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New capillary electrophoresis system is the most sensitive on the market

By Martin Greiner
Agilent Product Manager, Capillary Electrophoresis

HPLC is a popular analytical technique, but often performs poorly for separations of ions, charged species, and very polar molecules. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is an orthogonal technique that excels in these difficult separations, and appeals to scientists because it consumes little sample and conserves solvents like acetonitrile. Despite these benefits, some analysts have been reluctant to adopt CE because sensitivity has lagged behind HPLC. Now that has improved with the new Agilent 7100 Capillary Electrophoresis system – a completely updated instrument that is the most sensitive CE available.

Agilent’s new 7100 CE system combines the separating power of CE with extraordinary sensitivity.

Improvement through evolution

The 7100 CE system achieves unprecedented sensitivity. The analysis of pharmaceutical impurities illustrates the improvement. Previous CE instruments had problems with reproducible quantification of impurities at the 0.05% level next to a larger peak of main product. This challenging measurement requires low baseline noise and a dynamic range of four orders of magnitude. A new diode array detector, combined with Agilent’s proprietary extended light-path capillaries and high-sensitivity detection cell, increase the 7100 CE’s sensitivity to around 10-fold beyond that of other CE instruments with UV detection. You can now easily quantify critical low-level impurities.

The new instrument features 100% backward compatibility for methods and capillaries. Setup and validation of methods can be elaborate, and we guarantee that you can easily migrate to the new system without disruption.

This system reduces your cost of ownership and is easier to operate and maintain. For example, the new detector doubles the UV-lamp life compared with the earlier Agilent CE instrument. The 7100 CE has a 25% smaller footprint, while still improving access to internal parts like electrodes. Modules simply slide out for easier service and routine maintenance. The instrument uses the familiar ChemStation graphical user interface, but we have modernized the method setup and analysis tools. The new system is more effective and intuitive, reducing the need to spend time reading the user manual.

Throughput advantage

Agilent’s CE instrument is the only one that offers a replenishment system that can flush and replenish the inlet and outlet buffer vials. It is important to continuously exchange the buffer used for the separation because electrochemical reactions in the buffer change the composition, which changes the reproducibility of migration times. This buffer exchange can be accomplished either by providing multiple vials of running buffer in the autosampler (which uses up slots for samples) or by regularly flushing and refilling the buffer vials. Agilent’s replenishment system does the latter, and delivers a unique advantage by increasing sample capacity and throughput. The 7100 CE system also decreases the amount of buffer used for replenishment – by providing a new valve block and smaller-diameter tubing with lower dead-volumes.

Complete CE/MS solutions

With its economy of sample size, fast analysis time, and high separation efficiency, CE/MS has applications in many industries. It is the ideal tool for analysis of ionic or polar metabolites, which is why Human Metabolome Technologies, Inc. (HMT) has standardized on CE/time-of-flight (CE/TOF) from Agilent for this application. Chemical companies are interested in CE/triple-quadrupole combinations to quantify process-related impurities in chemical syntheses, while large biotech firms use CE/TOF to analyze glycans on monoclonal antibodies. A key advantage of Agilent’s CE/MS solution is that the 7100 CE instrument connects to all Agilent MS systems via the same sprayer interface. In contrast to competitive systems, the CE separation and the MS spraying conditions are completely independent – making Agilent’s system a plug-and-play solution.

The Agilent 7100 Capillary Electrophoresis system delivers unrivaled sensitivity, increases sample throughput, and integrates seamlessly with Agilent MS systems. If you analyze compounds that are charged, ionizable, or very polar, learn more by requesting a free CE Discovery Kit, or by contacting your Agilent Representative.

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