Troubleshoot a Chromatographic Separation

Systematic diagnosis and resolution of GC and HPLC separation problems covering symptom documentation, peak shape diagnosis, retention anomaly investigation, matrix effect evaluation, and verified corrective action using controlled single-variable changes.

When to Use

• Peaks are tailing, fronting, splitting, or broader than expected
• Retention times have shifted or become irreproducible
• Resolution between critical pairs has degraded
• Baseline drift, ghost peaks, or negative peaks have appeared
• Sensitivity has dropped or signal-to-noise has worsened
• A method that previously worked is now failing system suitability

Inputs

Required

• Problem chromatogram: Current data showing the issue
• Reference chromatogram: Recent good chromatogram from the same method for comparison