Glass capillary gas chromatography of chlorinated methyl acetates,propanoates and butanoates on Carbowax 20M and SE-30 columns

Summary The gas chromatography of all chlorinated methyl acetates, methyl propanoates and methyl mono- and dichlorobutanoates has been studied on Carbowax 20M and SE-30 glass capillary columns under various running conditions. The order of elution on a non-polar column was largely determined by the boiling point of esters, whereas on a polar column it was much influenced by the structure of compounds. Complete separation of the combined mixture of all 27 compounds could not be achieved, however, methyl 3,3-dichlorobutanoate was the only ester overlapped on both columns in spite of the various column temperatures used. The best separation of the mixture was on Carbowax 20M with a temperature program from 50°C at 8°C/min, isothermal running conditions leading either to poor separation of volatile components or long analysis time and broad peaks of higher chlorinated esters. The relative retention times for compounds at the various column temperatures are given and the retention order on a polar and on a non-polar column discussed.