Recent advances in open tubular capillary liquid chromatography

This review covers advances and applications of open tubular capillary liquid chromatography (OT-LC) over the period 2007–2018. Under the right conditions OT-LC columns have the potential to offer superior column efficiency, higher overall peak capacity, and higher column permeability compared to packed capillary and monolithic columns. However, such advantages are highly dependent upon column format and dimensions, and to date in liquid chromatography the advantages of open tubular format columns have been most widely discussed and applied in the field of proteomics. In this review we have focused on the wider variety of separation mechanisms and applications which can be achieved following the modification of the inner wall of the capillary with a thin-layer stationary phase. In particular the latest advances in stationary phase development and formation, together with new column formats and dimensions are reviewed. Detection options for OT-LC are also discussed and recent advances in this area highlighted. Finally, this review summarises existing applications of OT-LC and illustrates the future potential for this technique.