Supercritical fluid chromatography in research laboratories: Design, development and implementation of an efficient generic screening for exploiting this technique in the achiral environment

A new strategy for exploiting SFC in the achiral arena has been designed, developed and successfully implemented in our Analytical Technologies laboratories, in support of Drug Discovery. The development of a generic analytical SFC/MS screening protocol, following extensive evaluation of different stationary phase, modifier and gradient elution combinations, has enabled fast analytical method development for structurally diverse compounds within both specialised and high-throughput purification environments. Application of this approach into the daily routine has provided data on a large number and a wide variety of reaction mixtures. The results confirm the scope and generality of the strategy with more than 85% of targets being successfully resolved from their impurities.

► Achiral SFC screen designed, developed and successfully implemented (routine). ► Approach developed in support of purification in chemistry groups in Drug Discovery. ► Success: >85% targets resolved from its impurities in hundreds of research mixtures. ► Scale-up: >90% recovery and >95% purity for isolated target. ► Scope, generality, efficiency and cost effectiveness fully proven.