Cannabis and Cannabinoids

Interest in the analysis and purification of cannabis-related molecules continues to grow:

• THC in the absence of related cannabinoids
• One or more cannabinoids in the absence of THC (“THC remediation”)
• Analysis and isolation of specific cannabinoids (such as cannabidiol, or CBD)

Cannabinoids in general exhibit poor water solubility. Separation of cannabinoids is, therefore, well suited to reversed-phase chromatography. Conveniently, compounds that may also be of related interest, such as formulation products, excipients, and APIs, are typically also best suited to reversed-phase separation.

For example, cannabidiol (CBD) is under investigation for several indications, including pain relief and sleeplessness. Most CBD formulators are interested in supplying pure CBD, with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabinoids removed.

YMC purification technology, such as Multicolumn Countercurrent Solvent Gradient Purification (MCSGP), is capable of isolating target compounds with high purity, yield, and throughput, significantly outperforming single-column chromatography. See our Application Note for details.

In the analytical lab, YMC technology provides a number of reliable HPLC/UHPLC stationary phases for high-resolution separation of cannabinoids, including THC, CBD, cannabinol (CBN), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA).

YMC-Triart C18 and YMC Meteoric Core C18 (core-shell stationary phase) are two high-performance choices that deliver efficient separations, high resolution of adjoining peaks, fast separations, excellent reproducibility, and long column life. YMC-Triart C18 is an excellent choice for laboratory investigations of methods that will be scaled up to process-level purification because of the scalability of the behavior of the phase itself.