Practical applications of open tubes in liquid chromatography

The practical applications of open tubes in liquid chromatography as separation columns and as reactors for post column derivatization are discussed. With present technology, the potential efficiency of open tubular columns cannot be fully exploited. As reactors in post column derivatization, these tubes offer many advantages if knitted or stitched to enhance radial mass transfer. The application of open tubes with diameters between 0.12 mm and 0.6 mm as reactors in the selective and sensitive detection of amino acids is demonstrated.