Has anyone had trouble lately with the ion pairing reagent tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate from JT Baker? The last few bottles we received have a strong odor and are yellowish in color. We have noticed very poor baselines when using this material in our mobile phase. We can wash the TBAHS with acetonitrile and clean it up enough for use but that is a very time consuming step for the amount of material that we routinely use. We have contacted the manufacturer and have been told that the material still meets specs (98%.) There is no spec on color.

We have looked at other suppliers but the cost is much higher. We haven't decided yet whether we should go with the washing route or buy the more expensive material. Does anyone have any suggestions of other things to try?

You get what you pay for? I hate to sound snide, but one of the differences between the expensive stuff and the cheap stuff is consistency. You've been lucky up to now, but it looks like you have to decide whether it's cheaper to purify it yourself or buy the higher-purity material.

If you're in academia where money is tight and labor is cheap, the clean-it-yourself route makes sense. In industry (where the opposite holds), you're probably better off buying. As always, YMMV.

>We have looked at other suppliers but the cost is much higher.<