Principal Instrumentation for Modern Automated Liquid Chromatography

The first "high-performance" liquid chromatography (LC) was begun about 20 years ago, spurred strongly on by the availability of improved equipment (reviewed through 1975 by Veedning).¹ Many of the more recent generations of chromatographers are not aware of the instrumentation or the important innovations that led to the evolution of the highly automated instruments of today. Consequently, this review includes some earlier discontined instrumentation that were milestones leading to the more recent developments. Each section begins with earlier instrumentation and discusses the importance of these innovations. Consequently, most recent instrumentation will be found near the end of each section. As each instrument in described, the important new features over earlier instruments will be emphasized, perspective as to why these new features are important will be given, and, finally, the limitations of the instrument in noted.