Principle and Applications of Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

Abstract

One of the most challenging problems encountered during the development of a new pharmaceutical compound is linked to purification. The synthesis schemes are more and more complex and the request for rapid and efficient methods to isolate the target molecule from mixtures is crucial to ensure the success of the future drug.

Preparative chromatography is widely used at the developmental stages. The technology offers a perfect answer to the main challenge of the developers: “go fast and be efficient.” The development of a chromatographic separation is easy at this stage; it is often possible to modify an analytical HPLC method to quickly isolate the purified product on a larger column.

At the production scale, preparative chromatography can also be applied. An optimization of the chromatographic conditions at an analytical scale (selection of stationary phase and solvent), together with the selection of the appropriate chromatographic process (discontinuous or continuous), lead to a cost effective, efficient, and robust industrial process. Preparative chromatography is applied at a very large scale for the purification of small organic molecules, peptides and proteins, carbohydrates, and chiral molecules under conditions required for pharmaceutical applications.

Even though preparative gas chromatography is successfully implemented for some applications at the industrial scale concerning low molecular weight and/or very volatile compounds, liquid eluents are by far the most common and competitive choice for the preparative chromatography process.

Keywords:

• SFC
• Principles
• Applications