It’s the last day of HPLC 2025 – but it’s far from a slow roll to the finish. We kick things off with a tutorial from Peter Schoenmakers, whose dedication to teaching and mentorship has shaped generations of chromatographers.
At the same time, the EUChem Sample Preparation session brings together big ideas in greener, smarter, more circular workflows. And just before we call it a wrap, André de Villiers offers a final pour: a talk on wine phenolics and the evolving chemistry of the vineyard.
We hope you’ve enjoyed the show!
Today’s Must See
08:30-09:15 (Auditorium B) – Tutorial: No molecule is above the law (no matter how big and strong they are) (Peter Schoenmakers)
What better way to kick off the final day of HPLC than by standing on the shoulders of a chromatography giant – Peter Schoenmakers?
In the words of Bob Pirok: “Peter takes students seriously even at the undergraduate level and spends a lot of his personal time in developing teaching programs to build the careers of others. Without him I wouldn’t have picked this career, thus one could say that my impact on the field can be added to his.”
And as Schoenmakers himself said in 2023: “I am most excited about young, enthusiastic scientists that understand analytical science and have the opportunity to do things that I’ve never been able to do. I see many assistant professors that are doing great things, and I meet smart and motivated students during poster presentations in conferences – which gives me a lot of confidence. I’m positive about the next generation.”
08:30-10:15 (The View, Level 4) – Session: EUChem Sample Preparation (Chaired by Elia Psillakis and Marcella Segundo)
The sample prep community – and the EUChem Sample Preparation group in particular – is full of great ideas. We know this because we have, over the past year or so, published a series of articles featuring many EUChem members. Here are a few snippets to whet your appetite for today’s morning session.
Stig Pedersen-Bjergaard (who kicks the session off with his talk on Electromembrane Extraction (EME)): “Based on the papers in the literature, and due to the release of commercial equipment, I foresee increased interest and use of EME in the near future. The new activities may go in two different directions. In one direction, EME may be considered as a new and alternative extraction tool for laboratory use in areas such as pharmaceutical, environmental, food, and beverages analysis.”
Lorena Vidal (speaking at 09:15): “We need to think more fundamentally about how we can use more environmentally-friendly detection systems when developing faster, greener, easier-to-use, more sensitive, and more economical analytical methods. This should be our driving force.”
Elia Psillakis: “To tackle urgent planetary challenges such as resource depletion and climate change, we must fundamentally rethink how we make, use and dispose of analytical chemistry products. Circular analytical chemistry stands out as the most effective and forward-thinking approach to driving this transformation.”
11:10-11:30 (Foyer, Level 3) – Comprehensive 2D LC-MS to Study Phenolic Evolution in Single Vineyard Wines (André de Villiers)
The conference is nearly over and you may be looking forward to a glass of wine. Well, we’re (also) looking forward to André de Villiers’ talk on phenolic evolution.
De Villiers was featured in our appropriately titled Sitting Down With, LC Sommelier, where he spoke about what sparked his interest in chromatography – and wine:
“As I delved into separation science, I became particularly interested in wine chemistry. After discussions with wine researchers at Stellenbosch, the importance of analytical chemistry in this area was evident. I was very fortunate to complete both my MSc and PhD degrees under the supervision of Pat Sandra, who introduced me to experts across the chromatography field. To this day, I continue to work with these scientists, focusing my research on wine phenolic chemistry, improved separation, and characterization of tannins. The complexity of wine tannins make it an ideal application for testing the performance of the liquid chromatography (LC) and 2D-LC-MS methods my research group develops.”
Thought of the Day
“Forensics is a good field to do on-site measurements and so it’s exciting for us. They go to the waste containers to find evidence of drug use, and we develop simple measurements for the identification of products and solvents. In the next 10 years, we will move to simple on-site ‘do it yourself’ measurements – both in the field and in the clinic – and at the same time build new, even more sophisticated analytical instrumentation for the laboratory.” – Peter Schoenmakers
Aprés-Sci
One last night? Make it count with a visit to Herberg Vlissinghe – the oldest pub in Bruges, dating back to 1515. Tucked away on a quiet side street, it’s perfect for a final toast. Order a Trappist, soak in the candlelit atmosphere, and raise a glass to good separation science and great company.
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