Dr. KnowThe US Pharmacopeia (USP) is a standard source for many pharmaceutical methods. The USP specifies columns by packing material rather than by manufacturer. In most categories several different types of columns are listed which differ in particle size, particle shape, and perhaps carbon load or surface area. In these cases, the USP column specifications are quite broad and several column types meet the basic specifications. For example, an L1 specification calls for octadecyl silane chemically bonded to porous silica or ceramic micro-particles, 1.5 to 10 µm in diameter, or a monolithic rod.
Many commercially available columns meet the basic specifications and may be different particle types, including totally porous, superficially porous and monoliths. However, not all C18 columns are alike, and only a limited number of the available C18 columns from any vendor will actually perform the desired separation. For increased efficiency and resolution, we recommend spherical particles, totally porous or superficially porous from 1.5 to 3.5 µm in diameter. The USP specifically gives you the flexibility to determine the best column for your needs.
| USP Code | Phase Description | Agilent Columns |
|---|---|---|
| L1 | Octadecyl silane chemically bonded to porous or non-porous silica or ceramic micro-particles, 1.5 to 10 µm in diameter, or a monolithic rod | Poroshell 120 EC-C18 Poroshell 120 SB-C18 Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 Poroshell 120 HPH-C18 Zorbax Eclipse XDB-C18 Zorbax SB-C18 Zorbax Rx-C18 Zorbax Extend-C18 Zorbax ODS Zorbax ODS Classic Pursuit XRs C18 Pursuit C18 Polaris C18-A Polaris C18-Ether Septech ST60 C18 Septech ST150 C18 |
| L3 | Porous silica particles, 1.5 to 10 µm in diameter, or a monolithic silica rod. | Zorbax Sil Zorbax Rx-Sil Poroshell 120 HILIC Pursuit XRs Si Polaris Si-A |
| L7 | Octylsilane chemically bonded to totally porous silica particles, 3 to 10 µm in diameter or a monolithic silica rod | Poroshell 120 EC-C8 Poroshell 120 SB-C8 Poroshell 120 HPH-C8 Zorbax Eclipse Plus C8 Zorbax Eclipse XDB-C8 AdvanceBio RP-mAb SB-C8 Zorbax SB-C8 Zorbax Rx-C8 Zorbax C8 Pursuit XRs C8 Pursuit C8 Polaris C8-A Polaris C8-Ether |
| L8 | An essentially mono molecular layer of aminopropylsilane chemically bonded to totally porous silica gel support, 10 µm in diameter | Zorbax NH2 Polaris NH2 |
| L9 | Irregular or spherical, totally porous silica gel having a chemically bonded, strongly acidic cation-exchange coating, 3 to 10 µm in diameter. | Zorbax SCX IonoSpher C |
| L10 | Nitrile groups chemically bonded to porous silica particles, 3 to 10 µm in diameter | Zorbax Eclipse XDB-CN Zorbax SB-CN Poroshell 120 EC-CN Zorbax CN |
| L11 | Phenyl groups chemically bonded to porous silica particles, 5 to 10 µm in diameter | Poroshell 120 Phenyl-Hexyl Zorbax Eclipse Plus Phenyl-Hexyl Zorbax Eclipse XDB-Phenyl AdvanceBio RP-mAb Diphenyl Zorbax SB-Phenyl Zorbax Phenyl Pursuit XRs Diphenyl Pursuit Diphenyl |
| L13 | Trimethylsilane chemically bonded to porous silica particles, 3 to 10 µm in diameter | Zorbax TMS |
| L14 | Silica gel 10 µm in diameter having a chemically bonded, strongly basic quaternary am-monium anion-exchange coating | Zorbax SAX IonoSpher A |
| L15 | Hexylsilane chemically bonded to totally porous silica particles, 3 to 10 µm in diameter | MetaSil C6 |
