Chemicals Grade based on Lower Grade(LR) , Analytical Grade(AR), Higher Analytical Grade(AR+) , Tissue Culture Grade, HPLC Grade, Molecular Biology grade.
Analytical Reagent Grade Vs Molecular Biology grade Chemicals - Marketing Techniques ? Does it Really Matter.
It does matter, try running HPLC with an AR grade mobile solvent and compare to HPLC grade solvent of the same sample? the difference is massive you will see a lot of impurities in your spectrum if you use AR grade. LC-MS is even more sensitive and even HPLC grade is not clean enough, LC-MS grade should be used instead. The life of your instruments and the accuracy of your results will depend on that, better use the proper grade for the proper task in your research. Cheers
As Amjad states, it does matter when you are in the position of needing high purity grades. Some grade distinctions may not be more/less pure from the perspective of the solvent, but have been processed to minimise specific classes of impurity that interfere more problematically with specific applications.
In fact the reputable companies marketing these solvents will be expecting many of their customers to be performing in house QC upon receipt so don't expect to be able to scam their customers.
Different methods and aims will require different grades of reagents; the grade category enables us to select those that will not interfere with the method used. For instance, it is preferable to use industrial grade methanol rather than Analytical Grade Ethanol which is subject to alcohol tax in this country, if the purpose is merely to kill bacteria on work surfaces. For analytical work, we want to avoid interference caused by impurities, but different methods can tolerate some impurities more than others. in the case of HPLC and other column chromatography techniques, it is important that the reagents do not contain impurities that will clog filters or the column, or micro-organisms that could grow in the mobile phase or sample solvent. If using UV detection methods, it is important that the solvents used have a low UV absorbance, so HPLC grade is preferred, and if a buffer system with, for example coulometric detection is used, then it is essential that the buffer does not contain ions that could interfere with the detector. For tissue culture, it is contaminants that could adversely affect cell growth that must be excluded, and Molecular Biology, reagents must not contain contaminants that could affect PCR, DNA, RNA or protein reactions, extraction and purification, but other factors, such as low UV absorbance, are less of a concern. I would always check what impurities could be present, that might interfere with the method(s) I wish to use, before selecting the appropriate grade of reagent. if in doubt, choose the grade that is specifically manufactured for your method, whether it be HPLC, LC-MS, Tissue culture, etc.
Thanks for the reply. One can check try HPLC , as said by above Peers.
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