CO2 chromatography

Supercritical CO2 chromatography (SFC) is a technique that uses carbon dioxide in its supercritical state as the mobile phase to separate and analyze different compounds. Supercritical CO2 has the advantages of low viscosity, high diffusivity, and tunable polarity, which make it suitable for fast and efficient separations. Supercritical CO2 chromatography can be applied to various fields, such as pharmaceuticals, natural products, environmental analysis, and food science.

The advantages of supercritical CO2 chromatography is that it uses carbon dioxide in its supercritical state as the mobile phase.

This means that the carbon dioxide has both gas-like and liquid-like properties, which can be adjusted by changing the pressure and temperature. By doing so, the polarity and solubility of the carbon dioxide can be tuned to match the analytes of interest, resulting in faster and more selective separations. Another advantage of supercritical CO2 chromatography is that it reduces dramatically the use of organic solvents, which are often toxic, flammable, and expensive. This makes it a more environmentally friendly and cost-effective technique.

Supercritical CO2 chromatography is a versatile technique that can be used for various applications. For example, it can be used to separate and analyze pharmaceutical compounds, such as chiral drugs, steroids, and antibiotics. It can also be used to isolate and identify natural products, such as essential oils, flavonoids, and alkaloids.

SFC has a vast quantity of applications over various industries such as pharmaceuticals, natural products analysis, food and beverages. It is particularly useful when it comes to resolving compounds that share similar structures, are thermally labile, and handling compounds that are difficult to separate using conventional chromatography techniques. SFE and SF-Chromatography, together, provide alternative solutions for molecule extraction and separation. The utilization of low-viscosity fluids such as supercritical CO₂ enables shorter runs, greater versatility, and safer and more eco-friendly production. Highly automated systems reduce the possibility of human error and control the chromatography separation of compounds. The prospect of extracting, separating, and detecting molecules in a single system is highly attractive.