Shimadzu Nexera Unified Chromatography system

The fully automated, supercritical fluidic chromatography-based Nexera Unified Chromatography system (Nexera UC) can sequentially analyse up to 48 samples by utilising automatic extraction and chromatographic separation combined with high-sensitivity detection of targets by mass spectrometry. It is designed to fulfil the measurement requirements of a wide range of applications, including monitoring pesticides in food products; drug delivery and search for disease biomarkers; additives in forming polymers; drug discovery research in pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals; and cleaning validation.

The system eliminates the need for complicated sample pre-treatment and enables stable analysis of delicate samples that are prone to oxidation or dissociation if exposed to air. In the analysis of pesticides in food products, it takes only 5 m for a complete analysis sample pre-treatment. Furthermore, the fully automated system has a high target analyte recovery rate and reduces the possibility of human error during analysis when compared to conventional manual systems.

The product offers several separation modes, enabling the separation of a wide range of compounds at once - something which is not possible with single systems that are based on gas and liquid chromatography. The automated extraction and chromatography is achieved using a mobile phase of supercritical fluidic carbon dioxide (that exhibits the solubility of liquids and diffusivity of gases), into which alcohol and other such organic solvents are added.

The system is capable of high-sensitivity analysis of approximately 500 different types of pesticides in less than 1 h. It also reduces the quantity of organic solvents used for such applications as the chiral analysis of enantiomers that are common in pharmaceutical drugs.