Supercritical Fluid Chromatography & Extraction

ACETONITRILE SHORTAGE

The acetonitrile shortage is real and it is affecting labs worldwide with soaring costs and diminished supplies.

Acetonitrile (ACN) is a popular solvent used by most chromatographers. It is a by-product of Acrylonitrile which is produced in the manufacturing of plastics, carpets, car bumpers, and luggage. There have been several factors that have contributed to this recent shortage. Automobile manufacturers, for example, have significantly slowed down production with the decrease in demand for new cars. The down turn in the economy and housing market slump has also affected the carpet manufacturer’s production lines. China all but shut down its major ACN producing plants in preparation for the Olympics and Hurricane Ike shut down a production plant in Texas. This shortage has in turn led to some of the steepest increases in ACN costs that the scientific community has ever seen. In some cases, the cost of ACN has increased 6-8 times as much as people were paying just last summer.

JASCO OFFERS A SOLUTION
Suggestions to cut back on solvent consumption are filling up scientific websites’ chat rooms and blogs - from making your own solvents to switching to UHPLC to reducing column diameters, but none of these options are as visionary or globally beneficial as Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC). Not only does this technique significantly reduce solvent usage and waste by using CO2 as the mobile phase (thus the “green” technology label), it has a remarkably short return on investment time frame. Most importantly, you don’t have to learn a completely new technique. SFC instrumentation is just as easy to operate as any traditional normal phase chromatography system.

Note: Supercritical fluids’ liquid-like densities offer higher solubility and increased column loading. SFC has low viscosity and is highly diffuse enabling faster separation and extraction. SFC is an ideal technique for chiral/achiral screening.

JASCO manufactures both analytical and preparative scale SFC systems. The patented JASCO back-pressure regulator employs a high-speed switching valve to ensure that a constant back pressure is maintained at all times, regardless of the gas flow rate. Most other systems use a restriction device which is flow dependent and hence is unable to provide the essential constant pressure conditions. The JASCO design has the additional benefit of very low dead volume (below 10 µL) which prevents fractions from re-mixing. It also presents a significant reduction in any precipitation buildup in the flow line.

JASCO is the only company to offer a circular dichroism (CD) detector designed specifically for use with our SFC, HPLC and UHPLC (X-LC) products. We also manufacture UV and Diode Array detectors offering real-time collection of 3-D spectra and chromatograms. Our modifier delivery pumps guarantee stable delivery performance even at high flow rates.

SUPERCRITICAL FLUID CHROMATOGARPHY SERVICE AND SUPPORT
Unlike other manufacturers of SFC instrumentation, JASCO guarantees parts and service availability for 10 years after the purchase of any of our SFC systems and/or components. JASCO has over 30 service centers strategically located across the U.S. to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction. We offer on-site training classes for advanced application training. We also have scheduled classes available at our new Easton, MD facility.

First discovered in 1879, supercritical fluids have been used for extraction applications since the 1950’s. The 1980’s saw an increase in their use as mobile phase for analytical separations. The work was mainly capillary scale (GC type) work, but some packed column (LC type) applications were developed. Since then, the expected growth in the technique has not taken place but the availability of new programmable pumps and an electronic back pressure regulator opens the door for future development.

Over the years, JASCO has responded to the growing emphasis on reducing chemical waste by offering an alternative to traditional HPLC with a full line of “green” SFC/SFE products. The reduction in the use of organic solvents has cost, health and safety benefits as well as faster, cleaner sample recovery during experimental procedures. The benefits of using supercritical fluids are their liquid-like densities offering higher solubility and increased column loading. They have low viscosity and are highly diffuse enabling faster separation and extraction.

JASCO’s modular SFC/SFE platforms have been optimized and refined over the last 20 years to provide reliable, worry-free performance for a wide variety of applications. These applications include: analytical and preparative-scale chromatography and extraction systems used for chiral and achiral samples ranging from residual pesticide analysis to pharmaceutical drug development to petrochemical quality assurance. JASCO has also developed several dedicated platforms to help perform common analyses that are best-suited to this technology.

JASCO and Princeton Chromatography combine superior Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC) instrumentation with exceptional Supercritical Fluid Chromatography column manufacturing.

Princeton Chromatography is located in Cranbury, NJ and has nearly 15 years in business supplying the chromatography community with both HPLC and SFC columns. Princeton Chromatography is the home and birthplace of the popular SFC stationary phase 2-Ethylpyridine, which was first introduced in 2001. Princeton Chromatography is also proud to offer a wide array of additional SFC specific phases, designed, packed, and tested for SFC use. All stationary phases are available in a variety of particle and pore sizes. SFC columns are available in dimensions ranging from 2.0 mm I.D. analytical to 50.0 mm I.D. preparative.

JASCO provides 1st class service and support on all our products. We have 31 different service centers around the United States to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction. For more information on service & support please click here...