Abstract
HPLC method development is still considered to be one of the crucial bottlenecks that impede productivity in analytical laboratories. Due to the variety of available columns, the proper selection of the stationary phase usually represents the greatest challenge. With the progress in U-HPLC which enables generic gradient separations within 5 minutes or less, ultrafast method development techniques become possible. While conventional LC rarely supported more than one generic gradient run per hour, U-HPLC can do a multitude of chromatographic runs in the same amount of time. This allows changing the experimental approach from thoroughly designing a small number of initial experiments towards a more comprehensive screening along any possible combination of column/eluent/temperature. Thanks to the very short run times of U-HPLC, this can be accomplished within the same time frame as the conventional approach. However this screening provides a significantly broader set of results, more information on the influence of the parameters within the design space, and thus more confidence in the robustness of the new method.