The 99% purity trap!

sfkid

sfkid

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Trying to wrap my head around all those technical specifics made my caveman brain ache. I figure a few of you testing geeks out there will break it down into plain terms for me 😜.

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The main takeaway: purity figures only make sense in relation to the testing method. For instance:

  • A visual check with nothing but your eyes, finding no clots, would lead you to call it 100% pure
  • Run it through HPLC-UV and that particular standard assay might report 99.9%
  • Test it with uhplc-ms and the real number can be far lower — one recent sample came back at 87% despite a 99.x% result on the standard test.
 
This might (or might not) be useful. Take a look at how big that lovely puck is compared to the vial it's resting in:





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Sure, that puck isn't very dense, so it's not a perfect comparison, but visually it should be clear that the vial holds more than 10mg or 25mg of powder.

Also keep in mind that chemistry has no magic device capable of spotting and identifying every compound out there, no matter what TV dramas have taught you.

The purity number is mainly about confirming that the compound you receive matches what's on the label (rather than a mix-up somewhere along the way that leaves you with something completely different).
 
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