Let’s wrap up this unusual year with an unusual post

This year did not go down exactly as expected, so why don’t we keep up with the trend? Instead of writing the usual end-of-year review post where I look back on all the interesting topics we’ve discussed, I’d like to do something a bit different. I’d like to give you a break from reading and draw your attention to a few other ways you can explore a technique. Read on to discover fun and useful resources for digging deeper into chromatography and laboratory evaporation.

It’s that time of the year again! Year in review, best and worst of the year, biggest stories of the year and so on and so no. This year, of course, is turning out to be especially bad, because you, like me, have doubtlessly heard hundreds and thousands of jokes already about how ready we are to kiss 2020 goodbye.

For the sake of spicing things up a little bit, not looking back, and skipping the review processes altogether, I’ve decided to do a bit of a different end-of-year post with you.

I spent the last 12 months writing and writing and writing to make sure you all have something to read during pre-lockdowns, lockdowns, lockdown lights, post-lockdowns or whatever phase of the year we were going through.

But you know what they say! A picture’s worth a thousand words! So I’d like to turn you all into millionaires, not with words, not with pictures, but with…you guessed it..videos.

This year, the blog was fully dedicated to chromatography and rotary evaporation . So I’ve picked four videos, two on each topic, that I think are just fantastic finds for this holiday season. The videos are short and sweet, but informative and fun. They are completely free and can hopefully add to your knowledge and to the joy of mastering a lab technique.

Let us start with rotary evaporation, shall we?

I’ve got to say, the first video is by far, the most descriptive of and suitable for 2020. I promise this will be the only reference or joke with regards to how this year unfolded. Having said that, the video is all about how to make hand sanitizer with a Rotavapor®. Check it out here:

Now, I’d suggest we go on to something we should all do at a year’s end. Sort out our messes, clean up our labs and households. No guilty feelings, since we probably won’t do most of those things, but hey, just in case you do want to clean out your vacuum pump , per say, here is how:

If you are more into purifications than distillations, I’ve got some videos for you too! My colleagues have been working hard this year for ways to transfer their knowledge to you in a fun and effortless way. During one of your last coffee breaks during one of your last workdays for this year, why don’t you see what you can learn about evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD) in chromatography:

And if you’ve got another 5 minutes to kill, then don’t kill them. Load them instead with knowledge, tips and tricks on how to achieve a smoother solvent flow with your chromatography system :

Check the videos out, let me know how you found them in the comments below. Should I dedicate a few blog posts on the topics, or did you learn enough by watching? I hope at least you get into a bit of a lighter, pre-holiday mood. If you’re a fan of routine, rest assured that I will be back with my usual blog posts very soon!

Till next time,

The Signature of Bart Denoulet at Bart's Blog