Chromatography Forum

Hi all,

currently i have to equip a new labory. My main problem now is the choise of HPLC columns to work with. I just know that some of the renowned producers are Varian, Agilent, Merck or Grace. But which one is the best for seperating enantiomer proteins and proteins in general? How expensive would it be? Are there any cheaper producers?

Thanks for help.

I would sugest starting by going trough the manufacterers catalogs or web sites. In many cases they have a aplication area where you can search the aplication you require. You can contact your local HPLC providers.
Hopefully some one in the forum will give you a sugestion.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. The "best" column will vary with the specific application (not just "proteins"; *which* proteins? in what matrix? is retaining conformational information important or is assay sufficient? and on, and on, and on). Columns are, in effect, a consumable, and it's best to leave an open budget so you can obtain them as necessary. Once you know what you will be running, then you search the literature and the catalogs as suggested by ccharles to find an appropriate column for each application.

It´s like Tom said. The choice which HPLC column to use is not that simple. You should check exactly the parameters of every single experiment, cause there would not be the one perfect column. Furthermore a HPLC column has to be changed after several runs. At least a website where you can get a little overview of prices and producers: http://www.analytics-shop.com/gb/chroma ... lumns.html

If you can, contact the reps with your application in mind. You will probably find that some of the manufacturers will actually offer you columns on a sale-or-return basis, or even as free trials (if you are cheeky enough), in hopes that once you've settled on a favourite column or manufacturer, it will be them!

When checking pricing, do check the price of guard columns or filters too, if applicable.