Purity Test for Liquid Chromatography Solvents

[syx]

Dear Chromatographers,

I need information about how to check purity of liquid chromatographic solvent from a vendor? And also to check purity of in-house purified water for liquid chromatography application?

Regards,
SYX

[Kostas Petritis]

Syx,

Different detectors have different mobile phase requirements. For example for UV you will need to check if it is free of UV absorbing compounds (in general the manufacturers give UV cut-offs etc), the ELSD will need very small amount solid residues and MS absence of ionisable compounds.

In order to control the quality, I would in general run a black gradient with and without column. The column can be used for preconcentration of impurities (especially in water) so you can start let's say with 95:5 water:organic modifier and then go up to 100% in organic modifier. The backround noice or even chromatographic peaks will give you an idea of the purity of your solvents/water...