Low Adsorption UPLC Systems and Columns Based on MaxPeak High Performance Surfaces: The ACQUITY Premier Solution

Significance of the Topic

The interaction of metal-sensitive analytes with stainless-steel components in HPLC systems and columns can lead to poor peak shapes, low recoveries, on-column reactions and metal adduct formation in mass spectrometry. This issue is particularly acute for molecules containing phosphate, carboxylate, or other electron-rich functional groups. Corrosion of stainless steel further exacerbates analyte adsorption and degrades analytical performance. An effective inert barrier is therefore essential to improve sensitivity, reproducibility and robustness in liquid chromatography of metal-sensitive compounds.

Objectives and Study Overview

This white paper introduces MaxPeak High Performance Surfaces (HPS) applied to UPLC system and column hardware to create the ACQUITY Premier Solution. The goals are to describe the generation of an ethylene-bridged siloxane barrier on metal components, and to demonstrate performance gains in reversed-phase and HILIC separations of metal-sensitive analytes on an ACQUITY Premier System paired with ACQUITY Premier Columns.

Methodology and Instrumentation

A hybrid organic/inorganic coating containing ethylene-bridged siloxane groups is chemically bonded to the metal oxide layer of stainless steel or titanium alloy components. This MaxPeak HPS barrier reduces surface polarity and electron density, mitigating interactions with negatively charged or electron-rich analytes. Surface water contact angles drop from 70–90° for PEEK to ~30°, indicating increased hydrophilicity and reduced nonspecific binding.

Instrumentation

• UPLC System: Waters ACQUITY Premier System with corrosion-resistant flow path and MaxPeak HPS treatments
• Columns: ACQUITY Premier Columns (BEH Amide, C18, Oligonucleotide BEH C18, HSS T3, CSH C18) featuring the same hybrid coatings on metal hardware
• Detectors: ACQUITY TUV, PDA eλ, FLR optical detectors; Xevo TQ-XS Tandem and SYNAPT XS High Resolution Mass Spectrometers
• Software: Empower, MassLynx, UNIFI

Main Results and Discussion

• HILIC separation of AMP and ATP at 20 ng loads showed no detectable ATP peak on a standard system and column, a severely tailed ATP peak on a standard system with an ACQUITY Premier Column, and fully resolved, symmetric peaks on the ACQUITY Premier Solution.
• RP–UV calibration of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate demonstrated twice the slope and <0.5% peak area RSD at low loads with the ACQUITY Premier Solution versus 5–10% RSD on standard configurations.
• LC–MS/MS of a 30-mer phosphorothioate oligonucleotide (GEM91) revealed a 13-fold peak area increase on the full ACQUITY Premier Solution and a tenfold gain on a standard system with Premier Column.
• Peptide separations (LC T14 from NISTmAb digest) showed up to a 27-fold increase in MS signal and improved peak shape, enabling detection of acidic and phosphorylated peptides without conditioning.
• System suitability tests using adenosine and AMPcP standards confirmed minimal adsorption, stable peak areas (<1% difference to theoretical), and <1% RSD over multiple injections on the ACQUITY Premier System.

Benefits and Practical Applications

• Reduced sample conditioning and equilibration time
• Improved sensitivity, peak shape, and recovery for low-level metal-sensitive analytes
• Enhanced precision and reproducibility (<0.5% RSD) at trace mass loads
• Compatibility with a broad range of chromatography modes (RP, HILIC) and detectors (UV, MS)
• Facilitated quantitation of nucleotides, oligonucleotides, acidic peptides, sialylated glycans and phospholipids

Future Trends and Potential Applications

Continued development of surface chemistries may further minimize residual adsorption, enabling routine analysis of highly challenging bio-analytical targets. Integration of low-bind consumables, advanced chelating additives and automated qualification protocols will support high-throughput workflows in pharmaceutical QC, clinical assays, proteomics, and metabolomics. Novel hybrid coatings on next-generation UHPLC systems and columns will expand the range of solvent compatibilities and chromatographic modes.

Conclusion

The ACQUITY Premier Solution, combining the ACQUITY Premier System and ACQUITY Premier Columns with MaxPeak High Performance Surfaces, provides a comprehensive inert barrier that mitigates metal-analyte interactions. This innovation delivers significant improvements in sensitivity, reproducibility and robustness for separations of metal-sensitive compounds, eliminating extensive conditioning steps and enhancing analytical confidence across pharmaceutical, life science and industrial applications.

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