Text Box: W.C. Byrdwell and M. Holčapek In the past decade, many new technologies have been developed to provide new tools for analytical chemists to use, while other relatively new technologies are coming to maturity. Since both gas chromatography and conventional high performance liquid chromatography were already mature fields, the new developments have often focused on expanding the field of chromatography by expanding the range of conditions (i.e., pressure, temperature, particle size, column dimensions, etc.) that can routinely be used. Many of the conditions used nowadays are considered quite extreme compared to traditional chromatographic techniques. Some of these extreme conditions are now possible only because of improvements in fabrication technologies (e.g., for column packing materials) and commercial instrument designs (e.g., allowing the use of extremely high pressures in ultra high performance liquid chromatography). Thus, techniques that were demonstrated only in principle as long as decades ago have now come to commercial availability because of technological advancements in instrument design, software development, and manufacturing and production processes. Many techniques that were previously demonstrated only as proofs of concept are now within reach of the typical research or commercial laboratory. While these developments offer exciting possibilities to solve long-intractable problems and to address extremely complex separations as never before possible, they also present difficulties in determining which techniques offer concrete benefits and which ones are merely ‘flashes in the pan’. A dizzying array of specialty applications has appeared in the peer-reviewed literature, which can create a degree of information overload, as today’s chemist grapples with decisions as to which techniques are worthy of adoption (at the cost of substantial capital investment) and which are merely interesting novelties. There are, however, clear trends in the dramatically increasing number of literature reports for some techniques, and these trends run in parallel with the commercial availability of instruments, columns, and stationary phases that manufacturers have determined have reached a critical threshold of implementation justifying their mass production. Because it has become apparent that some techniques are here to stay, this moment in the history of chromatography represents an excellent time to assess the state of the art and to provide a resource for analytical chemists in the decision making process, and for students and professionals interested in learning more about these techniques.

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Prof. Dr. Michal Holcapek

Dr. Wm. Craig Byrdwell

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