Spectroscopy 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 III discusses more on Beer’s Law and why absorptivity is important along with some of its advantages and limitations.

Beer’s Law, Part III: Demystifying the Absorptivity

In part II of this series, we establish the physical basis of Beer’s Law and derive it from first principles then wrap up with a discussion of how the assumptions made in the derivation affect Beer’s Law experiments.

Beer’s Law, Part II: Physical Basis and Derivation

In this introduction to Beer’s Law, we review its use, history, and begin to cover the theory behind the equation.

The Most Important Equation in Potency Analysis is Beer’s Law: An Introduction

A discussion on the selection of a “golden” potency method including what this method should look like, how we should go about choosing it, and more.

In Search of the Golden Potency Method

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

Let’s take a deeper look into GC instrumentation.

Looking with Light: Understanding Gas Chromatography, Part I: Gases

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.

Statistics for Cannabis Analysis, Part I: Standard Deviation and Its Relationship to Accuracy and Precision

What is the overall scope of spectroscopy and how can it be used as a tool to improve analyses?

Examining Energy and Light: Understanding Spectroscopy and Spectrophotometry

The inter-laboratory variation problem still exists, which means laboratory certification is necessary, but not sufficient to guarantee your samples are analyzed properly. Here, Smith offers suggestions to help improve the situation.

Laboratory Accreditation: Is It Enough to Guarantee Your Samples Are Analyzed Correctly?

We finish looking at liquid chromatography with a deeper examination of the mechanics, physics, and chemistry of different spectrometers that are used in analytical laboratories.

Looking with Light: Understanding Spectrometry

Mislabeled cannabis medicines are an on-going problem; here we discuss appropriate technologies for cannabis dispensaries to do their own testing.