Chromatography: expertise description

Chromatography s by far the most prominent analytical separation technique of modern analytical chemistry. It is a separation technique that is based on the difference in distribution of components of a mixture between a mobile phase and a stationary phase. One performs gas or liquid chromatography, depending on the mobile phase.
Liquid chromatography (HPLC) is used for analytes that are thermolabile, non-volatile, ionogenic or of high molecular weight (>1000 D); for all other compounds gas chromatography (GC) is the technique of choice. Compounds should be either volatile or soluble.
The prevalence of chromatography is due to its selectivity and effficiency. It can separate isotopomers, diastereomers en enantiomers or a dozen of compounds differing just a methylene group per minute. As it is a separation technique it is always used in conjunction with other techniques (mainly spectrometric) for detection. Conversely chromatography is a tool for reducing complex mixtures to a simpler format to apply an instrument with high information content like NMR, IR or MS.

Techniques and applications

Boiling range determinations of hydrocarbon fractions, quantitative analysis of trace impurities, volatile components in all kinds of materials and products:
permanent gases and light hydrocarbons (<C5), preparative purposes, inorganic and organic anions, amines, additives, enantiomers,molecular weight distribution, ultra-trace analysis.

Techniques such as simulated distillation (SIMDIS)GC-GC-MSD;Ion Chromatography (IC) Capillary electrophoresis (CE) Ion-exclusion Chromatography (IEC) Ion-pair Chromatography (IPC) Capillary electrophoresis (CE) HPLC and GC Chiral chromatography (CC).

An 'open shop GC' facility is operated for customers that analyse repetitious samples themselves, while calibration and maintenance of the intrumentation is taken care of.