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Top HPLC Manufacturers Weigh In on Capabilities

by Angelo DePalma

Adapting to the “omics” revolutions in biology, GE Healthcare (Parsippany, NJ) offers instruments and software that streamline biologists’ workflows. Like its predecessor company, Amersham, GE produces HPLC systems that analyze 1D and 2D gels, as well as on the “LC side” of LC/mass spectrometry (MS) systems. “Researchers realize that these technologies complement one another, and that neither alone will provide the ‘correct’ answer to complex biological questions,” says Jasmine Gray, marketing director for Protein Discovery.

GE’s DeCyder software platform has also grown with the complexity of biological research. DeCyder provides the usual statistical analysis and clustering, and plots MS and LC data in 2D and 3D to facilitate analysis and troubleshooting.

On the support side, GE prides itself on a service department with global reach, and its library of standard methods and application notes, many co-authored with customers.

Thermo Electron (San Jose, CA) claims to be the largest scientific instrument manufacturer on earth, and with that size comes many capabilities. Thermo’s expertise in standalone HPLC dovetails with its offerings in MS. “We play in front of the best mass detectors in the world,” says LC and LC/MS business director, Chris Loran. Thermo also supplies columns, sample preparation, and the entire range of mass detectors (linear trap, triple quadrupole and even orbit-trap), plus consumables, expertise in applications and methods development.

Thermo’s Surveyor HPLC system

Thermo presents technical talks at an “amazing” number of scientific and trade show conferences each year. In 2005 the company hosted seminar sessions on high-speed chromatography across the entire range of LC applications. Two examples of Thermo’s innovative approach are its 1.9 μm Hypersil GOLD columns, and the 100% porous graphite Hypercarb column, which separates polar compounds for subsequent mass analysis without the need for ion-pairing agents.

HPLC has long been part of Waters’ (Bedford, MA) heritage and remains a core business. In 2004 the company introduced UPLC—Ultra Performance LC, which combines very small stationary phase particle sizes and high pressure—up to 15,000 psi. Waters fancies itself as a fully integrated HPLC vendor. “We understand that the LC part of the system is important, but we believe strongly in the integration of separation and detection modes,” says Jeffrey Mazzeo, Ph.D., Director of Applied Technology. Waters recently introduced a line of ultraviolet detectors with nanoliter-volume flow cells—small enough not to affect chromatography while providing a long fluid path through the principle of total internal reflection.

As a science-based company, Waters publishes extensively and sends representatives to leading technical conferences. For end-users looking for more hands-on guidance, Waters offers a library of methods protocols and close interaction with its customers.

Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, CA) dubs itself “the world’s premier measurement company.” For years its 1100 series HPLC was the industry standard, selling more than 60,000 units worldwide since its 1995 introduction. On February 1, Agilent replaced the 1100 with the 1200 HPLC series, for which the company offers more than 900 different LC columns in various lengths, widths and stationary phase particle sizes. More than 65 bonded phases are available, plus additional special-application columns.

Waters’ ACQUITY UPLC System with Q-Tof Premier Mass Spectrometer and MassLynx Software

Agilent draws on a rich heritage from its Hewlett-Packard days, providing top-tier instruments, comprehensive service and user-friendly methods. The company is an active participant in scientific forums and publishes extensively on HPLC in journals and through internal publications.

“When we entered the HPLC arena years ago, we were the low-cost leader,” notes Curtis Campbell, HPLC product manager at Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (Columbia, MD). “People soon realized we were not just inexpensive. We were good.”

Shimadzu’s completely modular HPLC systems allow end-users to tailor a system based on any combination of six different pumps, six different autosamplers and nine different detectors. Users can mix in an even wider array of valves, ovens and accessories.

Shimadzu products are flexible on the IT side as well. The company allows almost any software package to control its instruments. Recently, when one MS manufacturer switched from a Macintosh to a PC-based platform (leaving customers high and dry), Shimadzu approached the vendor and worked with them to implement software drivers that assured interoperability and full computer control. “Software should not limit our users’ choice of instruments,” says Mr. Campbell.

Angelo DePalma, a chemist-turned-freelance writer, lives in Newton, NJ. He may be contacted at angelodp@gmail.com.

ONLINE For additional information on the technologies discussed in this article, see Laboratory Equipment magazine online at www.LaboratoryEquipment.com or the following Web sites:
•www.gehealthcare.com
•www.thermo.com
•www.waters.com
•www.agilent.com
•www.shimadzu.com