Ability to exercise control over column temperatures takes HPLC to new extremes

Selerity Technologies Inc. (STI), the US-based specialist in extended temperature separations, has launched what it says is the first commercially viable product on the market capable of extending the boundaries of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) through the use of hot and cold temperatures and temperature programming. Polaratherm is a stand-alone column compartment that has been developed to allow presetting and maintaining of temperature of the mobile phase, columns and effluent in HPLC analysis.

Capable of use at up to 200°C, Polaratherm has a universal interface, enabling it to be used with any existing high performance chromatograph. There are five main benefits of high temperature liquid chromatography:

•HPLC is speeded up - as much as 18 times faster than at typical ambient conditions. Column efficiencies are often improved as the flow velocity increases.

•There will be an immediate increase in efficiency and improvement in peak symmetry at higher temperatures for most compounds, resulting in improved performance and better sensitivity for easier quantification.

•Usage of organics solvents will be reduced as water at higher temperatures becomes less polar and behaves more like a moderately polar solvent.

•A reduction in mobile phase viscosity at higher temperatures lowers the back pressure in the column allowing the use of the smallest particle size column packings without a pressure penalty.

•Temperature programming allows analyses to be performed isocratically. Rapid cool-down features mean the column is ready for another run in less than 3 minutes when ramping from 50°C to 150°C.

STI is talking to potential distributors for Polaratherm in the UK, Germany, France and Italy initially. It will then look to expand into other countries in Europe and Asia, and to extend the technology into other sectors outside pharmaceuticals. The first units in Europe are expected to in operation early next year.