Waters has introduced the Acquity UPSFC analytical system, which combines the benefits of sub-2um particle technology and the efficiency of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC).
Built on Waters' Ultraperformance LC (UPLC) technology, the new system offers up to 10 times shorter runtimes, reduces solvent usage by as much as 95 per cent and cuts the cost of analyses by as much as 99 per cent, while giving laboratories a greener alternative to normal phase chromatography for chiral and achiral separations.
The Acquity UPSFC system enables scientists to conduct normal phase chromatographic separations using CO2 as the primary mobile phase rather than expensive and toxic solvents.
The new Waters Acquity UPSFC system offers laboratories advantages over traditional HPLC for routine UPSFC separations in research or regulated laboratories across many industries.
Using specially designed Viridis columns, the Acquity UPSFC system is fully compatible with Waters' Empower and Masslynx informatics software and Waters' line of ultraviolet and mass detectors.
Supercritical fluids share the physical properties of both a gas and a liquid and exhibit the positive chromatographic qualities of both.
Relative to HPLC solvents, their low viscosity and high solute diffusivity result in faster analysis times, lower backpressure, shorter re-equilibration times and higher throughput without any loss in efficiency.
For chiral and achiral separations, this means greater signal-to-noise ratios, better peak shapes and higher peak capacity, enabling scientists to confirm the purity of compounds down to the 0.01 per cent level, determine the enantiomeric excess or confirm compound identity.
In the 1990s, as the number of chiral drugs exceeded the number of achiral drugs, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published regulatory guidance regarding enantiomeric drug compounds.
SFC caught on with scientists involved in drug discovery and found its niche in the purification of chiral compounds.
With advancements in instrument and column technology, and a focus on sustainability, the advantages of SFC have not gone unnoticed by other scientists and SFC is experiencing a resurgence in application areas not limited to purification but also analysis, including: fossil fuels and hydrocarbons; agrichemicals; polymers; explosives and propellants; lipids; carbohydrates; foods and flavours; natural products; industrial chemicals; metal chelates; and organometallic compounds.
An environmentally and economically friendly alternative to traditional HPLC and SFC, UPSFC technology consumes a fraction of the solvent of traditional HPLC systems, according to the company.
Compared with the cost of solvents such as acetonitrile, commercial-grade CO2 is very inexpensive.
In addition, CO2 costs nothing to dispose of, naturally reverting to its gaseous state.
Inert and non-flammable, CO2 is non-toxic and safer for laboratory personnel to handle.