Part 1 - General concepts in sample preparation 1. Preliminaries to sample preparation 2. The role of sample preparation 3. Chromatography as a core step for an analytical procedure Part 2 - Main sample preparation techniques 4. Mechanical processing in sample preparation 5. Phase transfer in sample preparation 6. Solvent extraction 7. Solid-phase extraction 8. Chromatographic procedures as preliminary separations 9. Membrane separations as sample preparation techniques 10. Electroseparations in sample preparation 11. Other separation techniques in sample preparation 12. The role of derivatization in chromatography 13. Chemical reactions used in analytical derivatizations 14. Chemical degradation of polymers for chromatographic analysis 15. Comments on sample preparation in chromatography for different types of materials