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August/September 2010


transferable methods which would give the same results in which every laboratory they were used. There was a side of this study which also examined column reproducibility and column to column and batch to batch variations.


The outcomes of the EU were a number of reports on method transferability - which emphasised the problems of column temperature reproducibility (the real internal temperature not just the oven settings) and a reference column BCR-722 marketed by the BCR which could be used to test if in setting up an HPLC system you had precisely followed the specified conditions.


You have also been involved with IUPAC for a number of years, what do you feel is the impact of that body on the average analytical chemist?


Most chemists will think of IUPAC as a fairly remote body which defines the mole, the names of new elements and the name of organic structures. However, a large part of the work of the Analytical Division of IUPAC is concerned with terminology and one of my earliest activities was the finalisation of the publication of the Terminology of Chromatography, written by Leslie Ettre, which among other changes replaced the not- very-logical term, “capacity factor k’”, into the now generally accepted “retention factor” (k). The aim of terminology is always to avoid ambiguity and to provide a series of definitions which are being accepted worldwide and which will enhance communication between chemists (a listing can be found in the electronic version of the Orange book on the IUPAC web-site). Hopefully, they will be adopted by all journal editors and book publishers.


Another important area in which you were involved was capillary electrophoresis (CE) Firstly, as far as your own research was concerned, did CE live up to your expectations and, secondly, do you think that it is fair to say that, at least for small molecule drug analysis, its ultimate impact has been much less than what everyone had expected?


We carried out a number of studies in both CE and CEC. CE has some applications but does seem to have entered mainstream assays - despite the work of a number of groups, it is often perceived to have poor reproducibility and to lack the flexibility and robustness of HPLC. A particular problem is that it is largely limited to ionised analytes and there are few effective variables that can be used to optimise separations.


CEC is many ways was even more problematic because of a limited source of pre-packed


Former Students from 1993


columns and considerable difficulties in packing columns in-house. Although potentially the concept was very exciting giving the versatility of LC and CE simultaneously and miniaturisation the execution of the method really didn't provide for the needs of the pharmaceutical companies. Both CE and CEC have suffered from a problem of a lack of commercial instrumentation which has dropped from the initial numerous manufacturers to the current 1 or 2. But we mustn't forget that electrophoretic methods are widely used in certain areas such as biomedical research.


We understand that in retirement you will still be involved in separation science but more as an author and editor (e.g. Chromatographia) rather than as an active researcher. Given this, is it now possible for you to look back at your research career and reflect upon what has given you most satisfaction?


Probably the greatest satisfaction has come from seeing the development of the careers of past students both undergraduate and postgraduate and hearing of their successes and progress. This is especially true of my PhD and MPhil students ,many of whom have returned home to their own countries and have then set up their own research groups and I see their publications and learn of their promotions. There have also been numerous contacts from participants on the many short courses that we ran at Loughborough.


Overall I have had considerable satisfaction from all the areas that I have worked in: including Manchester, Australia, USA, Fiji and Loughborough and with the research contacts and collaborations that I have had through colleagues, students and though outside bodies, such as IUPAC and the RSC.


Former Students from 2007 Thank you very much for your time, Roger. We wish you a highly enjoyable retirement and look forward to reading the fruits of your editorial labours in Chromatographia.


Readers interested in some of the work Roger talked about in the interview should check out the following:


Miller, J.N., “60th Birthday of Professor Roger Smith”, Chromatographia 58, 2003, pp 1-2 (revised version 59, 2004, pp 1-2)


Smith, R.M. and Burford, M.D., ''Optimization of Supercritical-fluid Extraction of Volatile Constituents from a Model Plant Matrix'', Journal of Chromatography, 600, 1992, pp 175-181.


Smith, R.M., ''Sample Preparation Perspective: Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Natural Products'', LC.GC, 13, 1995, pp 930-939.


Smith, R.M. and Ma, L., ''Chiral Supercritical Fluid Chromatography of Phenylpropanols and Related Compounds'', Journal of Chromatography A, 785, 1997, pp 179-184.


Smith, R.M. and Burgess, R.J., ''Superheated water as an eluent for reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography'', Journal of Chromatography A, 785, 1997, pp 49-55,


Smith, R.M., Chienthavorn, O.,Wilson, I.D.,Wright, B. and Taylor, S.D., ''Superheated HeavyWater as the Eluent for HPLC-NMR and HPLC-NMR-MS of Model Drugs'', Analytical Chemistry, 71, 1999, pp 4493-4497,


Dube, S. and Smith, R.M., ''Separation of Sulfonamides by Capillary Electrochromatography'', Chromatographia, 53, 2001, pp 51-56.


Al-Khateeb, L and Smith, R.M., ''High-temperature liquid chromatography of steroids on a bonded hybrid column'', Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 394, 2009, pp 1255-1260.


Smith, R.M., "Nomenclature for chromatography (Supplement). Nomenclature for supercritical fluid chromatography and extraction. IUPAC Recommendations 1993", Pure and Applied Chem., 1993, 65, 2397-2403.


Spearman, L, Smith, R.M., and S. Dube, “Monitoring effective column temperature by using shape selectivity and hydrophobicity and the effects of the mobile phase temperature” J. Chromatogr. A, 2004, 1060, 147-151.


Smith, R.M., “Before the injection – modern methods of sample preparation for separation techniques”, J. Chromatogr. A, 2003, 1000, 3-27


Or his web page at http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/cm/staff/smithRoger.ht ml for a more comprehensive listing


Former Students from 2004


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