Chromatography with dense gases

Summary A capillary restrictor for supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) with CO₂ was made by using a micro torch and fine emery cloths or grinding blocks. This restrictor could be drawn out either directly from the end of the analytical capillary column, or from a short piece of any capillary, which was then connected to the analytical column by standard techniques. It was found that the base current of a flame ionisation detector (FID) depends strongly on the position of the capillary end with respect to the FID flame tip and on the CO₂ grade, of course. Best results have been achieved at around 5 to 7 mm distance between the restrictor and the flame tip ends, and using SFC grade CO₂.     

Flame ionization detection after splitting the water effluent in subcritical water chromatography

The coupling of subcritical water separation with flame ionization detection (FID) in the split mode has been investigated in this study. In order to keep the FID system stable during subcritical water separation, a Tee union was connected between the separation column and the FID system to split the water flow. The ratio of the water flow to the FID system over the flow-rate to a waste bottle varied depending on the dimension of capillary tubings and the total water flow-rate used. Separations of several carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, and amino acids were performed on commercially available columns using a laboratory-made subcritical water chromatography-FID system. The FID system was very stable in this split mode even at total flow-rate as high as 1.24 ml/min. The linear dynamic range was up to three orders of magnitude and the limit of detection (LOD) ranged from 38 to 111 ng (306-925 ng/microl injected) with split ratios of approximately 1:10 to approximately 1:17 (FID/waste bottle) for several analytes studied. However, the LOD can be significantly lowered by adjusting the dimensions of the restrictors to allow a higher percentage of the total flow to the FID system.     

Direct coupling of capillary supercritical fluid chromatography with double-focusing high resolution mass spectrometry

An integral restrictor interface with jet separator for coupling capillary column supercritical fluid extraction – supercritical fluid chromatography with high resolution mass spectrometry (SFE-SFC-MS) has been built and used for the analysis of a fatty acid ester, and of polymer additives with a wide range of masses. The mobile phase used was supercritical carbon dioxide; a flame ionization detector (FID) was used in parallel with the mass spectrometer. Different SFC-MS interface operating conditions, e.g. temperature, restrictor position, flow rate, and sample transfer conditions were optimized to obtain good sensitivity and separation for these applications. In addition, the sensitivity of measurements performed with the direct insertion probe and by SFC-MS interface have been compared.     

Simultaneous Measurement of Hydrocarbons and Sulfur Compounds using Flame Ionization and Sulfur Chemiluminescence Detection for Sulfur Simulated Distillation

A gas chromatographic system for the simultaneous acquisition of hydrocarbon and sulfur chromatograms was developed. Detection of sulfur compounds is achieved using a sulfur chemiluminescence detector (SCD) mounted in series with a flame ionization detector (FID). A constant fraction of the effluent of the FID is transferred to the SCD by means of a fixed restrictor. Unlike previous versions of this approach, the FID is not used to generate the chemiluminescent sulfur species. Rather, the FID is operated under optimum conditions for hydrocarbon analysis and a furnace is used to generate the chemiluminescent sulfur species. The system permits dual acquisition of the hydrocarbon and sulfur signals in a single analysis with a single column, since the detectors are operated in a serial fashion. The application of sulfur simulated distillation using this approach was examined, since this requires simultaneous universal and sulfur selective detection. Precision of absolute response of both the FID and SCD was typically less than 2% RSD for a standard reference material.     

