Suprex Corporation proposes to further develop and improve a supercritical fluid chromatograph (SFC) for application to medical research. Suprex has developed a capillary col umn supercritical fluid chromatograph that is able to perform analyses of higher molecular weight triglycerides. We now propose to extend the molecular weight range and instrument's ability to analyze more polar phospholipids by developing applications technology and improved injector, flame ionization, flame photometric and nitrogen/phosphorus detectors, and column/detector interfacing technology. A supercritical fluid chromatograph is a useful analytical tool due to its capability to analyze nonvolatile, high molecular weight compounds such as triglycerides, polar lipids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polymers, surfactants, and phosphorus and nitrogen containing compounds that are very difficult or impossible to analyze in a gas or liquid chromatograph. This new scientific instrument has commercial applications for analysis of lipids for cancer research (macrophage, membrane biogenesis), drug delivery (liposomes), and disease research and identification (tissue biopsies), and for food research and quality control (edible oils). This research will provide a useful foundation in which to extend the research to biopolymers such as polypeptides, polysaccharides and oligonucleotides.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
