MultiplexLC · High-Throughput Injection Device for Applications in Liquid Separations

The objective of this innovation project is the development of a marketable technique that combines information technology and chemical analysis by the use of multiplexing to inherently increase the sample throughput in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). High-throughput measurements are desired in the continuous analysis of fine chemicals, drugs, and to discover new catalysts for sustainable chemical processes in industrial applications as well as for widening the spectrum of synthetic methodologies and techniques in chemistry.A high-speed multiplexing-injector will be designed based on the integration of multiple well-plate samplers, which will be individually addressed by encoding sequences for high-throughput sampling in HPLC.A robust computer application will be developed to access the data of the multiplexed and overlapping data obtained by this technique. For the new instrument it is necessary to investigate and characterize in detail the influence of the time interval according to the Hadamard sequences to encode sample injections, the achievable peak width by the injection pulse and the dependency on the encoding sequence length. Optimized parameters are essential for a marketable instrument. This includes the design of electronics to control the injection devices and software to drive the electronics and to apply pseudo-random sequences to the injection devices.It can be expected that the here proposed innovation has a near-market potential as commercially available injection devices can be used in combination with the developed software and electronics.This multiplexing technique will have far reaching applications, not only in chemistry but also in life sciences, clinical diagnostics and other analytical applications used in research and industry, because we can expect a sample throughput increase by a minimum factor of about 10. Its overall impact is expected to be comparable to FT techniques in IR and NMR spectroscopy.