Solid phase extraction for clean-up of polar molecules in salty aqueous samples and analysis with SFC-UV

In this application note, Phenomenex explores non-target screening (NTS) for analyzing complex samples containing organic molecules. Reversed phase liquid chromatography (RPLC), hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) – polarity-extended chromatographic techniques – are commonly used for separation, but the presence of inorganic salts like sodium chloride hampers analysis of highly polar compounds. To address this, solid phase extraction (SPE) is investigated for removing sodium chloride from aqueous samples. The study focuses on samples with up to 25% sodium chloride content and aims to ensure high recovery rates for polar and very polar organic compounds. SFC-UV is utilized for analyzing polar molecules.