Solute focusing technique for on-column injection in capillary gas chromatography

A novel solute focusing technique for on-column injection of liquid samples onto capillary GC columns is described. The focusing technique allows injection of 8.0 microliters or more of sample without producing the peak distortion or splitting observed under conventional on-column injection conditions. The experimentally determined performance of the technique is given for a wide volatility range sample. Solute focusing is useful in situations where on-column injection of 1.0 microliter or greater is required.     

On-column injection onto capillary columns. Part 2: Study of sampling conditions; practical recommendations

During one year continuous use of on-column injection, the typical advantages described in our first report have fully been confirmed. In addition the analysis of large sample volumes has proved promising. Only minor modifications have been applied to the on-column injector device. Broad evidence has been gathered showing that full separation efficiency of the capillary columns after on-column injection is attained only when cold trapping or the solvent effect, as band shortening mechanisms, are working- While, under the conditions of on-column injection, cold trapping is less efficient than with other injection techniques, the opposite holds true for the solvent effect. Compared with splitless injection, the danger of excessive solvent condensation on the column is increased. A working rule is presented for establishing the optimal chromatographic conditions for handling large sample volumes while ensuring full separation efficiency yet avoiding harm to the column.     

Gas-liquid chromatography of amino acids: Columns and methodology as a basis for routine amino acid analysis using glass capillary gas chromatography

A carefully Standardized technique is described for the preparation of glass capillary columns which can be used successfully for routine quantitative amino acid analysis. Comparison is made between two different modes of sample injection. Preliminary quantitative results from “split” injection and “on-column” injection techniques are evaluated statistically and it is concluded that the “on-column” system is a prerequisite for quantitative amino acid analysis by glass capillary gas chromatography. An analysis of fish muscle protein hydrolyzate illustrates an application of this technique and results are compared with those from a packed column analysis.     

Deactivation of glass capillary columns by silylation. Part 1: Principles and basic technique

A deactivation procedure is described based on a published method using hexamethyldisilazane in the gas phase. In addition to unusually high inertia and thermostability, the method produces truly neutral columns which allow simultaneous analysis of moderately strong free acids and bases. The silylated columns show their full potential only with on-column injection. Preliminary experimental directions are given; more elaborate directions will become available after extended optimization work.     

Suitability of automated capillary and micro liquid chromatography for routine determination of drugs in human plasma samples from clinical pharmacokinetic investigations

One of the most widely acclaimed features of capillary and microcolumn LC, in comparison with conventional HPLC, is the enormous increase in mass sensitivity. Nevertheless, application of capillary and micro LC in quantitative trace bioanalysis, characterized by weak analyte concentrations in complex matrices, can only be of any practical utility if large sample volumes can be injected onto the columns without affecting chromatographic resolution and efficiency. Two applications of large volume injection in a non-eluting solvent (on-column focusing) for the quantitative analysis of drugs in biological fluids on both capillary and micro chromatographic systems are presented: the first example deals with a new selective H₁-antihistaminic drug, mizolastine, the second one with a well known calcium antagonist, diltiazem, and its main metabolites. For both compounds, results obtained on micro and capillary LC in comparison with conventional HPLC are reported. The results demonstrate that when conventional HPLC methods are transformed into either micro or capillary LC techniques, they gain in sensitivity. By means of an on-column focusing technique, it is possible to increase the sensitivity 3–5 fold in comparison to conventional HPLC methods, but not 50–60 fold as obtained on synthetic drug solutions. Column robustness, handiness, reproducibility, and suitability of micro systems for routine bioanalysis are discussed for both capillary and micro LC columns, as well as limits of the technique in trace organic analysis problems.     

High resolution gas chromatographic determination of permanent gases with a helium ionization detector

The capability of the helium ionization detector (HID) to operate in connection with capillary columns for trace gas analyses has been evaluated. Two different capillary columns were considered: a PLOT fused silica column with molecular sleve and a thick film WCOT glass column with PS-255. The determination of trace impurities in gases can be achieved with evident advantages over classical adsorption columns, even using a split injection system. Direct on-column injections also have been investigated with promising results.     

Peak broadening in isothermal runs due to large retention gaps in capillary GC?

