For most synthesis and natural product chemists, flash chromatography is the primary tool for purification and isolation of compounds of interest. Purification methods include flash system defaulted linear gradients (e.g. 0-100%), active gradient modification (on-the-fly) during purification, and unique method creation based one either the chemist’s experience or TLC data (typically a linear gradient). Rarely do chemists work to optimize the purification to maximize target compound purity by employing a step gradient. In this post, I discuss the value optimized step gradients provide chemists.

This is an interesting question that does not have a straightforward answer. In fact, there are many materials that are potentially useful sorbents for dry loading crude mixtures. Some of the more popular are silica, diatomaceous earth (e.g. ISOLUTE® HM-N, Celite®), alumina, and Florisil®. The sorbent choice can influence your purification results because each of the available media have different chemistry and capacity. In most cases, sample/sorbent reactivity really is not a major concern, though it can occur. What is important is the sorbent’s capacity to adsorb/absorb all of your sample and the ratio of your crude sample to the amount of dry load sorbent.

Dry loading crude samples for flash purification typically works better than liquid loading, especially for challenging purifications. In this post, I discuss how the ratio of crude sample to dry load sorbent impacts purification performance.

Learn more about how to get in control of your Flash Purification.

With Biotage® Selekt and Sfär chemists can be in full control of Flash Purification. 

When it comes time to purify your reaction mixture or natural product extract, you have a choice to make. Should you simply load your dissolved sample onto your flash column or take the extra step to adsorb your mix onto a sorbent and dry it before loading? The choice can have a major impact on your results.

In this post, I will share results of work I conducted in my lab, comparing liquid and dry loading a reaction mixture that containing eight major components.

UV detection and fractionation is ubiquitous in flash chromatography. It is the default methodology used to detect and collect eluting compounds. Today’s flash chromatography systems offer UV-triggered fractionation on one, two, or a range of wavelengths in order to either increase fractionation specificity, yield, or increase sensitivity. In this post, I will discuss the value of incorporating fractionation based on a wavelength range and two selectable individual wavelengths.

For many chemists, flash chromatography with UV-triggered fractionation is part of their everyday workflow. Prior to flash chromatography, the reaction mixtures are either analyzed by TLC, analyzed by LC-MS, or both to ensure the targeted product has been synthesized. But, what if the reaction created a lot of by-products? How do you find your product in a sea of impurities? In this post, I will discuss how using a flash purification system with an in-line mass detector will simplify flash purification and isolate the target molecule or molecules. 

On December 6th, 2018, Bob Bickler, Senior Technical Specialist, recorded a webinar on How To Be Successful with Flash Chromatography. To learn more, read the description below as well as watch the recording!

The synthesis of new chemical entities certainly has a high environmental cost due to the chemicals employed, especially in flash column chromatography, where large quantities of solvents are routinely used. The previous article in this series presented three strategies that can greatly reduce the environmental impact of your flash purifications: (1) purifying more product with less silica, and solvent, (2) making green chemistry work for you, such as changing to more environmentally friendly solvents, and (3) optimizing chromatography with more effective step gradients. Let’s look at how new developments in column design, simplifications in step gradients, and support from a leader in flash column chromatography can help in making your operation greener.

 

As we saw in a previous article, the most critical and time-consuming part of organic chemistry synthesis is the purification step. Running a column, testing the resulting fraction, and maybe re-running columns takes too much time – time you could use to prepare reactions or research new chemistries. What if your laboratory equipment made it easier for you to focus on amazing khemistry? Let’s find out what is possible with the latest in automated flash column chromatography systems. 

Discovery chemistry labs synthesizing new molecular entities (NMEs) are under pressure to improve their productivity. Optimizing the design-make-test-analyze (DMTA) cycle in the discovery process means ensuring the slow, iterative make step in the process is faster, more predictable and less time-consuming. Although both synthesis and purification in the make step are regarded as most challenging, it is purification that is the most critical aspect of the chemists work. Chemists cannot afford to spend the majority of their time and energy purifying target molecules as this slows down the discovery chemistry process. Effective and reliable purification tools and technologies are critical to the step-change needed in the make cycle. Let’s see how this is possible by partnering with reliable vendors.

With synthesizing new molecular entities (NMEs) our mission in life as chemists, we are innovators, creators even. In drug discovery research, these NMEs stand a good chance of becoming a cure for a major illness or disease. Few roles in life provide such opportunity for making a positive impact on society as does being a medicinal chemist. It is no wonder that we are so emotionally attached and protective of the targets we create, almost in a parental way. This is why we need to carefully manage every step of the NME synthetic process. The question is, how can we ensure that we have full control over one of the most important, yet least enjoyable steps in the process – purification?

I think that the phrase ‘creative productivity’ captures the essence of an organic chemist’s work. It’s not about the number of new molecules produced per day at all. Creative organic chemists have much more in common with prolific artists and craftspeople. Prolific chemists are relentless discoverers of synthetic pathways that result in a stream of new molecules in, for example, pharmaceutical research. Being prolific involves dealing with the complexities of synthetic pathways, completing projects, and strategizing the next steps once the SAR study results are in. Increasing productivity involves knowledge, and applying it, using the right tools.

Konfidence With a Capital "K", That's Why I Selekt Biotage

The new Biotage® Selekt Flash Purification System is a system you can use with Konfidence. Purification is a fundamental step in discovery research and, as pioneers of automated flash purification, Biotage® is your ideal partner. Our core philosophies of Quality, Reliability and Environmentalism are drawn from our Swedish heritage. Our smart and intuitive design comes from our knowledge of what our customers need each day. You can see why our customers have “Konfidence” with a capital “ K” in our brand.When it comes to purification there are five reasons to Selekt Biotage®.

Sfär Stands for Spherical, Biotage® Stands for Quality 

Biotage developed and introduced pre-packed columns for flash purification in 1994. Today our broad selection of columns enables professionals to choose the solution which best suits their purification needs.

Sfär is the Swedish word for "sphere", and the name of our columns reflects the fact that we have made spherical silica a standard due to its higher surface area and higher loading capacity. Reliable and flexible, Biotage® Sfär columns deliver larger loading capacities, tighter elution bands and purer fractions than traditional flash columns.
Biotage® Sfär is a complete portfolio of flash columns, available in a large variety of sizes from 5g to 350 g and in a range of media types, so you can purify milligrams to multi-grams of your valuable compounds quickly and easily.

New drug substances, the result of more than a decade of pharmaceutical research and development,  have revolutionized society by saving lives, increasing life-spans, reducing suffering, avoiding surgery, and shortening hospital stays. New breakthroughs in the treatment of non-communicable diseases mean that drug substances are in a constant state of high demand, making the pharmaceutical industry one of the most innovative of industries on the globe. Why then, do so few drugs come to market? It turns out that a key factor is providing drug discovery chemists with tools such as automated flash chromatography to ensure that they can be confident in delivering target compounds in a timely fashion.