Column screening using Sepmatix 8x SFC instrument

SFC (Supercritical fluid chromatography) is a chromatographic technique that uses supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) as an essential component of the mobile phase. This state of CO2, known as supercritical, gives it unique properties such as a high diffusion coefficient and low viscosity, making it an excellent solvent for the separation and analysis of compounds. SFC offers a number of advantages over conventional chromatography methods, including faster analysis times, lower solvent consumption and differential selectivity in separation. In addition, compared to RP-LC, SFC represents an orthogonal technique that offers complementary separation capabilities for various analytical challenges.
In SFC, column screening involves testing different stationary phases to find the most suitable one for a specific separation task. The stationary phase is an important component of the chromatographic system, as it directly influences selectivity. Different stationary phases possess varying chemical functionalities and interactions with analytes, making them more or less selective towards specific compounds. By screening and selecting a suitable column, separation conditions can be optimized to achieve better resolution and sensitivity for the target analytes.

This AN describes a parallel column screening of a mixture of uracil, caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline using the Sepmatix 8x SFC instrument and subsequent transfer to the preparative Sepiatec SFC-50 instrument.