Supercritical fluid chromatography of carbohydrates

Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is a relatively new technique applied to polar solutes such as carbohydrates about 10 years ago. The developments in the SFC of carbohydrates are summarized and a comparison between capillary and packed column SFC is presented. High-efficiency capillary columns are suitable only for derivatized carbohydrates since various packed columns are well adapted for non derivatized mono-, di- and trisaccharides and provide complementary selectivities.