Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatograph Shimadzu Nexera series - Technical Reports / Applications

Importance of Topic

Liquid chromatography continues to be a workhorse in pharmaceutical, food and environmental analysis. Recent advances in LC automation, column design and detector technology have enabled dramatic improvements in throughput, data reliability and ease of use. This compendium of application notes illustrates how modern LC systems and modules—such as the Shimadzu Nexera series, SIL-40 autosampler, SPD-M40 PDA detector and Shim-pack columns—address longstanding challenges in HPLC workflows.

Objectives and Overview

The key aims across these studies were to:

• Automate routine start-up, shut-down and diagnostics to maximize uptime.
• Monitor mobile phase levels in real time and predict consumption.
• Detect and recover from flowline air bubbles automatically.
• Accelerate sample throughput using overlapped injection and high-speed columns.
• Enhance chromatographic performance for problematic analytes (e.g. basic compounds, organic acids, biomolecules).
• Improve detection linearity and stability under fluctuating ambient conditions.
• Simplify derivatization and multi-component analysis with automated pretreatment.

Methodology and Instrumentation

Instrumentation and techniques demonstrated include:

• Nexera XR and Nexera X3 UHPLC systems with FlowPilot automated start-up.
• MPM-40 mobile phase monitor module for real-time gravimetric tracking.
• AUTO-diagnostics and AUTO-recovery functions in solvent delivery units.
• SIL-40 series autosampler with overlapping and co-injection pretreatment.
• SPD-M40 PDA detector featuring triple temperature control (Advanced TC-Optics) and UV-cutoff filter.
• Shim-pack SPP and core-shell columns (e.g. Velox, GIST C18 AQ, Fast-OA, XR-ODS II, Scepter) for enhanced speed and selectivity.
• Post-column derivatization with acetylacetone for formaldehyde.
• Automated peak integration (i-PeakFinder) and deconvolution (i-PDeA II).
• Multi-data report and ACTO method transfer functions in LabSolutions software.

Main Results and Discussion

Highlights of analytical performance gains include:

• Fully automated LC cycles with FlowPilot and intelligent start-up/shut-down reduced operator intervention and energy consumption.
• Mobile phase depletion warnings and automatic system stoppage prevented sample loss; up to 12 solvents tracked simultaneously.
• Auto-diagnostics and auto-recovery purged bubbles mid-run, maintaining stable pressures and preventing data gaps.
• Overlapped injection on SIL-40 cut analysis times by ~50% in GPC and size-exclusion separations.
• Dual-injection autosampler enabled simultaneous analyses under different conditions, integrating two chromatograms into one data file.
• Co-injection pretreatment improved peak shapes for early eluting lipids, reducing tailing factors from <0.7 to >1.0.
• SPD-M40’s stray-light reduction extended linear absorbance range to >2.5 AU; noise reduction improved low-level detection.
• Advanced TC-Optics kept baselines stable over a 10 °C ambient fluctuation; K-value freshness assays showed <1% peak area RSD.
• Shim-pack Fast-OA columns with post-column pH buffering conducted organic acid separations in <10 min with clear resolution.
• Automated OPA derivatization on Nexera enabled 20-amino-acid analyses in <15 min with excellent linearity and repeatability.
• High-speed methods for small molecules—caffeine, ketoprofen, ibuprofen, linezolid—delivered quantitation in <20 s to <1 min per sample without carryover.

Benefits and Practical Applications

These technological advances deliver:

• Significant labor savings by automating routine startup, diagnostics, shutdown and data processing.
• Enhanced sample throughput and laboratory productivity with sub-minute injection cycles and overlapped runs.
• Greater data reliability via real-time system health monitoring, integrated column management and robust peak integration.
• Improved analytical flexibility, from high-sensitivity PDA detection to automated derivatization for challenging analytes.
• Smoother method transfer between instruments through ACTO and multi-data reporting in LabSolutions.

Future Trends and Applications

Emerging opportunities include:

• Further integration of AI and IoT for predictive maintenance and workflow optimization.
• Expansion of automated pretreatment (e.g. multiple derivatizations, solid-phase extraction) within the autosampler.
• Broader use of dual and multiplexed injection for multi-analyte panels in clinical and environmental settings.
• Continued miniaturization of LC systems for portable, point-of-use analysis.
• Advances in column chemistries (e.g. mixed-mode, 2D-LC) for complex matrices and omics applications.

Conclusion

Shimadzu’s Nexera series and Shim-pack columns demonstrate how comprehensive automation, advanced detector design and innovative column technology can revolutionize HPLC workflows. By combining automated startup/shutdown, real-time monitoring, robust diagnostics, pretreatment functions and next-generation column chemistries, laboratories can achieve unprecedented throughput, data quality and operational efficiency.

Used Instrumentation

• Shimadzu Nexera XR / X3 UHPLC systems
• Shimadzu SIL-40 autosampler series
• SPD-M40 Photodiode Array Detector
• MPM-40 Mobile Phase Monitor Module
• Shim-pack Velox, GIST C18 AQ, Fast-OA, XR-ODS II, Scepter USP columns
• CTO-40C Column Oven as reactor for post-column derivatization
• DGU-403 Degassing Unit, LC-20AB/R Pump units
• LabSolutions workstation software with FlowPilot, i-PeakFinder, i-PDeA II, ACTO, Multi-data report

References

Not applicable.