Prep SFC columns: A study of safe, high-pressure columns and their efficiencies for the purification laboratory

ANYL 368

Ziqiang Wang, ziqiang_wang@merck.com, Merck & Co, 770 Sumneytown Pike, P.O. Box 4, West Point, PA 19486-0004
SFC columns from 3 cm inner diameter to production scale require designs that correlate to CE and/or ASME safety guidelines. Thus, preparative SFC columns should have a thicker wall and more robust closures to meet these guidelines. Furthermore, every state has a boiler code that regulates the use of high pressure gases in vessels and CO2 in a supercritical state falls in this category. In the talk, we will show that all SFC columns are not alike and that some columns are better packed than others. Finally, we will attempt to find out if chiral stationary phases with 5 micron particles are really necessary in preparative SFC vs. 20 micron particles at 1/3 of the price. This price/performance data will help a scientist select the best columns and stationary phases while adhering to high safety standards in the US and Europe.