Grace Launches New Flash Chromatography System

W. R. Grace & Co., a global manufacturer of specialty chemicals, materials, and formulation technologies, announces the release of the Reveleris™ flash chromatography system (multiple patents pending). Flash chromatography is a technique used to separate mixtures of molecules into their individual constituents, frequently used in the drug discovery process. Grace’s Reveleris™ system was created to help synthetic and medicinal chemists streamline purifications of mixtures during the design and synthesis of promising new chemical entities (NCEs, or target compounds). Compound progression through the drug discovery pipeline hinges on target purity and allows “hits” to become “leads” and “leads” to become new NCEs. Confirmation of biological activity justifies continued refinement and further synthesis around “hit” molecules. Bottlenecks, especially in purification, waste time and resources, slowing compound submission and the drug discovery process.

Grace’s Reveleris™ system simplifies and improves purification by flash chromatography. The key is the proprietary RevealX™ detection technology that integrates multiple detector signals, utilizing advanced signal processing to recognize (detect) and collect components undetected by UV-based systems. Multiple channel UV and the proprietary evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD) technology trigger sophisticated fraction collection, yielding more targeted samples with fewer impurities in less time.

Grace’s RevealX™ technology overcomes the limitations of UV-based detection, the standard detection offered for flash chromatography systems. UV detects only chromophoric compounds, missing impurities and/or compounds of interest. Consequently, compounds of interest can be lost and fractions that appear pure could actually contain multiple compounds. UV gives disproportionate responses that do not reflect the samples’ true composition. This causes compounds that represent only a small amount of the sample mass to be collected, wasting valuable time during sample workup.

The full advantage of the system is realized when operated with the new Reveleris™ SRC Cartridges. These high-capacity cartridges offer increased durability (withstanding higher pressures), new RFID tags for automatic cartridge recognition and tracking, and superior silica for better resolution. “The Reveleris™ system is the result of Grace’s continued investment in research and development and our collective expertise in silica gel manufacturing and detector technology,” commented Joanne Green, Vice President of Grace Davison Discovery Sciences. Grace Davison Discovery Sciences is an established leader in silica media and light scattering technologies and markets an array of products for the life science, pharmaceutical, anesthesiology, forensic, and biotechnology industries, including liquid and gas chromatography columns, detectors, instruments and accessories.