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Force Performance LC Columns: Apply Force to Your LC Methods

Long-lasting and reproducible—even with rapid cycling and elevated UHPLC pressures.
Fully scalable between HPLC and UHPLC—easily transfer and optimize methods.
Premium quality—backed by our 100% Pure Satisfaction guarantee.

Restek’s new Force performance LC columns give you the power to maximize instrument uptime, increase productivity, and transfer methods across your entire lab, from your trusted-but-aged HPLC to the cutting-edge UHPLC you just plumbed last week. This incredibly rugged and supremely consistent column line represents the culmination of our twenty-plus years in LC dedicated to continually improving our phase chemistries, our lot and lifetime testing, and our bonding and packing procedures.

Meet today’s workflow needs—and prepare for tomorrow’s—by applying Force LC columns to all of your instrument platforms.

Available with Restek's most-popular and highly selective Biphenyl and FluoroPhenyl phases, as well as a general-purpose C18.

	Biphenyl	C18	FluoroPhenyl
USP Phase Code	L11	L1	L43
Stationary Phase Category	Phenyl	C18, octadecylsilane	Pentafluorophenyl propyl
Ligand Type	Biphenyl	End-capped C18	Fluorophenyl
Particle Size	1.8 µm, 3 μm, or 5 μm fully porous	1.8 µm, 3 μm, or 5 μm fully porous	1.8 µm, 3 μm, or 5 μm fully porous
Pore Size	100 Å	100 Å	100 Å
Surface Area	300 m²/g	300 m²/g	300 m²/g
Carbon Load	15%	20%	10%
End-Cap	yes	yes	no
pH Range	2.0 to 8.0	2.0 to 8.0	2.0 to 8.0
Maximum Temperature	80 °C	80 °C	80 °C

Apply Force LC Columns to your LC Methods…for Longer Column Life

Elevated pressures and rapid pressure cycling put extreme stress on your LC column and shorten its life. And when the demand to increase lab productivity meets the growing pressure limits of modern LCs and the faster cycle times of new methods, many competitor columns simply can’t survive. Force LC columns from Restek are designed and manufactured to handle high-pressure, high-stress conditions. Whether you’re running a 3 or 5 μm column on an older HPLC or a 1.8 μm on the newest UHPLC in your lab (Figures 1 & 2), your method will give you the same separation from one injection to the next when you trust your workflow to the extended lifetime of a Force LC column.

Figure 1: At over 10,000 psi, you may be used to seeing a drop in efficiency, but Force LC columns will take the pressure.

1000 injections and still going strong at high pressure.

cgarm-img — **Figure 2:** Rapid changes in pressure place more stress on a column than even high pressures can, but Force LC columns will handle repeated analyses with no change in separation. You get stable retention times and peak shapes even with rapid cycling!

Apply Force LC Columns to your LC Methods…for Improved Reproducibility

Once you set up and validate a workflow, you move on to developing the next new method. You don’t have time to repeatedly revisit past methods because your chosen column is giving you different results with each lot. Peak shapes and retention times need to be maintained over the lifetime of your workflow to ensure consistent results, reduce unplanned downtime, and preserve your own productivity. Force LC columns have the lot-to-lot reproducibility you need to rely on (Figure 3)—backed by Restek’s strict QC system and our 100% Pure Satisfaction guarantee—so that you are free to focus your energy on what’s next.

Apply Force LC Columns to your LC Methods…for Complete Scalability

To accelerate time to market, analysts will often develop methods on fast UHPLC instruments using sub-2 μm particle columns. But the methods must then be scaled to match the analysis time and pressure limitations of the traditional HPLCs and the 3 or 5 μm columns that will actually be doing the work. To make this transition easier and ensure consistent results, Force LC columns are available in three particle sizes that are manufactured on the same silica support with the same properties to reliably and easily provide the same separation on any instrument platform (Figure 4).

And, of course, it works both ways: fully scalable Force LC columns also make it easy to update conventional HPLC methods to UHPLC instruments to increase sample throughput and reduce solvent consumption and waste disposal costs.

Force LC Columns at Work: Time-Tested Restek Biphenyl Phase

The established choice for pharmaceutical testing since 2005

Separates compounds that other phenyl and C18 chemistries can’t. Allows the use of simple, MS-friendly mobile phases. Restek’s most popular LC phase. Properties: Increased retention for dipolar, unsaturated, or conjugated solutes. Enhanced selectivity when used with methanolic mobile phase. Ideal for increasing sensitivity and selectivity in LC-MS analyses. Switch to a Biphenyl when: Limited selectivity is observed on a C18. You need to increase retention of hydrophilic aromatics.

Column Interaction Profile Defining Solute Interactions: Polarizability Dispersion Complementary Solute Interaction: Cation exchange

Solute Retention Profile Target Analyte Structures: Aromatic Dipolar Target Analyte Functionalities: Hydrophilic aromatics Strong dipoles Lewis acids Dipolar, unsaturated, or conjugated compounds Fused-ring compounds with electron withdrawing groups

Force LC Columns at Work: General-Purpose Restek C18 Phase

Force column dependability, scalability, and quality in a C18

Wide pH range provides excellent data quality for many applications. High carbon load (20%) offers high hydrophobic retention. Properties: Compatible with moderately acidic to neutral mobile phases (pH 2–8). Excellent data quality in food, environmental, bioanalytical, and other applications. Switch to a C18 when: You need a general-purpose column for reversed-phase chromatography. You need to increase retention of hydrophobic compounds.

Column Interaction Profile Defining Solute Interaction: Dispersion

Solute Retention Profile Target Analyte Structure: Hydrocarbons Target Analyte Functionality: Hydrophobic compounds

Tech Tip: Small-Particle Column Protection

Protecting your column is always recommended. Restek offers EXP guard column cartridges for our 3 and 5 µm Force LC columns, but for 1.8 µm columns, where the additional volume of a guard is an issue, reach for the UltraShield UHPLC PreColumn filter with 0.2 μm frit. Its minimal dead volume (1 µL) makes it recommended for UHPLC up to 15,000 psi.

Force LC Columns at Work: Reliably Versatile Restek FluoroPhenyl Phase

Get the power of HILIC and RP modes in one LC column

Retains hydrophobic, polar, and aromatic compounds. Has orthogonal selectivity to a C18. Exceptionally reproducible—predictable performance from every column. Properties: Capable of both reversed-phase and HILIC separations. Ideal for increasing sensitivity and selectivity in LC-MS analyses. Offers increased retention for charged bases. Switch to FluoroPhenyl when: Limited retention and selectivity are observed on a C18 for basic compounds. You need increased retention of hydrophilic compounds.

Column Interaction Profile Defining Solute Interactions: Cation exchange Complementary Solute Interactions: Polarizability Dispersion

Solute Retention Profile Target Analyte Structure: Nitrogen Target Analyte Functionality: Protonated amines Quaternary ammonium compounds Positively charged moieties Lewis bases

SPP or FPP?

Superficially porous particles (SPP) are becoming increasingly popular for providing faster, more efficient analyses without UHPLC pressures. And when speed is your goal, Restek recommends the Raptor line of LC columns.

However, retention is often just as important to sharpen peaks and increase sensitivity for mass spec, and when that is the case, fully porous particle (FPP) Force LC columns are ready to be put to work.

Either way, Restek has a high-performing, reliable LC column for you.