Devising an adjustable splitter for dual-column gas chromatography

A flow controlled adjustable splitter was configured from a Deans switch and employed in an automated dual column gas chromatographic (GC) system for analyzing mono-aromatic compounds. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), thermally desorbed from the sorbent trap, were split by the adjustable splitter onto two columns of different phases for separation and then detection by flame ionization detection (FID). Unlike regular splitters in which the split ratio is passively determined by the diameter and/or length of the connecting columns or tubing, the split ratio in our adjustable splitter is controlled by the auxiliary flow in the Deans switch. The auxiliary flow serves as a gas plug on either side of the column for decreasing the sample flow in one transfer line, but increasing the flow in the other. By adjusting the auxiliary flow and therefore the size of the gas plug, the split ratio can be easily varied and favorable to the side of no auxiliary gas. As an illustration, two columns, DB-1 and Cyclodex-B, were employed in this study for separating benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, denoted as BTEX, in particular the structural isomers of o-, m-, p-xylenes. This configuration demonstrates that BTEX cannot be fully separated with either column, but can be deconvoluted by simple algebra if dual columns are used with a splitter. The applicability of the proposed concept was tested by analyzing a gas standard containing BTEX at different split ratios and with various sample sizes, all leading to a constant ratio of m-xylene versus p-xylene.     

Open-tubular supercritical fluid chromatography with simultaneous flame ionization and chemiluminescent nitrogen detection

The use of a simultaneous detection system for open-tubular supercritical fluid chromatogrphic separation of aniline isomers, alkyl(C₈ to C₁₈)dimethylamines, a dialkylmethylamine mixture, and an extract of a Japanese horseradish power “Wasabi” is demonstrated. A chemiluminescent nitrogen detector (CLND) and a flame ionization detector (FID) were configured at the end of the open tubular column via a zero- to dead-volume tee. The dual detection was achieved with a post-column split at a 1:2.5 ratio for the CLND and FID, respectively. The optimized CLND showed virtually no response to non-nitrogenous components such as benzene, toluene, and methanol which were used as injection solvents in these applications.     

Universal acoustic flame detection for modified supercritial fluid chromatography

A novel detector, based on the frequency of acoustic emissions from an oscillating premixed hydrogen/oxygen flame, has been characterized for use in supercritical-fluid chromatography (SFC). When an organic analyte is introduced, the steady pitch of the acoustic flame detector (AFD) increases proportionally to the carbon content of the molecule. Using standard hydrocarbon analytes, the SFC-AFD system provided a linear response over about 3 orders of magnitude with a detection limit (S/sigma = 3) of 18 ng of carbon per second. The detector sensitivity was uniform for all analytes and did not change when using either pure or methanol modified supercritical-carbon dioxide (SC-CO(2)) as a mobile phase. While a stable baseline could be obtained for a variety of constant conditions, density gradients did cause it to shift due to the changing flow rate encountered when using a passive restrictor. While these changes were small for a pure SC-CO(2) mobile phase, they were larger when using a methanol modifier. Qualitatively, the AFD response compared well to a flame ionization detector (FID). Overall, the results indicate that the AFD may be a useful, inexpensive universal detector for SFC applications that require organic modifiers and are unable to use an FID.     

Features of a micro-gas chromatograph equipped with enrichment device and microchip plasma emission detection (muPED) for air monitoring

A field portable gas chromatograph (GC) was constructed allowing the enrichment of organic solutes from air samples on a miniaturized chemical trap and the subsequent gas chromatographic analysis on a resistively heated capillary column. The heart of the system is an integrated chip-based plasma emission detector (muPED). As a non-selective detector, the sensitivity is similar to that of a flame ionization detector (FID). The detector shows good selectivity for phosphorus, sulfur and chlorine-containing compounds with relative selectivities of ca. 5 x 10(5) gP gC(-1), 50 gS gC(-1) and 10(2) gCl gC(-1). The lifetime of the plasma chip under air monitoring conditions exceeded 3000 analyses.     

