CHROMATOGRAPHY, Vol. 27 (2006), No. 3, pp. 131-134

Ultra high−speed separation has become increasingly important in pharmacology, food science, agrochemistry and other areas. In general, conventional HPLC separation has been performed on columns packed with 5 μm particles. However, conventional HPLC requires a long analysis time and big amounts of solvents. In case of X−LC (extreme liquid chromatography), shorter columns typically 50−100 mm in length packed with ultra micro−particles, which particle size is less than 2 μm, are used. X−LC offers higher efficiency and sensitivity, and reduction of organic solvents without sacrificing separation efficiency. We compared efficiency of X−LC with conventional HPLC in separation of medicines listed in Pharmacopeia. In case of conventional HPLC with a 5 μm column (I.D. 4.6 mm x 150 mmL) for the separation of Isoniazid, Rifampin, Pyrazinamide, the analysis time was a little over 8 minutes, whereas, X−LC with a 2 μm column (I.D. 2.1 mm x 50 mmL) gave a very short analysis time of 1.3 min, which is 6 times faster than conventional HPLC.