CONTRARIAN LABS
Quality & Testing

What we test, how we test it, and who signs off.

A working overview of the methods we run on every batch and the reason an outside lab does the work.

HPLC

Reverse-phase HPLC separates the sample into its components. We integrate the peak area of the target against everything else to report purity. Sub-1% impurities are detectable.

220 / 254 nm · gradient

Mass Spectrometry

Confirms molecular weight to within roughly 0.01% of theoretical. Purity does not equal identity. We report both, every lot.

ESI-MS · MALDI-TOF

UV-Vis

Spectrum consistency across lots. A useful sanity check against subtle structural drift that HPLC alone can miss at fixed wavelengths.

200–400 nm scan
Independence

A manufacturer COA is not a COA.

The party that gets paid for the result should not be the party that produces the result. That principle is so basic it’s embarrassing to type. It is also, somehow, optional in this industry.

We seal a sample from every batch and ship it to an external US analytical lab. They run the assays. They sign. We publish.

Manufacturer COA
  • · Self-signed
  • · Financial conflict
  • · Often no batch traceability
  • · No public lookup
Independent COA
  • · Outside US lab signs
  • · No financial stake
  • · Lot-linked
  • · Verifiable on /verify
External US lab on every batch. No exceptions, no “trust us.”
Anatomy of a COA

Learn to read one. Ours becomes legible. Competitors’ opacity becomes obvious.

Certificate of Analysis
CL-RX7-24-118
✓ VERIFIED
Compound
Reference Standard RX-7
CAS
1421227-52-2
Formula
C₂₀H₂₅N₃O
Purity
99.4%
Method
RP-HPLC 220 nm · ESI-MS
Tested
2026-04-18
Lab
Janus Analytical Services (Boston, MA)
  • Batch IDUnique lot identifier. Should appear on the vial label.
  • Compound + CASIdentity, in a globally recognized registry number.
  • Purity %With the method and wavelength. Without both, the % is decorative.
  • MethodHPLC column, gradient, MS ionization mode. The recipe.
  • Test dateShould be close to the lot release date.
  • Lab signatureThe name of the lab — and it shouldn't be us.
Consistency

One good lot isn't a track record.

A supplier at 99% one batch and 92% the next is not a supplier. The point of an external lab is that the numbers stay honest across time. We plot purity across recent lots and publish the trace.

Purity · recent lots · RX-7
98%Lot-over-lot100%

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Research Use Only · Not for human, veterinary, food, drug, or household use.