When Marcel Golay introduced the open tubular column in 1957, few realized then how significantly this column format would revolutionize the field of gas chromatography (GC), and spread through all of the separation sciences. Initial efforts were with metal capillaries, but soon turned to glass capillaries with the construction of a glass-drawing machine by Desty. Growth of this technique was initially slow due to the rigidity and fragility of the glass capillary coil, and the presence of metal oxide components in the glass used to make columns. Growth greatly accelerated first with the invention of fused silica capillary columns by Dandeneau and Zerenner in 1979, and then with the realization of the relative ease of coupling capillary GC with mass spectrometry (MS). In more recent years, small diameter columns, both open tubular and packed, have become important in capillary electrophoresis (CE) and liquid chromatography (LC), respectively. The heart of capillary separations is, and will always be, the column. Effort is continually being made to develop better capillary column technology, followed closely by developments in instrumentation that take full advantage of the separation potential of the column. Today, most of the analytical chemistry world, and even scientists and practitioners in separations science, have little understanding of the fundamental principles and practices that go into making a high performance capillary column, and the history behind the development of these practices. This knowledge is important in understanding how best to use these columns in practice, and how to be most efficient in future column development. This presentation aims to describe these developments from my perspective, having spent nearly 50 years in the mainstream of developments of capillary column technologies and their applications in a variety of chromatographic and electrophoretic techniques. Some speculation will be made of what possibilities may arise in the future.

Award Address (ACS Award in Analytical Chemistry sponsored by the Battelle Memorial Institute). Half a century of column technology

2019 Spring National Meeting

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