A simple formula is derived which allows estimation of the band broadening due to longitudinal diffusion in retention gaps for isothermal runs with the column held at the injection temperature. The broadening is strongly dependent on the linear gas velocity in the retention gap. If the internal diameters of the retention gap and the separation column are similar, the retention gap may have a length exceeding 100 m, even if the separation column is only 10 m long. A 0.5 mm I.D. retention gap attached to a 0.3 mm I.D. separation column (of interest for automatic on-column injection) may be several meters long. Retention gaps of 0.3 mm I.D. may be used for on-column injections into separation columns with I.D's. down to about 0.1 mm.     

High temperature gas chromatography on narrow bore capillary columns

The use of high-temperature-stable, medium polarity glass capillary columns coated with immobilized PS-090 (a 20 % diphenyl-substituted, CH₃O-terminated polydimethylsiloxane) has made it possible to analyze routinely, and with good separation efficiency, high molecular weight compounds such as triglycerides and free base porphyrins. Cold on-column injection was used throughout this work to avoid discrimination against involatile compounds, and disposable (fused silica) retention gaps were used to protect the column against contamination with involatile material. On-column injection into narrow bore glass columns was achieved by using glass-to-silica connections to attach wider bore (0.2 mm i.d.) deactivated fused silica tubing to the columns.     

Gas chromatographic separation of triglycerides according to their degree of unsaturation on glass capillary columns

Triglycerides are separated according to their molecular weight and their degree of unsaturation on glass capillary columns by use of the on-column injection technique. The columns employed are silylated SE-30 columns of 4.5, 8, and 10m length with a film thickness of ca. 0.15 μm. The paper gives several examples of chromatograms of natural and hydrogenated triglycerides as well as of mixtures of pure, known triglycerides before and after interesterification.     

Direct gas chromatographic analysis of halogenated hydrocarbons at the part-per-trillion level

Large sample volume on-column injection (up to 250 μL) of n-pentane solutions of halogenated hydrocarbons has been employed for the direct measurement of both low-boiling and high-boiling compounds in what is essentially a single run. Two-bonded phase, fused-silica capillary columns are joined in series, through which the low-boiling compounds are first chromatographed and detected with an electron capture detector. High-boiling compounds are then trapped in a section joining the two columns, and subsequently chromatographed in the second column, using the same detector. This procedure permits analysis at the ppt level.     

On column injection-dual channel analysis of essential oils

A system to analyze a complex mixture simultaneously on two different columns after one single on-column injection is described. The splitting device, the possibilities of component identification by searching in a data base for Kovats indices on two different polarity stationary phases, and a practical example of an essential oil analysis are presented.     

On-line concentration of neutral and charged species in capillary electrochromatography with a methacrylate-based monolithic stationary phase

A method involving self-concentration, on-column enrichment and field-amplified sample stacking for on-line concentration in capillary electrochromatography with a polymer monolithic column is presented. Since monolithic columns eliminate the frit fabrication and the problems associated with frits, the experimental conditions could be more flexibly adjusted to obtain higher concentration factor in comparison with conventional particulate packed columns. With self-concentration effect, the detection sensitivity of benzene and hexylbenzene is improved by a factor of 4 and 8, respectively. With on-column enrichment and ultralong injection, improvement as high as 22,000 times in detection sensitivity of benzoin is achieved. Furthermore, a combination of the three above-mentioned methods yields up to a 24,000-fold improvement in detection sensitivity for caffeine, a charged compound. Parameters affecting the efficiency of on-line concentration are investigated systematically. In addition, equations describing on-line concentration process are deduced.     

Narrow bore silica capillary columns for liquid-modified adsorption gas chromatography

Summary The preparation of narrow bore capillary columns for liquid-modified adsorption chromatography is described, and the advantages of this technique for rapid analysis of complex mixtures are discussed.Several applications to the analysis of complex mixtures are reported, and the possibility of on-column injection is demonstrated.     

Underivatized steroids on persilanized capillary columns with non-vaporizing on-column injection

Recent developments in the preparation of capillary columns by persilanization of the glass surfaces have resulted in highly inactive, heat-stable columns. With this type of column certain steroid hormone classes can be analyzed without derivatization; these include the 17-keto steroids, 11-oxo compounds, estrogens, and progesterone metabolites. It has been found that good quantitative analysis calls for non-vaporizing, on-column injection, as normal vaporizing injection results in breakdown of thermolabile compounds such as estriol and 17-OH progesterone metabolites. The gas chromatographic method described was used to obtain urinary steroid profiles.     