电子制冷预浓缩-双柱气相色谱-质谱/氢火焰检测器法测定空气中104种挥发性有机物

基于吸附剂辅助电子制冷预浓缩技术，建立了多维切割双柱气相色谱-质谱/氢火焰离子化检测器（GC-MS/FID）同时测定环境空气中104种挥发性有机物（VOCs）的方法。将采集于苏玛罐中的环境空气样品在配有吸附剂的电子制冷预浓缩系统中富集、脱附、除水、除CO₂和浓缩，然后通过GC-MS/FID的多维切割单元将C₂~C₃组分和C₄~C₁₂组分分别引入PLOT柱和InterCap-624柱进行分离。C₂~C₃组分用FID检测，以保留时间定性、外标法定量；C₄~C₁₂组分采用电子轰击离子源质谱检测，以保留时间和特征离子定性、内标法定量。考察了冷阱吸附剂种类、辅助压力控制单元压力设置、双柱切换时间切割点等参数对分析结果的影响，优化了GC-MS/FID条件，并评估了在此优化条件下的方法性能。104种VOCs在0.0446~0.892 μmol/m³范围内线性关系良好，相关系数（r）为0.9984~0.9999，对0.0446 μmol/m³和0.223 μmol/m³水平的混合标准气体重复6次进样，平均回收率为86.4%~116.1%，相对标准偏差为0.9%~11.3%；方法的检出限为0.145~1.90 μg/m³，定量限为0.435~5.70 μg/m³。该法稳定性好，灵敏度高，操作简便，可用于环境空气中104种VOCs的测定。     

Determination of curcumol in rat plasma by capillary gas chromatography with a hydrogen flame ionization detector

A simple and sensitive capillary gas chromatography with a hydrogen flame ionization detector (GC‐FID) method was developed for the determination of curcumol in rat plasma. From a variety of compounds and solvents tested, buagafuran was selected as the internal standard (IS) and acetonitrile was found to be the best protein precipitation agent and solvent for extracting curcumol from plasma and tissues samples. (Buagafuran was used as an internal standard. Curcumol was extracted by a protein precipitation with acetonitrile.) The samples were determined by GC on an HP‐5 column (30.0 m × 0.32 mm, 0.25 μm); inlet volume 2 μL; split ratio 10 : 1; inlet temperature 250°C; oven temperature 180°C; flow 1.0 mL/·min; FID 250°C; carrier gas N₂. The resulting retention times of curcumol and IS were 6.0 and 9.5 min. There was good linearity over the range 0.133–133.3 μg/mL (r = 0.9999) in plasma samples. The method recoveries were 97.7–102.0% in plasma, and the intra‐ and inter‐day variances (RSD) were less than 15% in all cases. The GC method was applied to develop a pharmacokinetics study in which experimental rats received a single administration of curcumol by intravenous injection. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gewinnung mehrerer Retentionsdaten aus einem gas-chromatographischen Peak

A series-parallel column switching device was constructed with a split for half of the carrier gas flow to a detector at the end of the first column. The remaining flow is switched either to a vent or to a second column with another detector. Thus, it is possible to gain two retention times on different stationary phases from a single peak in order to identify the substance.     

Supercritical fluid chromatography with a slurry-packed capillary column

A versatile system with a slurry-packed capillary column was developed for supercritical fluid chromatography, which is capable of programming both inlet and outlet pressure independently, as well as using a restrictor to apply back pressure. This system revealed the relationships between pressure drop, flow rate, and linear velocity in pressure-programmed supercritical fluid chromatography. In the restrictor system, both the pressure drop and the flow rate increased almost linearly with inlet pressure, while under conditions of constant pressure drop characteristic behavior was observed which depended on the density-viscosity relationships of supercritical fluid. Resolution in the separation of polysiloxane oligomers was found to be increased by increasing the ratio of pressure drop to pressure-programming rate, although the sensitivity decreased due to the increase in peak volume. The system controlling both inlet and outlet pressure has distinct advantages over the restrictor system controlling both inlet and outlet pressure has distinct advantages over the restrictor system in practical in practical operations.     

