Finding Hidden Reaction Products: Enhanced Detection in Flash Purification with Evaporative Light-Scattering Technology

Flash chromatography is the de facto purification technique for organic and medicinal chemists. Standard flash chromatography equipment incorporates a built-in UV, or UV-VIS detector to “see” compounds as they elute from the column and trigger the fractionation. The reaction product and its byproducts often lack chromophores that absorb UV radiation effectively or may even lack them altogether. To detect these compounds, employing a specific wavelength or range of wavelengths can enhance sensitivity. However, this becomes problematic when the solvents used for purification absorb UV light within the same wavelength range as the reaction mixture components.
To address this issue, using an in-line evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) helps to detect most of those reaction mixture components that would be otherwise difficult
to find, or miss completely. In this application note, we show improved reaction mixture detection with Biotage®  Selekt Enkel flash chromatography system equipped with an evaporative light-scattering detector, Biotage®  Selekt ELSD.