Reversed-phase flash chromatography use continues to increase for a variety of reasons. Unlike silica normal-phase flash columns, which typically are used only once, reversed-phase flash columns can be cleaned, stored, and reused. How many times can a column be reused is a frequent question I receive. In this post, I will do my best to answer this question.

For many chemists lab budgets, especially for consumable items, are limited.  One way of trying to stretch their lab budget is to reuse disposable flash chromatography cartridges.

In this post I will show how regardless of the cartridge brand used, repeated use of silica flash cartridges results in loss of compound resolution and fraction purity.