Certificates of Analysis are easy to produce and hard to verify, which is exactly why some of them are decorative. These are the specific things worth checking before you trust one.
1. No lot number, or a lot number that matches nothing
A COA describes one specific batch of material. If it carries no lot number, it describes nothing in particular. If the lot number on the document does not match the number on the vial you received, the document is not about your material. Any supplier should be able to produce the COA for your exact lot on request.
2. A purity figure with no chromatogram
“99.2% purity” typed onto a letterhead is a claim. The HPLC trace behind it is evidence. A supplier who publishes the number but not the chromatogram is asking you to take the number on faith — and the trace is the part that shows the impurity profile.
3. No method stated
HPLC purity depends on the column, the gradient and the detection wavelength. Change the method and the number changes. A COA that reports a result without stating how it was obtained is not reproducible, and reproducibility is the entire point.
4. Identity confirmed by HPLC alone
HPLC measures how much of the sample is the main component. It does not confirm what that component is. Without a mass spectrometry result, nothing on the document establishes that the vial contains the compound named on the label. See our explainer on what HPLC and MS each prove.
5. Impossibly clean results
Real synthesis produces real impurities. A chromatogram with a single needle-sharp peak, a flat baseline and nothing else is not a sign of exceptional quality; it is a sign that you may be looking at a stock image or a redrawn figure. Genuine traces have small peaks, baseline noise and a visible solvent front.
6. The same document across multiple products
If the trace, the retention time, or the test date is identical across several different compounds on a supplier site, one document has been reused. Different molecules do not produce identical chromatograms.
7. No named laboratory, or no date
An undated COA could describe material tested years ago. An unattributed one gives you no way to assess whether the analysis was independent. Both should be on the face of the document.
A practical check
- Find the lot number on your vial.
- Pull up the COA for that exact lot.
- Confirm the compound name and the test date.
- Check that both an HPLC trace and an MS spectrum are present.
- Confirm the observed mass is consistent with the compound named, on the stated salt basis.
- Look at the impurity peaks. Their presence is reassuring, not alarming.
How we handle this
Every Never Enough Labs lot is tested by an independent laboratory, and the full document is published in the COA Library, searchable by product or lot number, before you order rather than after. If a lot is not in the library, we have not released it.
This article covers laboratory and documentation practice only. All materials supplied by Never Enough Labs are for in-vitro research use by qualified persons 21 years of age or older. Nothing here is medical, veterinary or diagnostic guidance, and no product described is intended for human or animal use.