Trends in HPLC – Wide pH-Range Columns and Capillary Columns

The topic covers the current trends in HPLC column development to robust columns that extend the usable pH-range. Examples are given on how intelligent surface chemistry enables silica-based materials to be used in the pH-range 1 to 11.The resulting packing materials combine the extreme mechanically stability of silica with an excellent chemical stability. Especially in the LC-MS community high pH-applications are becoming more popular, because of the problems that ion-pair reagents cause with this detection technique.The life-science arena with small sample amounts demands smaller id columns i.e. capillary columns. Capillary-HPLC instruments are now commercially available and the presentation will shed some light on various capillary column applications.