| L17 | Strong cation-exchange resin consisting of sulfonated cross-linked styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer in the hydrogen form, 6 to 12 µm in diameter | Hi-Plex H |
| L19 | Strong cation-exchange resin consisting of sulfonated cross-linked styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer in the calcium form, about 9 µm in diameter | Hi-Plex Ca USP L19 Hi-Plex Ca Hi-Plex Ca (Duo) |
| L20 | Dihydroxypropane groups chemically bonded to porous silica or hybrid particles, 1.5 to 10 µm in diameter | LiChroSpher Diol PSS PROTEEMA |
| L21 | A rigid, spherical styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer, 5 to 30 µm in diameter | PLRP-S 100A PLRP-S 300A PLRP-S 1000A PLRP-S 4000A PL gel PSS SDV |
| L22 | A cation-exchange resin made of porous polystyrene gel with sulfonic acid groups, about 10 µm in size | Hi-Plex H PSS MCX PL-SCX |
| L23 | An anion-exchange resin made of porous polymethacrylate or polyacrylate gel with quartenary ammonium groups, 7 - 10 µm in size | PSS NOVEMA MAX |
| L25 | Packing having the capacity to separate compounds with a molecular weight range from 100-5 000 (as determined by polyethylene oxide), applied to neutral, anionic, and cationic water-soluble polymers. A polymethacrylate resin base, cross-linked with polyhydroxy-lated ether (surface contained some residual carboxyl functional groups) was found suit-able | PL-Aquagel-OH 30 PSS SUPREMA 100 Å (5 µm) |
| L26 | Butyl silane chemically bonded to totally porous silica particles, 5 to 10 µm in diameter | AdvanceBio RP-mAb C4 |
| L27 | Porous silica particles, 30 to 50 µm in diameter | Bondesil Silica |
| L33 | Packing having the capacity to separate dextrans by molecular size over a range of 4 000 to 500 000 Da (formerly proteins by molecular size over a range of 4 000 to 400 000 daltons). It is spherical, silica-based, and processed to provide pH stability | Zorbax GF-250 Bio SEC-3 Bio SEC-5 ProSEC 300S PSS PROTEEMA 300 Å (5 µm) |
| L34 | Strong cation-exchange resin consisting of sulfonated cross-linked styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer in the lead form, about 7 to 9 µm in diameter | Hi-Plex Pb |
| L35 | A zirconium-stabilized spherical silica packing with a hydrophilic (diol-type) molecular monolayer bonded phase having a pore size of 150 A. | Zorbax GF-250 Zorbax GF-250 |
| L37 | Packing having the capacity to separate proteins by molecular size over a range of 2 000 to 40 000 daltons. It is a polymethacrylate gel | PSS SUPREMA 30 Å (5 µm) |
| L38 | A methacrylate-based size-exclusion packing for water-soluble samples | PSS SUPREMA |
| L39 | A hydrophilic polyhydroxymethacrylate gel of totally porous spherical resin | PSS SUPREMA |
| L43 | Pentafluorophenyl groups chemically bonded to silica particles, 5 to 10 µm in diameter | Poroshell 120 PFP Pursuit PFP |
| L45 | Beta cyclodextrin, R,S-hydroxypropyl ether derivative, bonded to porous silica particles, 5 to 10 µm in diameter | ChiraDex Chiral |
| L50 | Multifunction resin with reversed-phase retention and strong anion-exchange functionali-ties. The resin consists of ethylvinyl-benzene, 55% cross-linked with divinylbenzene copolymer, 3 to 15 µm in diameter, and a surface of not less than 350m2/g, substrate is coated with quarternary ammonium functionalized latex particles consisting of styrene cross-linked with divinylbenzene. | Zorbax 300 SCX |
| L52 | A strong cation exchange resin made of porous silica with sulfopropyl groups, 5 to 10 µm in diameter | Ionospher C |
