Implications of the solvent effect in quantitative capillary gas chromatography of minor constituents in mixtures—a study using deuterium labeled and unlabeled benzofluoranthenes

Perdeuterated benzofluoranthenes have slightly shorter retention times than their equivalent unlabeled forms in a DB-5 capillary column. Under column overload conditions, perdeuterated benzofluoranthenes in moderate multifold excesses, which might be encountered in their use as internal standards and carriers for quantitative analysis, are seen to exhibit both normal and reverse solvent effects on their close eluting congeners. In some cases the effects may be used to advantage by knowledgeable analysts, but for the ignorant and unwary the effects can lead to serious errors in identification and quantification.