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Flash Chromatography and MPLC

Flash Chromatography and MPLC is considered to be a low cost and fast method to purify compounds in Synthetic and Phyto Chemistry.  This method is ideal when larger samples are required particularly then when other purification methods cant be used.  The target compond purity is between 90 to 95% depending o skill of chromatographer and equipment used.

Flash  or Medium Pressure Liquid Chromatography Video clips

               Flash Chromatography (English) High School Level             

      Flash and MPLC Chromatography (English) Technician Level    

    Loading Sample onto a glass column (English) High Scool Level   

MIT Guide to perform Flash Chromatography (English) Tech Level

 

Which Method is best for me?

There are many Flash and MPLC products in the market. So, which is the best one for me?

You need to answer 3 Questions

  1.  Why do I intend to I think Chromatography is for me the right Technology for purification/separation?
  2. What resources are available?
  3. Sample quantity and Sample target purity?

Being Chromatographer in Industry

Let’s say you are a salaried Chromatographer that works in Industry.  Your boss wants quick result that is to say a few grams of sample from the synthesizer or from a Phyto chemist that extracts root culture to purify.  Of course, your boss wants you to make money or to create value for him. The result becomes valuable if the compound is very pure and the solvents and process is of low cost.

To obtain high purity one uses either a commercially available MPLC or HPLC system. A prep HPLC system is considerably more costly and more difficult to run than a prep MPLC system. For commercial purification I would use disposable cartridges that are packed in a factory or better an axially compressed MPLC glass column

Check if your lab has a MPLC pump or check here.  It maybe that sometimes you have to run samples of highest purity e.g. for clinical tests.  In this case we recommend procuring a Prep HPLC pump and prep HPLC column. 

Being scientist in educational and research intuitions

The situation is different if you are a pupil. You may want to use Flash Chromatography for doing research. The goal here is prove of concept and to learn about necessary skills for Flash Chromatography. Beforehand you were able to separate THC from CBD from a hemp oil extract on a TLC plate.  

Research institutions have limited financial resources. As a rule of thumbs, scientist is paid a fixed salary. Consequently, there is no pressure on production time and reproducibility.  As a result of that, staff in educational institutions put together purification systems themselves with standard glassware. Many don’t procure but they pack their own columns.

With the tendency for Industry to outsource synthesis or extraction work to universities researchers often don’t know how much money is being paid by the industry.  The majority of staff in educational and research institutions are paid by taxpayers. Industry out-sources work often because the costs are slightly below their own costs and they assume that the data is reproducible. Financial transaction is handled not by scientist but by accounting staff. Projects with industry are generally interesting. They can be leveraged to procure additional instruments and equipment or to extend staff in other section. Trouble starts when the data is wrong or not reproducible. Scientist that do project work with external partner total transparency so that he knows the requirement of the external client. He also needs to know