Certificate of analysis (COA)

A laboratory report tying one tested sample from one named batch to a set of measured results — typically identity and purity — issued on a stated date by a named laboratory.

A certificate of analysis is the document a laboratory issues after testing a sample: it names the material, the batch it came from, the date of analysis, the methods used and the results obtained. For research compounds the core results are usually chromatographic purity and a mass-spectrometric identity check, sometimes joined by water content, counterion content or endotoxin where those were ordered.

The scope of the claim is narrower than the document's reputation suggests. A certificate describes one sample from one batch on one date. It does not establish that a different vial contains the same material, that the material remained unchanged after the test date, or anything at all about biological effect. Sterility and endotoxin are separate microbiological tests that a standard chemical COA does not include.

A certificate is only as useful as it is checkable. The elements that make one verifiable are a named third-party laboratory, a batch number matching the vial in hand, a test date, and a report or task identifier that the issuing laboratory can look up. A certificate missing any of these describes nothing in particular.

For research purposes only. Not for human consumption, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of any condition. Nothing on this page is medical advice.