 2007.

Eight presentations on a variety of LC-MS applications were given in Session 170 on this first afternoon at Pittcon. One of the most interesting was session 170-6, "Techniques of LC-MS in Forensics Analysis." The speaker, Michael C. Zumwalt, discussed the variety of LC-MS instrumentation available to meet both qualitative and quantitative needs. Among the interesting applications he discussed were those for detecting drugs of abuse and explosives. Workplace drug testing and forensic toxicology are examples of these applications. LC-MS continues to be a rapidly growing technique, and the ways in which it can be used in forensic analysis are quite varied. Serial measurement systems are used for quantitation, while parallel systems are best for qualitative applications. Serial systems such as single quadrupole and triple quadrupole mass spectrometers are very useful for detecting drugs of abuse in oral fluids. A particular advantage noted by the speaker is the ease of sample collection, which can even be done in the field, for example, by a police officer.

Well-known LCGC Columnists John Dolan and John Hinshaw provide their list of recommended sessions.