The need to merge supercritical fluid chromatography into undergraduate curricula for the twenty-first century

ABSTRACT

Complementarity to liquid and gas chromatography, supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is becoming a mainstream separation technique. There is a global demand for more SFC users since ‘green’ method development has become a favorable target for research into sustainable technologies. In order to parallel this trend, there is a need to incorporate SFC into the relevant curricula to provide students with this pertinent chromatographic separation knowledge. There is currently limited SFC training in undergraduate modules compared to traditional liquid/gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Herein, we comment on the evolution of SFC, and the move to this greener chemistry technology with increased industrial applications, to highlight the importance of including this technique in future undergraduate modules.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Green chemistry
• supercritical fluid chromatography
• pharmacy/chemistry undergraduate curricula
• pharmaceutical chemistry

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was made possible through financial support from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, National Research Foundation [grant number 120419] and Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) of South Africa.