气相色谱法测定车用汽油中含氧化合物和苯胺类化合物

利用中心切割技术和双毛细管色谱柱系统,采用两次进样的方式,建立了气相色谱测定车用汽油中含氧化合物和苯胺类化合物的分析方法。第一次进样分析,组分首先进入非极性DB-1色谱柱(30 m×0.32 mm×1.0μm),按沸点由低到高的顺序分离,通过电磁阀切换将沸点小于2-己酮的组分切割至强极性GS-OxyPLOT色谱柱(10 m×0.53 mm×10μm)或CP-Lowox色谱柱(10 m×0.53 mm×10μm),其余重烃组分通过阻尼柱进入FID检测器。在GS-OxyPLOT或CP-Lowox色谱柱上,烃类组分与含氧化合物分离并进入检测器检测,消除了大量的烃类组分对含氧化合物测定的影响。第二次进样分析,设定电磁阀切换时间为间-甲基苯胺从非极性色谱柱流出的时间,苯胺类化合物在GS-OxyPLOT或CP-Lowox色谱柱上与烃类和含氧化合物分离并进入检测器检测。以乙二醇二甲基醚为内标化合物进行内标法定量。实现了在一套系统上同时测定车用汽油中添加的甲基叔丁基醚(MTBE)、甲醇、甲缩醛、乙酸仲丁酯、乙酸乙酯、苯胺、邻/间/对-甲基苯胺和N-甲基苯胺的含量,各组分的检测范围为0.01%~10%(质量分数),回收率为86.0%~102.6%。该法可以为车用汽油的质量控制提供有效的检测手段。     

Analysis of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons by glass capillary gas chromatography using simultaneous flame ionization and electron capture detection

The possibility of simultaneous application of an electron capture (ECD) and a flame ionization detector (FID) connected to a glass capillary column for analyzing polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PNA) has been investigated. The ECD/FID ratio is determined for 46 PNA compounds. The ratios vary from 0.02 to 117 with relative standard deviations better than 20 percent determined from 10 replicate analyses. The results suggest that the method may be used for obtaining additional evidence in identifying PNA in environmental samples. Impurities and transformation products in the standard were identified by computerized glass capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Quinones and diones are responsible for the high EC-response determined in some trace components in the standard. An application of the method is shown for PNA from particulates in urban atmospheres.     

Evaluation of flow restrictors for open-tubular supercritical fluid chromatography at pressures up to 560 atm

Proper performance of the flow restrictor is of crucial importance in supercritical fluid chromatography. This is especially the case when the restrictor is the interface between the chromatographic column and a detector operating at lower pressure than the column. The performance of three types of fixed flow restrictor, the “tapered”, the “integral”, and the “frit”, was examined. The test mixtures chosen covered a range of polarities and molecular weights. Polydimethylsiloxane with an average molecular weight of 10,000 was used as a low polarity probe. Two polyethylene glycol mixtures were chosen as higher polarity probes. One consisted of a mixture of polyethylene glycol standards with average molecular weights ranging from 200 to 1450. The other polyethylene glycol mixture had an average molecular weight of 2000. The polydimethylsiloxane standard did not elute when the frit restrictor was used. Satisfactory results were obtained when the tapered and integral restrictors were employed. All three restrictors provided satisfactory results for polyethylene glycol oligomers eluting up to approximately 40.5 MPa (400 atm). However, for oligomers eluting above this pressure, the peaks merged into a broad hump with the frit restrictor, while the tapered and integral restrictors provided satisfactory separations. The integral restrictor produced more evenly spaced, more well resolved peaks at the high-pressure end of the chromatograms than did the tapered restrictor. This is shown to be due to differences in the rates of increase in mobile-phase velocity with increasing pressure for the two restrictors.     

Effect of ammonia carrier gas on the response of the flame ionization detector

The effect of using ammonia as a carrier gas on the response of the flame ionization detector (FID) has been investigated. It was found that the FID response, calculated as the effective carbon number (ECN), increased for all the compounds studied when ammonia, rather than helium, was used. The change was 0–0. 9 carbon atom for hydrocarbons, one carbon atom for alcohols and diphenyl ether, and 0.4–1 carbon atom for phenols and ketones. The increase in ECN was larger for amines (0. 8–5 carbon atoms), but these numbers also reflected an improvement in chromatographic performance as a result of reduced adsorption on the column. The largest change in signal-to-noise ratio, a six-fold increase, was obtained for octyl-amine; ratios for hexyl methyl ketone, diisobutyl ketone, dihexyl-amine, dibutylamine, and N-methyloctylamine increased by a factor of 2–3 when ammonia was used as carrier gas. To determine the extent to which the effect on detector response was solely attributable to ammonia, a mixture of 5 % ammonia in nitrogen was used as detector make-up gas with helium as carrier gas. Under these conditions the noise in the FID increased but for most of the compounds studied the signal-to-noise ratio also increased.     

