What is High Performance Liquid Chromatography Testing?

Do you use high performance liquid chromatography testing for your products?  Do you want to learn more about this popular test method?

High performance liquid chromatography, also known as HPLC is one form of liquid chromatography frequently used in analytical chemistry and biochemistry.  This test method is used to separate components in a mixture by performing a variety of chemical interactions between  the substances being analyzed and the chromatography column.

HPLC instruments consist of a reservoir of mobile phase, a pump, an injector, a separation column and a detector.  The chemist separates the various compounds by injecting an aliquot of the sample mixture onto the column.  The various parts in the mixture will pass through the column at varying rates because of the differences in their partitioning behavior between the mobile liquid phase and the stationary phase.

HPLC has been around since the early 1970s and is a very popular method of analysis in labs throughout the world due to the ease of performing the test and the fact that it is not limited by the volatility or stability of the sample compound.
 
High performance liquid chromatography testing has many applications for various compounds:

• Analytical HPLC is the process of obtaining information about the sample compound (ex. identification, quantification, resolution).
• Purification is the process where the chemist separates or extracts the target compound from others in the sample. 
• Identification is the process of identifying any compound through the test method.
• Quantification is the process of figuring out the unknown concentration of a particularly compound in a known solution.

Each of these applications has a specific purpose driven by the end result desired by the client.  HPLC is a powerful analytical chemistry tool and even trace concentrations of compounds, as little as ‘parts per mrillion’ can be obtained with this test method.
 
At Galbraith Laboratories, Inc., we perform high performance liquid chromatography testing for clients in various industries such as food, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, forensic samples, environmental testing and industrial chemicals.  If your company requires high performance liquid chromatography testing, contact us today to learn more about our high standards, competitive pricing and quality service.