A Report Card for Position Seeking, Room 309. A Spreadsheet Approach, Room 263. Since then, incremental changes in each area have continued to push HPLC forward, the scientists say, increasing its usefulness to researchers working with such molecules as proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids, as well as drugs. Many manufacturers take advantage of the well- attended yearly meeting to showcase their newest products. Karen M. Gooding, president of SynChrom Inc., Lafayette, Ind., a maker of HPLC columns and the solid supports with which they are packed, confirms that recent HPLC advances have been less dramatic than those of previous decades, but says that important improvements continue.
Advances are more subtle now, like learning more about methodology.
Reversed-phase chromatography has proven to be an unexcelled technique for peptide analysis. And HPLC is also used in the pharmaceutical industry for small molecules like drugs and vitamins. These depend on differences in column characteristics. Generally, an HPLC system will incorporate an injector and a pump to deliver the sample and solvent, called the mobile phase, to the column. These beads are porous, with the pore openings ranging from 80 to 4,000 angstroms, and they are usually coated, inside and out, with a reactive layer called the stationary phase.