| L53 | Weak cation-exchange resin consisting of ethylvinylbenzene, 55% cross-linked with divinyl-benzene copolymer, 3 to 15 µm in diameter. Substrate is surface grafted with carboxylic acide and/or phosphoric acid functionalized monomers. Capacity not less than 500µeq/column | Bio WCX |
| L56 | Propyl silane chemically bonded to totally porous silica particles, 3 to 10 µm in diameter | Zorbax SB-C3 |
| L57 | A chiral-recognition protein, ovomucoid, chemically bonded to silica particles, about 5 µm in diameter, with a pore size of 120 angstroms. | Ultron ES-OVM |
| L58 | Strong cation-exchange resin consisting of sulfonated cross-linked styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer in the sodium form, about 6 to 30 µm in diameter. | Hi-Plex Na Hi Plex Na (Octo) |
| L59 | Packing for the size-exclusion separations of proteins (separation by molecular weight) over the range of 5 to 7000 kDa. It is spherical (1.5 - 10 µm), silica or hybrid packing with a hydrophilic coating. | AdvanceBio SEC Bio SEC-3 PSS PROTEEMA 1000 Å (5 µm) Bio SEC-5 |
| L60 | Spherical, porous silica gel, 10 µm or less in diameter, the surface of which has been covalently modified with alkyl amide groups and endcapped | Zorbax Bonus-RP Poroshell 120 Bonus-RP Polaris Amide-C18 |
| L63 | Glycopeptide teicoplanin linked through multiple covalent bonds to a 100-Å units spherical silica. | Poroshell Chiral-T Poroshell Chiral-T |
| L68 | Spherical, porous silica, 10 µm or less in diameter, the surface of which has been covalently modified with alkyl amide groups and not endcapped | AdvanceBio Glycan Mapping |
| L72 | (R)-phenylglycine and 3,5-dinitroanaline urea linkage covalently bonded to silica | Sumichiral OA-3300 |
| L86 | Fused core particle with a highly polar ligand possessing multiple hydroxyl groups tethered to the silica gel outer layer | Poroshell HILIC-OH5 |
| L88 | Glycopeptide vancomycin linked through multiple covalent bonds to 100 Angstroms spherical silica. | Poroshell Chiral-V |
| L96 | Alkyl chain, reversed-phase bonded totatlly or superficially porous silica designed to retain hydrophilic and other oplar compounds when using highly aqueous mobile phases, including 100% aqueous, 1.5 µm to 10 µm in diameter. | Poroshell SB-Aq Poroshell SB-Aq Zorbax SB-Aq RRHT Zorbax RRHD SB-Aq Zorbax SB-Aq RRHD Zorbax SB-Aq Zorbax SB-Aq |
| L114 | Sulfobetaine graft-polymerized to totally or superficially porous silica, 1.5 to 10 µm in diameter, or a monolithic rod. Packing having densely bonded zwitterionic groups with 1:1 charge balance | AdvanceBio MS Spent Media Poroshell HILIC-Z |
| L118 | Aqueous polymerized C18 groups on silica particles, 1.2 to 5 µm in diameter | Pursuit PAH ChromSpher PAH |
| L128 | Porous particles of polystyrene divinyl benzene with linear molecular weight operating range from 200 to 2,000,000 g/mol (polystyrene equivalent), 5 µm in diameter | Plgel MIXED C |
| ## | Official designation pending: (Emtricitabine, Chirobiotic V)- Vancomycin glycopeptide covalently bonded to silica particles, about 5 µm in diameter | Poroshell Chiral-V Poroshell Chiral-V |
| ## | (Polyethylene Glycol 3350, Aquagel OH 40) – Packing having the capacity to separate compounds with a molecular weight range from 10,000 to 200,000 g/mol (as determined by polyethylene oxide), applied to neutral, anionic, and cationic water-soluble polymers, composed of a rigid macroporous material with a hydrophilic surface | PL-Aquagel-OH 40 |