Validating Slope Spectroscopy Methods: A Formula for Robust Measurements

Demands on measurement systems are ever increasing. UV-Vis-NIR measurements are not exempt from such pressures. With increasing investment in pharmaceutical research and development, combinatorial chemistry, biotech engineering and genetics research, the ubiquitous “vanilla” UV spec on the lab bench has never been more useful for various analytical methods. However, users are consistently seeking to make measurements more accurately, more precisely and more rapidly but with fewer mistakes. Most laboratories are performing more tests on more samples than ever before as the race to develop and patent new useful compounds and proteins plays out daily in laboratories around the globe. Frequently the amount of sample available for testing is small and value of the sample can easily exceed tens of thousands of dollars.

With so much at stake, scientists and technicians must carefully select what tests to run in order to gather all the desired information. And once selected, these tests must be conducted in such a way that there is absolute confidence in the measurement result. Numerous types of tests including: concentration, solubility, pH and others can be performed with UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy and an emerging technique for making these measurements is Slope Spectroscopy®. Slope Spectroscopy techniques can be attractive for many reasons such as the reduced time and effort required to obtain a measurement result and applicability to small volumes. Perhaps one of the most compelling reasons to begin utilizing Slope Spectroscopy methods is the robustness of the measurement system. This paper will explore the reasons why Slope Spectroscopy methods are proving to be so mistake proof.