Sampling of volatile components using a PTV in the solvent split mode

Several packing materials were evaluated for their sampling performance with a cold programmed temperature vaporizing injector operated in the solvent split (solvent elimination) mode. Evaluations were made by comparing accuracy and precision of the data for mixtures of n-alkanes, ethyl esters, n-alcohols, and carboxylic acids covering polarity and volatility ranges typical of compounds present in food samples. Tenax exhibits the most desirable retention characteristics. Careful selection of the experimental conditions lowers losses of volatile compounds by co-evaporation with the solvent and allows a reliably quantitative analysis. Coefficients of variation of relative (normalized) peak areas and absolute peak area ratios of each compound to the standard are generally less than 2%.     

Optimization of dynamic headspace sampling for the analysis of trace volatile components of grape juice: Use of a PTV injector for intermediate trapping

The use of a programmed temperature vaporizing (PTV) injector has been evaluated for the on-line concentration and injection of trace organic compounds either sampled from the head-space above grape juices or purged from solution. The Simplex method was used to improve the sensitivity of the method by optimization of the experimental conditions.     

Modification of a packed GC injector to a versatile capillary injector

A modification of a packed GC injector to a capillary injector is presented using a simple device which is connected to the GC column by an adsorption-free connector. It permits injections of large sample volumes up to 500 μl hexane solutions on normal 0.3 mm i.d. capillary columns. No special requirements for the stationary phase are necessary. Involatile residues remain inside the device which can be exchanged easily. High performance of separation and quantification is achieved.     

Automatic system for rapid analysis of volatile compounds by purge-and-cold-trapping/capillary gas chromatography

A system for automatic analysis of volatile compounds by purge-and-cold-trapping/capillary gas chromatography is described. It is suitable for analysis of volatile compounds in a wide variety of samples, such as water, food products and environmental samples. Possibilities and limitations of the system are evaluated in relation to several parameters. The efficiency of different types of cryogenic trap (open tubular, coated, packed) is also investigated; it depends on purge-flow rate, temperature of trapping, and total purge volume. Examples of the analysis of volatile compounds in foods and water are given.     

Programmed-temperture split-splitless injection of triglycerides: Comparison to cold on-column injection

The performance of split and splitless programmed-temperature (PTV) injection is compared to cold on-column and hot (classical) split injection for the analysis of triglycerides on an apolar capillary gas chromatographic column. Quantitative accuracy and precision of PTV injection are determined for a synthetic mixture of triglycerides relative to cold on-column injection.     

Optimization of the cold split-splitless injector in the solvent-split mode

In this study, the cold split-splitless injector recently introduced by Carlo Erba was optimized for the trace analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Injections of hundreds of microliters of hexane solutions were performed in the solvent split mode using an autosampler programmed for large volume injection. Injection parameters such as type of insert, initial oven temperature, split time, and flow are shown to play important roles in defining the conditions for obtaining quantitative results. The loss of early eluting compounds can be minimized by achieving a solvent trapping effect, making use of n-octane as co-solvent in n-hexane.     

Programmed-Temperature Vaporizing (PTV) Liners to Introduce Chlorinated and Sulfur Compounds into a Capillary Gas Chromatograph

Introduction of a sample at a programmed temperature is an attractive approach both for dilute samples in large volumes and to prevent discrimination inside the syringe needle with this injection into a capillary gas Chromatograph. Quantitative data obtained with glass liners packed with trapping materials including glass wool, Tenax TA, Chromosorb 101 and Thermotrap-TA to analyze chlorinated and sulfur compounds are compared. To eliminate the solvent, these vapors were vented through the injection port cap, which provided greater efficiency than through the split line.     

Improved gas chromatographic method for the determination of the individual free fatty acids in cheese using a capillary column and a PTV injector

Summary A gas chromatographic method with a capillary column and a programmed temperature vaporizer injector has been used to analyze the individual free fatty acids in cheese. The lipids were extracted from an acidified cheese slurry with diethyl ether and treated with tetramethylamonium hydroxide (TMAH) to convert the free fatty acids to tetramethylammonium soaps (TMA-soaps), which were subsequently pyrolyzed to methyl esters in the injector. Carrying out injection at the initial column temperature resulted in lower dispersion of the results, but the solvent front prevented quantitative determination of butyric and caproic acids, and an injector temperature of 300°C was therefore employed. Under the conditions tested, trimethylamine (tma) flash-off did not affect the determinations. The accuracy of the method improved at higher free fatty acid contents (coefficient of variation of 0.53% for a total free fatty acid content of 9000 mg/kg as opposed to 7.0% for a total free fatty acid content of 1400 mg/kg). The recovery rate for individual free fatty acids ranged between 91 and 103%.     

