SFC: A Greener Approach to Analytical and Purification Applications

For laboratories overwhelmed with solvent disposal and time-consuming solvent cleanup, supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is a beneficial alternative to purification and analytical applications. Considered a leading "green" purification technology, SFC systems from Waters are used to separate and isolate chiral and achiral chemical compounds using various methods of detection.

The principles of SFC are similar to those of liquid chromatography, however SFC typically uses carbon dioxide as the main mobile phase. SFC is essentially a normal-phase chromatographic technique with inherent high speed and efficiency due to its mobile phase. As a high pressure liquid, or supercritical fluid, using CO₂ is a smart solvent for its low viscosity and high diffusivity needed in today's demanding purification labs and also a sustainable solvent as it is reused after being discarded from other industrial processes.

SFC excels at separating and purifying chiral compounds and natural products because it's faster, uses much less solvent, and overall is a less expensive and greener method that exceeds high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) in performance for chiral separations.

Whether you're just looking to analyze chiral compounds or need to purify those compounds, Waters has the solution that fits your needs.