I'm looking at small organic acids in a sample with a complex matrix and am wondering how much acetonitrile is safe for use on this column (Shodex KC-811). If necessary, I'll develop an SPE clean-up protocol, but would rather wash the column to prevent late-eluters from fouling subsequent chromatograms.

Thanks!

Chris

Contacting the manufacturer, Shodex, directly and asking for their technical support department would be the best source for an answer to your question. You might ask the distributor from whom the column was purchased but they would only contact the manufacturer's technical support and relay messages. Column manufacturers love having chromatographers ask for help, that is why they all pay to staff technical support departments. I use columns manufactered by the companies which have, in the past, provided me with the best technical support.

Thanks for the comments. Actually, I had apready contacted my distributor who set to doing some homework, but she hadn't come up with an answer by the time I posted. Normally I do contact the manufacturer and/or distributor with such questions, but I needed an answer quickly, so I figured I'd ask here on the off-chance that someone might have experience with this type of separation. To be honest, I was surprised that such info was not present in the literature that came with the column...

FYI, One may use up to 20% organic (MeCN, MeOH, EtOH, etc) on this type column w/o any degradation of performance.

Can anyone be so kind as to tell me if there is a need in chromatography for a high surface area, electropositive laboratory filter made up of alumina fibers that are 2 nm. in diameter? Filters retain >99.9999% of bacteria, endotoxins, and macromolecules such as DNA and RNA at flow rates hundreds of times faster than ultraporous filters. Viral retention >6 logs is attainable even when the particles are as small as 30 nanometers. Any advice would be appreciated.