Hype and hypernation: multiple hyphenation of column liquid chromatography and spectroscopy

We review the use of multiple hyphenation of column liquid chromatography (LC) with spectroscopy for the identification of compounds in chromatographic eluents. We consider the case for multiple hyphenation (“hypernation”) vs. multiple single hyphenations. We provide examples of the use of combinations, such as LC-UV-NMR-MS and LC-ICPMS-ToF-MS, and consider the practical problems and limitations associated with such systems.