Detection in chromatography is commonly performed at the end of the column in a fixed position.  WCD to date has involved optical methods of detection.  Often the column is uniformly lit and an imaging method that images the whole column at once is utilized.  A 3D plot can then be constructed of the absorbance/fluorescence intensity along the length of the column in time, allowing a real time view of the analyte separation.  This is advantageous in several areas, including more rapid method development, column health monitoring through detection of non-eluting analytes, better limits of detection and increased throughput. WCD is not new; indeed in the first chromatographic experiment ever performed, Mikhail Tsvet could see at once the status of separation of his plant pigments.  However, he had no ability to quantitate the bands other than a visual estimate.  When photocopying was first invented, the whole document was imaged at once. It has since been discovered that an image obtained by serial scanning permits greater resolution and fidelity than imaging at once.   As common scanners today now sweep across a page to construct a digital image, the same principle can be applied to WCD.  In this method of detection, the illumination source and/or detector sweep along the column. Distance resolution can be controlled by both acquisition rate as well as sweep speed, allowing measurements to be made every few �m.  This method has been adapted to both open and packed column chromatography systems.  Performance data will be presented.

Optical and conductometric whole column detection (WCD) for chromatographic columns

247th National Meeting (2014)

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