Ultra-performance LC

A commercial HPLC system and columns capable of performing ultra high-pressure LC were recendy introduced at PITTCON 2004 (ACQUITY Ultra Performance LC System by Waters). This HPLC system was designed to take full advantage of the potential of novel, sub-2-micron particles to give scientists chromatographic run times that are up to 9 times shorter than current fast HPLC systems, up to 2 times better peak capacity or resolution, and 3 times better routine sensitivity. 

Bouchet S et al (2011) Simultaneous determination of nine tyrosine kinase inhibitors by 96-well solid-phase extraction and ultra performance LC/MS-MS. Clin Chim Acta 412 1060-1067... 

Ultra-performance LC on colnnms packed with 1.7-pm particles [24]. The smaller particles enable a shorter analysis time withont comprontising the chromatographic resolution. Improved resolution rednces ion snppression, and thereby enhances the overall sensitivity in metabolite analysis. A mass spectrometer with fast acquisition potential is a prereqnisite. 

J. Castro-Perez, R. Plumb, J.H. Granger, I. Beattie, K. Joncour, A. Wright, Increasing throughput and information content for in-vitro drug metabolism experiments using ultra-performance LC-Q-TOF-MS, Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom., 19 (2005) 843. 

Kaufman and Butcher [64] reported the use of ultra-performance LC (1.7-pm particles) in the residue analysis of CAP in kidney tissue and honey. Compared to a conventional LC column (5 pm), 3-4-fold overall improvement in S/N was achieved. CCoc was 0.011 pg/kg for kidney, which is significant between the MRPL. 

M.E. Swartz, Ultra performance hquid chromatography (UPLC) an introduction, LC-GC North Am, Suppl. (Ultra Performance LC Separation Science Redefin d), 8-14 (2005). 

Plumb, R. et al., A rapid simple approach to screening pharmaceutical products using ultra-performance LC coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry and pattern recognition, J. Chromatogr. Sci., 46, 193, 2008. 

Another extraction procedure based on buffered QuEChERS methodology (quick, easy, che, effective, rugged, and safe) has recently been reported for the multiresidue determination of 18 dmgs in milk. In this procedure, extraction of milk samples was carried out with acetonitrile while no extract cleanup was required. Extract cleanup was also not applied in the multiresidue determination of 39 antibiotics, including tetracychnes, quinolones, penicillins, sulfonamides, and macrolides in chicken muscle after extraction with methanol/water containing EDTA and direct injection into an ultra-performance LC-mass spectrometery (MS)-MS system.t ... 

Ultra-performance LC is a new class of analytical separation techniques that retains the principles and pragmatism of HPLC while increasing the whole interlaced attributes of sensitivity, resolution, and speed. 

The instrument employed is a Waters Micromass Quattro Premier with a Waters Acquity Ultra Performance LC equipped with Mass Lynx software. The pre-column is a VanGuard HSS T3 1.8 pm, 2.1x5 mm, or equivalent. The analytical column is an Acquity UPLC HSS T3 1.8 pm, 2.1 x 50 mm, or equivalent. 

Instrument Waters TQD API Tandem Mass Spectrometer with a Waters Acquity Ultra Performance LC equipped with Mass Lynx software. 

Ultra Performance LC by design, 2004. Waters Corporation, USA, 720000880EN LL LW-UL. 

The trends in the analysis of biopesticides are aimed at analytic methods that allow the detection of trace amounts of these compounds in a very short time. In this sense, the best-positioned techniques at this moment are as follows (a) SPE (with novel selective tailor-made sorbent materials) and QuE-ChERS (with its variants) for sample preparation and (b) ultra-performance LC coupled to MS with an electrospray source and a triple quadrupole analyzer (UPLC-ESI-QqQ-MS/MS) for identification/quantification. However, more improvements are still needed to allow a full understanding of the fate and behavior of biopesticides in the environment. 

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