Large-volume PTV injection: Comparison of direct water injection and in-vial extraction for GC analysis of triazines

Summary The potential of large-volume PTV injection was studied for the analysis of triazine herbicides in water samples. Direct water injection and in-vial extraction were described and compared. Detection limits were between 0.01–0.02 μg L⁻¹ and relative standard deviations were <9%. Both methods are suitable for the analysis of triazines at ppt-level, although in-vial extraction is favourable for water samples with relatively large amounts of matrix components.     

Quantitation in capillary gas chromatography with emphasis on the problems of sample introduction

Sampling techniques for practical quantitative capillary GC have to meet certain principal requirements. Both the absolute and the relative peak areas (e.g. column loads) must be reproducible with high precision and at high accuracy; discrimination of certain constituents according to their volatility should not take place on sampling. On the basis of systematic studies, the three most reliable sampling techniques used for GC analyses with the aim of achieving precise and accurate quantitative data proved to be the following: On-column, injection, splitless PTV injection, and an optimized version of split sampling called “cooled needle split” injection. The on-column technique can be optimized by using precolumns with wider internal diameters and without stationary phase coatings to overcome the problems of large liquid sampling volumes and for automation. The PTV technique should only be used in the splitless mode because discrimination cannot be suppressed completely with the split mode. All three of the techniques can be operated automatically, either to avoid “human interference”, i.e. to improve precision or for unattended operation to save man-power.     

Characterization of polymers by multi-step thermal desorption/programmed pyrolysis gas chromatography using a high temperature PTV injector

Thermal treatment hyphenated with gas chromatography is a versatile and powerful tool in the study of polymer characterization. An inexpensive system where thermal treatment at different temperatures occurs inside a Programmable Temperature Vaporization injector (PTV) is described. The samples investigated, commercial plastics, are complex mixtures that contain several polymers and additives. These plastics as well as their pure constituents are subjected to multi-step thermal treatment. The individual chromatograms of the various constituents of the polymeric sample are correlated with those of the final material in order to identify additives (thermal desorption) and degradation products (pyrolysis). Results obtained with the new method indicate the interesting potentials of the technique for the characterization of polymer compositions. Reproducibility of absolute and relative peak areas has been considered and found to be acceptable. The absence of a heated transfer line and switching valves, which are always present in conventional set-ups, eliminates the risk of losses of high molecular weight components. Further advantages of the technique proposed are simplicity, versatility, and its inexpensive nature.     

Evaluation of smectic biphenylcarboxylate ester liquid-crystalline polysiloxane stationary phases for capillary column gas chromatography

Mesomorphic biphenylcarboxylate esters were coupled via flexible aliphatic hydrocarbon spacers to a polysiloxane backbone. The influence of spacer length, percent mesomorphic substitution, and crosslinking of the stationary phase on liquid-crystalline transition temperatures and on chromatographic performance was investigated. Unique selectivity and good efficiency over a wide temperature range for gum and cross-linked liquid-crystalline phases were demonstrated by the separation of various isomeric polycyclic aromatic compounds.     

Quantitative gas chromatography using a new automated derivatizer

In the gas chromatographic analysis of complex biological samples, the most time-consuming and error-prone steps are the pretreatment required for isolation and purification of the compounds of interest and, for most analytes, the derivatization to chemically and thermally stable compounds with high volatility. These wet-chemical steps are usually carried out manually, and for routine analysis of large numbers of samples they are often rate-limiting. A dedicated automated derivatizer has been constructed, the employment of which significantly reduces the time required for manual labor and increases the reproducibility of derivatization and hence the accuracy of analysis.     

Capillary gas chromatographic analysis of highly brominated fire retardant compounds

We report the development of a capillary gas chromatographic method, superior to existing packed column methods, for the analysis of highly brominated additive fire-retardants, including decabromodiphenyl ether (1) and decabromodiphenoxyethane (II). Neither compound has been analyzed previously by capillary GC, and there are no published methods for (II). For (I), the new method is 5–10 times faster than an analogous packed column method, and it has 100 times lower detection limits and twice the precision of a gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric method. For (II), the capillary method is 30–50% faster than an unpublished liquid chromatographic method. The greater efficiency of the capillary method makes possible the complete resolution (R ≥ 1.25) of structurally very similar compounds (e.g. compound (II) and its Br₉Cl₁ and Br₈Cl₂ analogues). With the new method, commercial preparations of (I) and (II) can be rapidly analyzed, and samples from combustion and pyrolysis experiments can be evaluated for compositional changes.