Fundamental Theory of Chromatography and Molecular Spectroscopy

In the theory pages collected together here, you will find a lot of background to each of the different instrumental techniques developed by JASCO during the past six decades. In the learning center, you can find recorded webinars that contain a rich and diverse overview of key applications. The knowledgebase is an excellent resource for seeing how many scientist have used our products in an ever-growing variety of science.

Theory of Molecular Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy is defined as the fundamental evaluation of the electromagnetic spectrum. JASCO is a company dedicated to the interaction of light in the electromagnetic spectrum from the far UV to the far-IR (or Terahertz) region of the spectrum. The interaction of light in the electromagnetic spectrum across this region can be split into two key areas, electronic interaction, where a quantum of light can excite an electron from its ground state in an orbital to a more excited state. This is also known as absorption spectroscopy (an can also be associated with energy being emitted as a photon (photoluminescence) or fluorescence. The second interaction is at the bond-level, where a quantum of energy (photon) can be absorbed by a molecular bond causing it to vibrate – vibration spectroscopy. Although not exclusively, electronic interaction tends to occur and shorter wavelengths with higher energy, and vibrational interaction occurs at longer wavelengths and lower energy. Both of these interactions can tell us a lot about the structure and function of a wide range of organic and inorganic materials.

Theory of Chromatography

Chromatography is a separation technique where a mixture of components (referred to as the solute) are carried (by the mobile phase) through a medium (referred to as stationary phase) with which those components interact. The extent of the difference of interaction of each component with the stationary phase leads to a time-based separation. The different types of chromatography techniques can be broken down into Gas (sample is dissolved into the gaseous mobile phase), Supercritical (sample is dissolved into the supercritical mobile phase) and Liquid (sample is dissolved into the liquid mobile phase). Each of those can be further broken down into subcategories where the interaction between the solute and the stationary phase is different and is targeted for the specific components of the mixture. At JASCO, we focus on column chromatography which includes Supercritical Fluid and a majority of Liquid chromatography. Both Supercritical and Liquid chromatography systems come in analytical and preparative versions. Analytical systems are small-scale systems for separating, identifying, and/or quantifying the components. Preparative systems are large-scale systems for the separation and collection of individual components.