Instrument Types
From TheLiquidPhase
We will divide CCC Instrument Types into two basic categories:
Commercially Available Instruments
Modern CCC instruments are characterized as either hydrodynamic ( HPCCC or HSCCC) or hydrostatic (CPC) machines. For historical reasons outlined in Berthod’s book, the first generation of hydrodynamic machines are referred to as High-Speed Countercurrent Chromatography (HSCCC) whereas hydrostatic machines are designated Centrifugal Partition Chromatography (CPC). The latest generation of hydrodynamic instruments, HPCCC, operate at 240g rather than the 80g of the HSCCC machines, allowing separations to be performed up to 10 times faster with similar resolution and sample loading.
As with HPLC, all CCC instruments require a pump, detector and fraction collector. The only difference is the Column. For an excellent comparison of these complementary techniques, see Berthod's book (Berthod 2002).
So the two types of modern machines are:
- J-type instruments including High Performance Countercurrent Chromatograph (HPCCC) and High-Speed Countercurrent Chromatograph (HSCCC))
- Centrifugal Partition Chromatograph or (CPC)
Specialized columns for J-type HSCCC instruments that are capable of retaining aqueous two-phase systems, thereby allowing purification of large biomolecules such as proteins, have recently been designed. (M. Knight, American Lab; CC Biotech)
Historic (or not commercially available) Instruments
The development of these instruments played a crucial role in bringing CCC to where it is today:
- Countercurrent Distribution or CCD
- Droplet Countercurrent Chromatograph or DCCC
- horizontal flow-through coil planet centrifuge (CPC) (single coil with adjustable counterweight)
- toroidal CCC (Y. Ito, Anal. Biochem. 102 (1980) 150.)
- eccentric multilayer CCC (Y. Ito, H. Oka, J. Chromatogr. 457 (1988) 393)
- Cross-axis CCC (Y. Ito, E. Kitazume, M. Bhatnagar, J. Chromatogr. 538 (1991) 59.)
References
- Berthod, A, Ed. Countercurrent Chromatography: The support-free liquid stationary phase (Wilson & Wilson's Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry Vol. XXXVIII); Elsevier Science Ltd.: Boston, 2002.