Lab instrumentation major Waters has introduced two new sets of columns for the purification and analysis of oligonucleotides. The Acquity UPLC OST C Columns are specifically designed to work with Waters family of Acquity UltraPerformance LC products.

The XBridgeOST C columns are designed for advanced oligonculeotide HPLC separations. Both products are ideal for purifying and analysing synthetic oligonucleotides including siRNA, primers and probes, therapeutic drugs made by oligonucleotide manufacturers, diagnostic kit makers, government and university laboratories and biotechnology companies.

The columns feature sub-3 micron Bridged Ethyl Hybrid (BEH) particle technology and yield significantly better resolution for ion-pair, reversed-phase separations of oligonucleotides than commercially-available columns for the same application. The 1.7-µm particle ACQUITY UPLC OST columns, besides offering improved resolution, offer scientists the speed and sample throughput they have come to expect from Waters UPLC technology.

In tests conducted at key accounts prior to launch, scientists were able to see up to a four-fold improvement in speed of analysis without any diminishment in resolution. In one case, a firm with a 60-minute reversed-phase HPLC assay featuring 48 injections (48 hours worth of work) for a 44mer oligonucleotide, reduced its total analysis time to 12 hours. Other accounts that tested the new columns realized similar productivity gains.

Lifetime expectancy of the new columns is greater than 1,000 injections.

Other recently introduced columns in the Waters BEH particle technology line include columns for peptide and amino acid analysis. The columns are now available from Waters worldwide.

Waters will be exhibiting both lines of OST C18 columns at Pittcon, February 25 - March 2, 2007 in booth # 3641 at McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. The company will be conducting a seminar titled Successful Separation of Synthetic Oligonucleotides in Less than 5 Minutes, Wednesday, February 28 at 11:30 a.m. in seminar room SR48.