Introduction to HPLC/UHPLC
A one-day course on the fundamentals of liquid chromatography including:
- Polarity, solubility, hydrogen bonding and pKa
- Chromatographic theory
- Retention mechanisms
- Instrumentation:
- Degassers
- Pumps
- Column ovens
- Detectors
- Mobile and stationary phases
- Ion suppression and ion pairing
- Practical exercises:
- Mobile phase preparation
- Column connection
- System equilibration and wellness
HPLC/UHPLC Maintenance and Troubleshooting
A one-day course on maintaining and troubleshooting liquid chromatography systems including:
- Revision of chromatographic theory
- Peak characterisation: width, symmetry, height
- System suitability parameters
- Data from method development and validation studies as predictors of method performance
- Problems caused by:
- Mobile phase
- Column
- Sample/standard preparation
- Pump
- Injector
- Detector & data system
- Essential tools
- Monitoring system performance
- Preventative maintenance
- Practical exercises:
- Revision of topics in the introductory course, plus:
- Sample filtration
- Priming a dry pump (e.g. after maintenance)
- Diagnosing leaks, blockages and pressure fluctuations
HPLC/UHPLC Method Development
A two-day course on method development for liquid chromatography including:
- Revision of chromatographic theory
- Nature of the analyte(s):
- Polarity/solubility
- Functionality
- Detectability
- Stability
- Nature of the matrix:
- Analyte concentration
- Ease of extraction
- Chromatographic interference
- Method requirements for accuracy, precision and sensitivity
- Sample preparation approaches
- Developing the separation
- Selection of initial conditions
- Sample concentration and injection volume
- Isocratic and gradient elution
- Optimising linearity, sensitivity, selectivity and resolution
- Strategies for ionic and non-ionic analytes
- Chiral separations
- Detector considerations
- Biochemical separations
- Method validation and transfer
- Practical exercises:
- Trainees will develop two separations: the first will be for a binary mixture containing a polar molecule and a non-polar species; the second will be for a ternary mixture containing ionic and non-ionic analytes.
Introduction to Ion Chromatography
A one-day course on the fundamentals of ion chromatography including:
- Chromatographic theory
- Retention mechanisms in ion chromatography
- Instrumentation:
- Degassers
- Pumps
- Column ovens
- Detectors (UV, electrochemical and conductivity)
- Mobile and stationary phases
- Suppression of background conductivity
- Practical exercises:
- Mobile phase preparation
- Column connection
- System equilibration and wellness
Introduction to LC-MS
A one-day course on the fundamentals of LC-MS including:
- Chromatographic theory
- LC-MS system components
- Ion sources
- Vacuum system
- Ion optics
- Types and characteristics of mass analysers
- Ion detector types
- Mobile phase considerations and limitations
- Tuning and calibration
- Maintenance
- Qualitative and quantitative analysis
- Practical exercises:
- Ion source cleaning
- Tuning and calibration
- Optimisation of ion source conditions