High Performance Liquid Chromatography

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is an analytical technique used to separate, identify, and quantify components in a liquid sample. It is a form of column chromatography that pumps a sample mixture or analyte in a solvent (the mobile phase) at high pressure through a column with chromatographic packing material (stationary phase). HPLC separates compounds dissolved in a liquid sample and allows qualitative and quantitative analysis of what components and how much of each component are contained in the sample.

HPLC can separate and identify compounds that are present in any sample that can be dissolved in a liquid in trace concentrations as low as parts per trillion. Normal-phase HPLC uses a non-polar solvent and a column filled with tiny silica particles, while reversed-phase HPLC uses a polar solvent and a column packed with hydrophobic particles.