UCT Silanes in Microfluidics

UCT is known around the world for its involvement in the specialty silicon manufacturing market as well as a leader in the supply of Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) products for Forensic, Clinical and Environmental laboratories.  As a continuing demonstration of our leadership in the specialty silane arena, products from UCT Specialities are being used to advance the area of Microfluidics and Bio-sensors.

In a recent paper by Dr. Jo Kyoo and associates (Analyst 137, 875-882 (2012)), Tridecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydroctyl-1-trichlorosilane (UCT Part Number T2492) was used in microfluidic traveling-wave electrophoresis (TWE) as a way to separate several dyestuffs. In this report, T2492 was used as part of the process to produce microfluidic channels.  Without efficient microfluidic channelling, the separation process in the electrophoresis would itself be inefficient.  UCT Specialties continues to manufacture high quality specialty silanes, silicones, catalysts and coatings for a vast variety of manufacturing markets.  Coupled with our excellence in the Solid Phase Extraction markets, this demonstrates UCT Inc. as a leader for your silicon related chemistry products.

UCT Sorbent Approved by EPA for 525.3 Method

UCT is proud to announce that Universal Cartridge ECUNI525 has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Method 525.3 DETERMINATIONOF SEMIVOLATILE ORGANIC CHEMICALS IN DRINKING WATER BY SOLID PHASE EXTRACTION AND CAPILLARY COLUMN GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/ MASS SPECTROMETRY (GC/MS). After rigorous testing by chemists at UCT and EPA, and full scrutiny of the data by officials at EPA, the agency has included Universal Cartridge ECUNI525, accessories, and the UCT extraction protocol in the 525.3 method (available at www.epa.gov). Final EPA approval of 525.3 is expected in June 2012.

Analysis of Beta Agonist (Ractopamine) by Clean Screen® DAU

UCT is aware of the need for scientists around the globe to monitor the safety of the food we eat. In light of this, UCT has always produced sorbents of the highest quality and efficiency for over 25 years. The flagship of these sorbents is the Clean Screen® DAU, which is the most popular SPE product on the market for extracting drugs from biological fluids and tissues, in both human and animal.

This efficiency for extracting Ractopamine from animal tissue has recently been reported (J. Chromatography B (e-published March 2012)) by Dr. Ana Vulic (Croatian Veterinary Institute, Zagreb) and the staff of the Institute. In this report Dr. Vulic's team analyzed the retina's of food producing pigs that had been dosed with low level concentrations of the drug and compared the levels with non dosed animals. It was found that in using Clean Screen DAU quantitative measurements of ractopamine were able to be made using a LC-MS/MS technique. The team was able to recover over 95% of the drug from the matrix with minimal matrix effects. This is another clear demonstration of the power of this sorbent when employed in the area of drug extraction and isolation.

QuEChERS & Beyond Across The Pond

Michael Telepchak, President and CEO of UCT Inc., will be giving his award-winning presentation, QuEChERS & Beyond, at The Food and Environmental Research Agency (FERA) in Sand Hutton, York UK. The talk is set to take place on April 16th, 2012 at 2pm.  This talk is being presented in conjunction with UCT's distribution partner in the UK,  Presearch Ltd.  Please contact us at info@unitedchem.com should you require more information.

QuICK QuEChERS

UCT’s QuICK QuEChERS cartridge ECPURMPSMC offers a fast and efficient method for QuEChERS extract clean-up. Processing is simple and saves the need for any shaking or centrifugation steps. To use, a disposable syringe in loaded with supernatant and a QuICK QuEChERS cartridge is fitted on the end using the Luer tip. The supernatant is pushed through the cartridge directly into a sample vial; the sample is now ready for GC or LC analysis. The QuICK QuEChERS cartridge significantly reduces handling while increasing laboratory through-put. Each UCT QuICK QuEChERS cartridge contains 110 mg anhydrous MgSO4 and 180 mg of PSA.

In comparative studies with traditional dispersive SPE, QuICK QuEChERS showed excellent recovery and RSD. Click to see results.

Five facts about UCT solid phase extraction

1. UCT is a leading supplier of SPE products for more than 25 years. We have never had a need to resort to false marketing gimmicks because we are always focused producing high quality sample extracts for the bench side analysts.

2. UCT SPE columns are packed into medical grade polypropylene, so analysts will not see organic leachates such as BPA, phthalates, or other persistent organic pollutants.

3. UCT SPE products don't suffer the effects of channeling because we patented the ribbing at the base of the SPE column which ensures the best flow dynamics for SPE.

4. UCT columns are not affected by variation in bed mass because our tubes are packed automatically with state of the art machines which are controlled with highly engineered precision.

5. UCT invented the co-polymeric process of bonding hydrophobic and ionic exchange groups onto a single silica bead, thus analysts can be confident they are using the very best in SPE technology.

Analysis of Cocaine in Post Mortem Samples Using Clean Screen DAU SPE

Post mortem samples present the toxicologist with more challenges than most samples seen in forensic laboratories. The condition and volumes of the matrix can add to difficulties to be overcome. UCT is keenly aware of these issues, and for more than 25 years has offered forensic toxicology analysts the best solution with the well-known Clean Screen DAU Solid Phase Extraction column. This SPE material is unsurpassed, not only in its range of analytes, but in its efficiency in isolating from a wide variety of post mortem matrices. In the recent issue of Journal of Analytical Toxicology (March 2012, pp 141-143) Dr. Juhascik (UMass Memorial Hospital, MA) and his team report the finding of a isopropyl artifact in post mortem samples. The samples were comprehensively and completely analyzed for the presence of cocaine and metabolites. This work follows Dr. Juhascik's work comparing the efficiencies of liquid-liquid extraction vs SPE (Journal of Analytical Toxicology (2009 , 47, 553-557) where they determined that SPE (using Clean Screen DAU) far exceeded the liquid-liquid extraction in performance and efficiency.