Comparing C18‐Type Stationary Phases to Biphenyl Using an LC Virtual Method Development Tool

As LC‐MS/MS continues to grow as the dominant separation technique within a host of industries, more laboratories are trying to run broad panels of analytes from single injections, requiring robust chromatography capable of separating analytes, isobars, and matrix elements suitably to afford suitable detector sensitivity for qualification and quantitation. Column selection is the single most impactful factor when it comes to tackling these issues, and yet the most common method development approach globally remains scanning gradients using a C18‐type column.

In this poster we leverage a virtual method development tool to compare the selectivity of a Biphenyl column against several C18‐type phases for a panel of pesticide standards. Initial runs were performed to verify modelled retention times against real‐world LC‐MS/MS data utilising a Biphenyl phase, RT differences were compared, with results demonstrating no greater than 10.8s across a 14 minute programmed gradient. Various C18‐type columns were then similarly modelled, with the Biphenyl column demonstrating enhanced retention and selectivity for molecules containing phenyl rings, and increased retention for compounds which eluted early into the run (which may typically overlap with matrix elements otherwise).