Restek Advantage Chromatography Newsletter Back Issues
Restek Advantage Chromatography Newsletter
2007, Volume 1
Editorial
Restek: A Company of Owners
By Paul Silvis, Restek Founder & former Head Coach
In this editorial, founder and former CEO Paul Silvis explains some of the reasons
for Restek's success as a provider of chromatography columns and supplies. Restek
will continue to be successful because, as an employee-owned company, we hold our
future in our own hands. Customers will benefit because we can continue to respond
to their ideas for the products and services they need to make their work easier.
Pharmaceutical
New pHidelity™ pH-Stable HPLC Columns
For Analyses at Extreme pH Conditions
pHidelity™ columns give you more control over analyte retention and resolution:
they can be used routinely up to pH 12 — a significant improvement over the pH 2.5
to 7.5 range typical for silica-based materials. You can increase mobile phase pH
to enhance retention of basic analytes, without sacrificing column lifetime. True
C18 selectivity helps assure simple and reproducible analyses.
Foods, Flavors & Fragrances
Simplified LC/MS/MS Analysis of Fluoroquinolones
Using An Allure® PFP Propyl Column
When you need greater retention to achieve a desired selectivity, or in LC/MS analyses,
an Allure® PFP Propyl column and a simple mobile phase are a better alternative
than a C18 column and ion-pairing. An Allure® PFP Propyl column assures satisfactory
retention, and no coelutions, with the water content in the mobile phase greatly
reduced, relative to the requirements of a C18 or cyano column. In LC/MS analyses,
this offers the potential for increasing sensitivity.
Monitor Antioxidants in Tea Extract
Using an Ultra Aqueous C18 HPLC Column and Unique® TOFMS
An Ultra Aqueous C18 column enables you to use the conditions most effective for
this analysis: gradient elution in high aqueous mobile phases. The C18 chains will
not collapse in the presence of a high water content. Use this chromatographic system
to extract data for specific compounds of interest and to manually inspect spectra
for phenolic glycosides, esters of phenolic acid, or other compounds.
Environmental
Superior Chromatography for Semivolatile Organics
Using the Rtx®-5Sil MS Capillary GC Column
Combining an optimized stationary phase and deactivation that assures unsurpassed
inertness and excellent responses for active analytes, Rtx®-5Sil MS columns
address the challenging demands of semivolatiles analyses. Phenyl rings in the polymer
backbone stiffen the siloxane chain, ensuring thermal stability and reducing bleed.
Selectivity is similar to that of conventional 5% diphenyl phases, but improved,
e.g.: separation of isomers benzo(b)- and benzo(k)fluoranthene is increased.
8-Minute Dual Column Analysis of Organochlorine Pesticides
Using Rtx®-CLPesticides / Rtx®-CLPesticides2 Columns
Unique selectivities make the Rtx®-CLPesticides / Rtx®-CLPesticides2 column
pair an excellent choice for analyzing pesticides by US EPA Method 8081, or equivalent
methods. A 0.53mm ID guard column allows sample injection onto high-efficiency 20m
x 0.18mm ID thin film columns, for baseline resolution in greatly reduced analysis
time. Sharp, symmetric peaks help assure reliable quantification data.
Clinical/Forensics
Analyze and Confirm Cannabinoids by LC/MS/MS
Using an Allure® Biphenyl Column
Use an Allure® Biphenyl column, with a Shimadzu Prominence chromatograph and
an API MS/MS 3200 detector, to quantify 1ng levels of cannabinoid analytes in underivatized
sample and separate Δ9-THC
and cannabidiol to baseline in less than 5 minutes. The unique separation mechanism,
π-π interaction, greatly improves selectivity and
retention, relative to C18 phases. If you use an electrospray interface, you can
use higher amounts of methanol in the mobile phase, to increase sensitivity.
Air Sampling
Sampling Volatile Organic Compounds in Air
Restek Sampling Equipment Helps Assure Accurate Data
TO-Can™ air sampling canisters are electropolished and extensively cleaned,
to provide a high-quality, passivated surface for improved stability of analytes
listed in USEPA Method TO-15 (ambient air monitoring). For reactive compounds, such
as sulfur-containing components, SilcoCan™ canisters are your best choice —
our exclusive Siltek® surface treatment ensures exceptional inertness and maximum
sample stability, even for 1-20ppb sulfur compounds.
Sample Preparation
Faster Extraction and Cleanup of Pesticide Residue Samples
With QuEChERS Products
If you are frustrated by the time and cost involved with pesticide sample cleanup,
we suggest you try the simple and economical QuEChERS method. Follow this approach
to remove sugars, lipids, organic acids, sterols, proteins, pigments, and excess
water, any of which often are present. To make your work even simpler, we offer
QuEChERS extraction products in a variety of standard sizes and formats, and custom
products by request.
