ACD/Labs and Supelco Partner to Design Generic Chromatographic Methods for the Walk-Up and High-Throughput Laboratory

Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc., (ACD/Labs) and Supelco, a subsidiary of Sigma-Aldrich, have collaborated to design complementary analytical scale methods that cover the widest range of compound space possible within the confines of typical biologically active compounds.

Twelve methods, available through the ACD/ChromGenius generic method selection tool, were determined through a study examining the design of chromatographic methods in order to sufficiently treat the majority of expected compounds in a given organization. Using four Supelco columns that targeted different selectivity and retentivity, and three solvent systems, the twelve method conditions were established and characterized using a series of diverse, biologically-relevant compounds.

About 1000 experimental retention times were used to train the ChromGenius system, which is designed to learn from experimental results and then predict chromatographic behavior for other compounds under Supelco’s, or other, standard chromatographic conditions. Once trained, the methods were virtually tested for the breadth of their applicability using 5000 compounds randomly selected from the National Cancer Institute database. Of the 5000 compounds, 98.6% could be treated with one of the twelve methods, demonstrating that by using the complementary methods, reasonable retention times could be expected for the large majority of compounds in walk-up and high-throughput laboratories.

Prior to this study, the most common application of ACD/ChromGenius has been to select between two chromatographic methods built for either hydrophilic or hydrophobic compounds. While a viable approach, there are cases when neither method is entirely appropriate, especially when considering resolution from expected impurities as part of the selection objectives. The new methods created using the Supelco columns can be used to now more accurately determine the most effective HPLC method.

David Bell, Applications Laboratory Supervisor, Liquid Separations Business Unit at Supelco, states, “The combination of standard methods, differing stationary phase chemistries and powerful software to manage data, promises to be a valuable tool for high-throughput laboratory professionals. The driving principle is to provide a means of selecting the method conditions that have the greatest probability of providing the right HPLC analysis the first time.”

Mike McBrien, M.Sc., Chromatography Product Manager at ACD/Labs, adds, “This unique study is an excellent example of the value of combining structure-based prediction with careful method design. We look forward to some very exciting future results from this ongoing project.”

Information about ChromGenius and the twelve methods can be found at www.chromgenius.com .

About Supelco/Sigma-Aldrich

Supelco, a division of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ: SIAL) is a leading supplier of chromatography products for analysis and purification, Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. Our biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific and genomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and chemical manufacturing. We have customers in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals and in industry. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 34 countries and has over 6,000 employees providing excellent service worldwide. We are committed to the success of our Customers, Employees and Shareholders through leadership in Life Science, High Technology and Service Information about Sigma-Aldrich can be found at http://www.sigmaaldrich.com .

About Advanced Chemistry Development

Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc., (ACD/Labs) is a chemistry software company offering solutions that truly integrate chemical structures with analytical chemistry information to produce ChemAnalyticsâ„¢. ACD/Labs creates innovative software packages that aid chemical research scientists worldwide with spectroscopic validation of structures, elucidation of unknown substances, chromatographic separation, medicinal chemistry, preformulation of novel drug agents, systematic nomenclature generation, and chemical patenting and publication. Combined, ACD/Labs’ solutions create an analytical informatics system that provides dramatic feed-forward effects on the chemical and pharmaceutical research process. Founded in 1993, and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, ACD/Labs employs a team of over 100 dedicated individuals whose continual efforts carry ACD/Labs’ innovative technologies into pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and materials companies throughout the world. Information about Advanced Chemistry Development and its products can be found at www.acdlabs.com .