Chromatographic studies of unusual on-column degradations of aniline compounds on XBridge Shield RP18 column in high pH aqueous mobile phase

This paper reports unusual on-column degradations of aniline compounds on Waters XBridge Shield RP18 column when ammonium hydroxide in water and acetonitrile were used as mobile phases in liquid chromatography. The change of the level of on-column degradation of a model compound (Compound 1) with time was observed in the first fifteen injections when started at 60 °C. During a subsequent cooling program from 60 °C to 10 °C with a 10 °C interval, the levels of the degradation products of Compound 1 changed with the change of temperature and reached a maximum at 40 °C. The on-column degradation of Compound 1 was observed when started at 10 °C in the first injection, however, the magnitude of the change of the level of on-column degradation of Compound 1 with time in the first fifteen injections was much smaller than that at 60 °C. During a subsequent heating program from 10 to 60 °C with a 10 °C interval, the levels of the degradation products of Compound 1 increased with the increase in temperature but without a maximum. The change of the degradation product levels of this model compound in the heating process is not super-imposable with that in the cooling process, which demonstrates the degree of the degradation also depends on the heating or cooling process. Column history studies demonstrated that the on-column degradation of Compound 1 changed dramatically on the used columns at both starting temperatures while the dependency of heating and cooling processes on on-column degradation still existed. The unusual on-column degradation of Compound 1 on the used columns can be regenerated in a very similar fashion with an acetic acid column-wash procedure, but is not identical to that on the new column. Similar degradations of other commercially available aniline compounds were also observed with this high pH aqueous mobile phase system.     

Automated on-line multi-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatographic techniques for the clean-up and analysis of water-soluble samples

The application of an automated on-line multi-dimensional liquid-liquid chromatographic technique for the clean-up and analysis of water-soluble samples was investigated. The use of microparticulate aqueous-compatible steric exclusion columns as the primary separation step coupled to either reversed-phase, normal-phase or ion-exchange columns as the secondary step allowed the direct injection of complex samples without prior clean-up. The entire operation was automatically controlled by a microprocessor-based liquid chromatograph with time-programmable events which allowed precise switching of high-pressure pneumatically operated valves. Both heart-cutting and on-column concentration methods were used. The heart-cutting technique had the advantage of selectivity but lacked sensitivity; more successful was the on-column concentration technique, which, by the concentration of the solute from a larger volume of exclusion column effluent on to the secondary column, gave better sensitivity. The technique was applied to the analysis of theophylline and caffeine in biological fluids, catecholamines in urine, vitamins in a protein food supplement and sugars in molasses and candy bars.     

Analysis of triglycerides by capillary gas chromatography with programmed-temperature injection

The capillary gas chromatographic analysis of complex naturally occurring and food-product triglyceride mixtures is accomplished qualitatively and quantitatively on columns coated with methyl and methyl-phenyl (65%) silicones using programmed-temperature split/splitless and on-column injection. Faster analysis times are achieved using elevated initial column oven temperatures with cold initial injector temperatures.     

High temperature (GC)2 and (GC)2/CI-MS of nucleosides: Analysis of purinyl nucleoside isomer composition

The analysis of low-volatile polar nucleosides by (GC)²/FID and (GC)²/CI-MS, employing HMDS-deactivated glass capillary columns and on-column injection, is described. The four linkage isomers of a specific nucleoside, formed in the synthetic procedure, are in each case sufficiently well separated in the chromatogram; GC/CI-MS allows for a differentiation of N-7 and N-9 linkage isomers.     

Temperature program optimization by computer simulation for the capillary GC analysis of fatty acid methyl esters on biscyanopropyl siloxane phases

The selectivity of capillary columns coated with biscyanopropyl siloxane stationary phases for the separation of fatty acid methyl esters has been optimized by means of computer-assisted column temperature optimization software. Temperature programming rates yielding the highest resolution in the shortest analysis time were selected for split, splitless, and on-column injection operated in the constant pressure and pressure programmed modes.     

Improved quantitative capillary GC by the use of CO2 as secondary coolant in cold on-column injection

A comparison is made between air and carbon dioxide as secondary cooling gases in cold on-column injection into capillary columns. Because CO₂ is a more effective coolant than air, the injection zone can be kept at a colder temperature, thus preventing loss of sample vapor through the open injector even as the initial oven temperatures because greater than the boiling point of the solvent. Sample loss at these elevated temperatures is shown as a reduction in peak area as functions of column temperature during injection and different injection zone temperatures. The maximum allowable oven temperature during injection is significantly higher when CO₂ is used as secondary coolant rather than air.