Restek Performance Coatings
Extend Process Component Lifetime and Enhance Durability
Restek Surface Treatments Improve
Sampling and Transfer Component Performance
In sampling or process stream pathways, Siltek®/Sulfinert® treated tubing
reduces uptake of active (e.g., sulfur) compounds by orders of magnitude, relative
to untreated tubing, for reliable data about stream composition. Silcosteel®-CR
treated tubing improves corrosion resistance by up to 10X over untreated tubing,
reducing the need for maintenance and helping to ensure the purity of the sample
or process stream.
Chemical/Petrochemical
Resolving Aromatics in Spark Ignition Fuels
Using Silcosmooth™ Columns and a Modified ASTM D-3606-06e1 Method
If you have concerns about analyzing reformulated fuels containing ethanol, our
new two-column set is the solution — it completely resolves benzene from ethanol.
The aromatic compounds, too, are fully resolved, and can easily be quantified, using
2-butanol as an internal standard. The robust column set is ready to use after only
a 10-minute carrier gas purge at ambient temperature, followed by a 30 minute hold
at 165°C.
Separate Argon from Oxygen Above Ambient Temperatures
Using an Rt-Msieve™ 5A PLOT Column
A Restek PLOT column can be your best solution for difficult separations of gaseous
analytes. Rt-Msieve™ 5A PLOT columns offer fast, efficient separation of argon/oxygen,
hydrogen/helium, and other permanent gases, including permanent gases in refinery
or natural gas. You can make difficult separations without subambient temperatures,
e.g.: separate oxygen from argon to baseline in approximately 4 minutes.
Biodiesel Analysis by European Methodology
Exceptional Peak Symmetry, Using an Rtx®-Biodiesel GC Column
Glycerin is a notoriously difficult challenge in GC, particularly at the levels
involved in biodiesel oil analysis, but an Rtx®-Biodiesel column provides a symmetric
peak that makes quantification easier and more reliable. The column performs well
at elevated temperatures: peaks for glycerin and glycerides exhibit minimal tailing,
and bleed is low at 370°C, as specified in European method DIN EN14105.
GC Accessories
Cool Tools
Restek Innovations Save You Time and Money
Featured here are our MLE (Make Life Easier) capillary GC tool kits for column installation
and general system maintenance. All kits have the many components that are needed
with any instrument, but each kit has tools specific for one system: Agilent, PerkinElmer,
Shimadzu, Thermo Scientific, or Varian.
Supplies for Agilent Instrument Injection Ports
EZ Twist Top™ Split/Splitless Port for Agilent GCs
Using our unique EZ Twist Top™ Injection Port, Septum Nut Removal Tool, and
Inlet Liner Removal Tool, you can reduce maintenance time and frustration, eliminate
tangled gas lines that can lead to leaks, and avoid contact with hot surfaces. The
gas lines are attached to the EZ Twist Top™ Shell Weldment, not to the weldment
— they are under the GC cover and cannot interfere with routine injection port maintenance.
Changing inlet liners becomes a quick and simple task.
HPLC Accessories
Genuine Restek Replacement Parts
For Agilent HPLC Systems
Use our Outlet Cap and Gold Seal Assembly Tool for Agilent 1100 HPLC Systems to
easily install the seal into the cap. Also featured are preventive maintenance kits,
a pump maintenance kit, pistons and piston seals, rotor seals, check valves, lamps,
and more. All parts meet or exceed original equipment quality.
HPLC Mobile Phase Accessories
An economical way to store and deliver your mobile phases.
An Opti-Cap™ Kit is the most economical way to helium-sparge mobile phases.
The Opti-Cap™ top fits all standard GL-45 bottles, and Hub-Cap Bottle Tops
and Adapters allow you to use the top with 4-liter solvent bottles. The Solvent
Debubbler removes bubbles from the fluid stream before it enters the pump. Loosening
the cap releases the trapped gas. The debubbler is fitted with universal connecting
tips.
General Interest
Using Micropacked Columns
Micropacked columns are 1-2 meter, 0.75-1.0mm ID packed stainless steel columns
with performance characteristics intermediate between conventional packed columns
and capillary columns. They are inexpensive, very durable, and easy to install and
operate. They have a wide range of applications, but are especially useful for analyses
of gas mixes, including sulfur compounds or light hydrocarbons, for which a packed
column is needed to obtain baseline separations of sample components.
Recent Publications
These publications are available in printed form or online, as downloadable pdf
files.
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