Automated normal-phase preparative high-performance liquid chromatography as a substitute for flash chromatography in the synthetic research laboratory

An automated normal-phase preparative HPLC system was developed in order to omit time-consuming flash column chromatography in the synthetic research laboratory. The system is equipped with steel columns packed with spherical 12 μm silica and is able to separate samples in a range of 0.1–10 g depending on the column diameter and chromatographic problem. It was designed to be used as an open access instrument in the research department. The general users select from binary gradient programs after running an analytical TLC with the raw product. The HPLC instrument was fully controlled by the Chromeleon software from Dionex. A Gilson 215 robot served as injector/collector.