The Method for Analysis of Hydrocarbon Mixtures C1‐C5 by Capillary Column Gas Chromatography

This study was carried out to determine low‐boiling point hydrocarbon mixtures C₁‐C₅ using gas chromatography supplied with a flame ionization detector (FID) and a low‐pole capillary column. The temperature of the column reached ?30 centigrade and all components eluted within 4 minutes. Sufficient resolution was available for the components with low retentions. The limits of the relative standard deviations (RSD) were from 0.19% to 2.40%. The method was found to be suitable for the determination of natural gas, petroleum, environmental quality, etc.     

Micro-machined planar field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometer as a gas chromatographic detector

A planar high field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometer (PFAIMS) with a micro-machined drift tube was characterized as a detector for capillary gas chromatography. The performance of the PFAIMS was compared directly to that of a flame ionization detector (FID) for the separation of a ketone mixture from butanone to decanone. Effluent from the column was continuously sampled by the detector and mobility scans could be obtained throughout the chromatographic analysis providing chemical inforrmation in mobility scans orthogonal to retention time. Limits of detection were approximately I ng for measurement of positive ions and were comparable or slightly better than those for the FID. Direct comparison of calibration curves for the FAIMS and the FID was possible over four orders of magnitude with a semi-log plot. The concentration dependence of the PFAIMS mobility scans showed the dependence between ion intensity and ion clustering, evident in other mobility spectrometers and atmospheric pressure ionization technologies. Ions were identified using mass spectrometry as the protonated monomer and the proton bound dimer of the ketones. Residence time for column effluent in the PFAIMS was calculated as approximately 1 ms and a 36% increase in extra-column broadening versus the FID occurred with the PFAIMS.     

Thorough evaluation of the validity of conventional enantio-gas chromatography in the analysis of volatile chiral compounds in mandarin essential oil: A comparative investigation with multidimensional gas chromatography

The present research is focused on the determination of the enantiomeric distribution of chiral compounds, contained in mandarin essential oils, by means of conventional chiral gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (enantio-GC-FID); the results attained were compared with those derived from heart-cutting multidimensional GC-mass spectrometry (MDGC/MS), to evaluate the reliability of the monodimensional technique as a tool for quality control. The Deans-switch MDGC system was equipped with two GC ovens, which were connected via a heated transfer line, a flame ionization detector (FID1) in the first dimension and a quadrupole MS as second-dimension detector. The a priori knowledge of potential co-elutions concerning target compounds (an enantiomer and an interfering compound), when using enantio-GC-FID, could enable the use of corrected enantiomer excess values. Correction factors could be calculated through a preliminary GC-FID analysis (using an apolar column), considering the peak areas of the known interferences. The method used for the calculation of a so-called “coelution correction factor” is described, along with some examples.     

Photoionization assessment of C3-C5 alkadienes and alkenes in urban air.

Hydrocarbons from samples of traffic-polluted urban air were separated by gas chromatography on an aluminium oxide column and assessed simultaneously by photoionization detection (PID) and flame ionization detection (FID) after effluent splitting. The 10.2 eV photoionization detector selectively detects alkadienes and alkenes but not alkanes and alkynes in the C3-C5 region. The maximum PID/FID response ratio for alkadienes and alkenes is also obtained in this region. The analytical system as a whole is particularly favourable for the C3-C5 alkenes. Analytical data are given for propadiene, 1,3-butadiene, propene, butenes and pentenes.