In this interview, Caroline West, professor at the University of Orléans and an active member of LCGC International’s editorial advisory board, discusses current perspectives on the fundamentals of SFC.
Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) has evolved significantly since its inception, emerging as a versatile and efficient separation technique. Despite its growing use, several misconceptions persist, particularly regarding its operational limits and applications. Often viewed narrowly as a method confined to the pharmaceutical industry or strictly defined supercritical conditions, modern SFC encompasses a wider range of parameters and applications than commonly recognized.
In this interview, Caroline West, professor at the University of Orléans and an active member of LCGC International’s editorial advisory board, discusses current perspectives on the fundamentals of SFC. She also addresses how expanding beyond the classical supercritical domain may influence the technique’s applicability. Further topics include the practical roles of SFC in pharmaceutical analysis and purification, its use in other industries, and the innovative integration of SFC with hyphenated and multidimensional techniques. Finally, emerging opportunities and challenges for instrument manufacturers are examined, highlighting potential directions for future development.
West spoke with LCGC International at HPLC 2025 and answered the following questions:
Caroline West © Image courtesy of interviewee
Caroline West is a full professor in analytical chemistry at the University of Orleans, France. Her main scientific interests lie in the fundamentals of chromatographic selectivity, both in the achiral and chiral modes, mainly in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), but also in liquid chromatography (LC).
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