Dear Colleagues,

Analytical chemistry, and separation science in particular, represents the cornerstone of many fields of  natural sciences, especially chemical sciences and related areas. Quality and reliable analytical data are a prerequisite to valid and accurate interpretations that are able to push  back the  known frontiers of science. Separation science is a branch of analytical  chemistry that gained its  wide  recognition due to its amenability to the analysis of complex samples, where hundreds or even thousands of  different  compounds can be present, either as analytes of interest or as interferences.  However,  despite the  technological  advances  in  the  field  of  separation science and decades of excellent academic exploration, there are still  numerous  enduring  challenges  that  need to be addressed. This  special  issue  focuses  on,  but  is  not  limited  to,  the  challenges  and  specific  solutions  of  chromatographic, electrophoretic, and related techniques, which tackle particular analytical problems, ranging from the initial sample preparation and all the way to data processing and statistical analysis. Studies with an explicit applied note are especially welcome.

pitfalls and solutions; chromatography; electrophoresis; hyphenated techniques; mass spectrometry; sample preparation; extraction; data acquisition; method development and validation; separation mechanisms