The 44th International Symposium on HPLC 2016 was held at the San Francisco, California, Marriott Marquis from June 19 through June 24. The event included a series of short courses, tutorials, poster sessions, vendor technical workshops, and an exhibition featuring suppliers of HPLC systems, columns, software, components and consumables. The venue continues a tradition of holding the conference in San Francisco every 10 years, as it had previously been held in the city in 1986, 1996 and 2006. Attendance totaled 1,002 this year, compared to 800 for HPLC 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana, the last time the event was held in the US. Last year’s Symposiums took place in Geneva, Switzerland, and Beijing, China.

Among the 49 exhibitors were Shimadzu, highlighting the Nexera UC online SFE-SFC instrument; Waters, featuring its ACQUITY Arc system; and Thermo Fisher Scientific, exhibiting the new Vanquish Flex Binary System. Launched at the show, the Thermo Scientific Vanquish Flex Binary UHPLC includes the option of binary solvent delivery for the 1000 bar range for increased throughput. It features a biocompatible flow path, flow rates up to 8 mL/min and 2 x 3 solvent channels.

Agilent Technologies showcased the 1260 Infinity II LC (see IBO 5/15/16). It features a dual-needle design that reduces cycle times, a large capacity for microtiter plates, and the ability to house up to four columns. The instrument is part of Agilent’s new InfinityLab Series, which replaces the company’s 1100 Series of HPLCs. The 1260 Infinity II began shipping in June at a price of $60,000–$80,000. During the conference, Agilent hosted multiple technical workshops to highlight the instrument’s features and its ability to boost lab workflow efficiency.

Another technical workshop was sponsored by MilliporeSigma on June 21, the subject of which was how to improve protein and peptide separations by (U)HPLC. The presentation dealt with the optimization of particle architecture in LC columns for achieving proper separation of proteins and peptides. Based on actual application examples that were cited, a key issue for this type of separation is that the advantage of using a high-performance LC column for large biomolecules is often negated by band broadening (dispersion) within an instrument. In order to realize maximum performance of these high-performance columns, they must be matched with a system capable of low dispersion. Even though band dispersion is inherent in any instrument due to laminar flow, a high-pressure rating, such as in UHPLC, is needed in order to unlock the highest level of chromatographic peak resolution the column can attain.

Among the free tutorials at the symposium was one on HPLC method development given by Paul Haddad, PhD, from the University of Tasmania in Australia. The tutorial highlighted common mistakes scientists make in method development, including not defining the goal of the desired method, having little knowledge of the analyte mix and a tendency for scientists to use the most familiar column. The lecture was centered upon the first three steps in method development: choosing a separation mode, defining the separation problem and experimenting with key variables. The choice of separation method, whether that be normal-phase HPLC, reversed-phase HPLC or another mode of separation, is dependent on having knowledge about the analyte, including the structures of the sample components and the number of compounds present. Defining the separation problem entails an evaluation of the objective. This might be, for example, the achievement of maximum resolution, partial resolution, fast analysis, a separation of a critical pair of peaks, low solvent consumption, column stability or high sensitivity. The third step in method development is to experiment with key variables, including an adjustment of the temperature gradient, pH and flow rate. Here, a multivariate approach is recommended, and Dr. Haddad outlined the ways in which computer-assisted approaches to method development help make the process more efficient. Optimization and validation of the developed method are the two final steps.

In 2017, like 2016, there are two HPLC Symposiums scheduled. The 45th HPLC Symposium will be held in Prague, Czech Republic, from June 18 through June 22. The 46th HPLC Symposium will be held on Jeju Island in South Korea from November 5 through November 9. The next US HPLC Symposium will be held in Washington, DC, in 2018, from July 29 through August 2.