Chromatography Techniques

Brian C. Smith, PhD, is Founder, CEO, and Chief Technical Officer of Big Sur Scientific. He is the inventor of the BSS series of patented mid-infrared based cannabis analyzers. Dr. Smith has done pioneering research and published numerous peer-reviewed papers on the application of mid-infrared spectroscopy to cannabis analysis, and sits on the editorial board of Cannabis Science and Technology. He has worked as a laboratory director for a cannabis extractor, as an analytical chemist for Waters Associates and PerkinElmer, and as an analytical instrument salesperson. He has more than 30 years of experience in chemical analysis and has written three books on the subject. Dr. Smith earned his PhD on physical chemistry from Dartmouth College. Direct correspondence to: 

Articles

Part II of this series looks at the mechanism via which molecules move through HPLC columns and leads us to a discussion on the equations used to characterize separations.

Chromatography Theory,  Part II: How Separations Occur Illustrated and Quantitated

In the work presented here, the authors pursue a more detailed understanding of the naturally rare occurring cannabinoid analogue, hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), by exploring the safety profile using a third-party lab to produce preclinical in vitro safety profile data. The purpose of these studies is to demonstrate HHC as a safe cannabinoid for potential human consumption.

Nonclinical In Vitro Safety Assessment Summary of Hemp Derived (R/S)-Hexahydrocannabinol ((R/S)-HHC)

This article examines why we should be studying the cannabinoids beyond THC and CBD in order to explore their potential medical value.

The Case for THCA and Other Minor Cannabinoids

is a Full Professor and Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at The University of Texas (UT) at Arlington.

In the work presented here, the authors evaluated the effects of variable red-light exposure on the phytochemical content of four Group III cannabis cultivars.

Variable Red Light Exposure Affects Phytochemical Content  in Group III Cannabis Cultivars

Patricia Atkins is a Senior Applications Scientist with SPEX CertiPrep and a member of both the AOAC and ASTM committees for cannabis.

Let’s investigate the differences between the commercially available detector in terms of sample type, size, and selectivity to understand which detectors fit into the most common types of cannabis GC analyses.

Looking with Light: Understanding Gas Chromatography, Part IV: Detectors

This article investigates the chiral method development screening for the enantiomeric separation of synthetic CBD on polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases with both normal-phase and reversed phase mobile phases, using HPLC and UHPLC.

The Chiral Separation of the (+) and (-) Enantiomers of Cannabidiol

Let’s try to understand the functioning and chemistry of GC columns and how to change and manipulate the resolution equation and column chemistry to maximize our own analyses.

Looking with Light: Understanding Gas Chromatography, Part III: Columns and Resolution

This study focuses on a step-by-step optimization of commercial scale preparative HPLC purification of cannabinoids, specifically cannabidiol, starting with stationary reversed-phase screening, followed by method optimization.

Development, Optimization, and Process Performance for Preparative Chromatographic Purification of Cannabinoids

It is demonstrated in this paper that cell viability can be used to determine dose and response effects that are important in understanding toxicities and to detect differences in similar hemp products.

Human Cells Can Be Used to Study Cannabinoid Dosage and Inflammatory Cytokine Responses

In part I of this series on statistical concepts related to cannabis analysis, we introduce the normal distribution, standard deviation, and how to calculate precision and accuracy.