High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) are analytical techniques that utilize a compound’s intrinsic affinity for both a “mobile phase” (typically a buffered solvent) and a “stationary phase” (porous solid support with specialized coating). A pump is used to provide a continuous flow of a solvent into which a dissolved sample is introduced. Once the dissolved sample is introduced, it travels through an analytical column containing the stationary phase, and analytes within the dissolved sample mixture are then separated, depending on their affinity to the coated particles in the column. After the components in the sample are separated, they may pass through an assortment of detectors. The detector response and the “retention time” (time it takes for a compound to pass from the injector to the detector) of the compound(s) of interest may then be compared to a reference material. UPLC improves upon HPLC with enhanced peak resolution and throughput.

EAG maintains an inventory containing over 250 columns spanning reverse phase (i.e. C8 and C18), normal phase (i.e. hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)), phenyl-hexyl, cyano and specialty columns for carbohydrates, sugars, free fatty acids, proteins, organic acids, etc. We can usually obtain specialty columns within a few business days of project initiation.