System solvent recommendations

Follow these Waters system-level recommendations when choosing solvents.

Warning:

To avoid personal contamination with biologically hazardous, toxic, or corrosive materials, you must understand the hazards associated with their handling.

Guidelines prescribing the proper use and handling of such materials appear in the latest edition of the National Research Council's publication, Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Management of Chemical Hazards.

To avoid injury when working with hazardous materials, consult the Safety Data Sheets regarding the solvents you use. Additionally, consult the safety representative for your organization regarding its protocols for handling such materials and follow good laboratory practices.

For recommended system cleaning and flushing procedures, contact Waters.

Waters makes the following general recommendations for your system:

• Warning: Peroxide contaminants in THF can spontaneously and destructively explode when you partially or completely evaporate the THF.
  Important: If you use any of the following solvents, you must install a hexane/THF compatibility kit (see Waters hexane/THF compatibility kits). When using hexane or THF, minimize the use of PEEK components by replacing PEEK tubing with SST or MP35N tubes.
  You can use the following solvents as the mobile phase in your system:
  • Acetone
  • Ethyl acetate
  • Hexane
  • THF
  Note: As with many nonaqueous solvents, however, the solvents in the preceding list can shorten system and component life compared with equipment running typical reverse-phase solvents.
  • When using non-stabilized THF, ensure that your solvent is freshly prepared. Previously opened bottles contain peroxide contaminants, which cause detector baseline drift.
    Important: Methanesulfonic acid is not recommended for use in this system.
• You can use the following solvents in weak dilutions (less than 10% vol.) as sample diluents:
  • Chloroform
  • Halogenated solvents
  • Methylene chloride
  • Toluene
• Because they serve as a substrate for microbial colonies, aqueous solvents must not remain in a shut-down system. Microbes can clog system filters and capillary lines. To prevent their proliferation, add a minimum of 10% of an organic solvent, such as ACN or MeOH.
  Note: Titanium is subject to corrosion in anhydrous methanol, which you can avoid by adding a small amount of water (approximately 3%). Slight corrosion is possible when ammonia is >10%. If using an Alliance iS Bio HPLC system, you can alternatively remove the titanium filter sinkers (the system loses its first line of protection from particulates) or replace them with stainless steel sinkers if your analysis is unaffected by biocompatibility considerations.
• To determine whether a specific method is suitable for use with your systems’ components, contact your Waters sales representative or local technical support organization.

Contents

• Integrated Fluidics Module solvent recommendations
  
• Sample manager solvent recommendations
  
• Pump solvent recommendations
  
• Detector solvent recommendation