Over the last two or three decades, sample preparation has advanced from being a required step ahead of instrumental analysis to become an integral part of the analytical process with a profound influence on both the total time required to complete the analysis and the quality of the results obtained. Is this the high point for sample preparation? Will ongoing improvements in liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and other techniques make sample preparation redundant or spur further innovation?

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About the Authors

Lourdes Ramos

Lourdes Ramos is a research scientist at the Department of Instrumental Analysis and Environmental Chemistry, in the Institute of Organic Chemistry (CSIC, Madrid, Spain). Her research activities include the development of new miniaturized sample preparation methods for the fast determination of organic microcontaminants in environmental and food samples, as well as the evaluation of new chromatographic techniques – especially GC×GC based approaches – for unravelling the composition of complex mixtures.

Serge Rudaz

Serge Rudaz, associate Professor in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Geneva, is an expert in pharmaceutical analysis and natural product science. His research interests include chiral substances, biological matrices, and clinical and preclinical studies.