The problems it may be useful for include;
1) persistent column/top frit blockage from gel digest samples; the paper
describes columns with no top frits where the first few mm of column can
simply be clipped off.
2) use of harsh conditions that could compromise lifetimes of expensive
columns e.g. HCl/TFA exchange, formic acid/propanol/ heat for hydrophobic
peptides.
3) columns that need to be tailor-made to a specified size.
Anyone who wants to make columns as outlined in the paper will find some
supplementary information in an earlier article published in ABRF news
http://www.abrf.org/ABRFNews/1996/September1996/sep96microhplc.html
For those of you who have followed the evolution of "ChrisPacs" over the
years I would be pleased to send a reprint!
Chris Southan, Bioinformatics Target Discovery (ex Protein Chemistry!),
SmithKline Beecham UK