Preparation of glass capillary columns

Summary Glass capillary column chromatography is the most rapidly growing part of gas chromatography. There are many complex new analytical tasks and they require special capillary columns. Fortunately there is a wide range of column preparation methods available, and they make the preparation of glass capillary columns a more varied job than that of packed columns. In this paper these methods are reviewed and suggestions are given for making task-oriented columns.     

Preparation of apolar glass capillary columns by the barium carbonate procedure

As an extension of previous reports, the barium carbonate procedure has been optimized in detail for the preparation of apolar columns. The aim was to produce optimum overall column characteristics, and to maintain them unchanged under the prolonged influence of the highest possible temperature. The main parameters under optimization were glass variety, leaching of glass surface with aqueous HCl, and amount of barium carbonate deposited, while deactivation and coating were kept constant. The basic column characteristics were adsorption properties and thermostability of deactivation, acid/base behaviour and separation efficiency. They were determined by a new, quantitative testing procedure. Intense leaching was able to eliminate almost totally the differences between glass varieties and to create a well-defined glass surface. While untreated glass, leached glass, and barium carbonate treated glass showed specific weak points in the respective column quality, the combination of leaching and barium carbonate treatment yielded the highest and most stable quality. Some technical modifications of the preparation procedure are described, including deactivation in the gas phase, and use of pentane as a solvent for static coating.     

Gas chromatographic separation of sugars by on-column injection on glass capillary columns

Sugars were separated gas chromatographically on short apolar glass capillary columns by using cold, on-column injection (OCI) techniques. After silylation, oligomers up to the hexasaccharides could be efficiently separated in resonable retention times. Response factors of silylated sugars were determined as a function of varying sample amounts and concentrations. The optimum injection amount was found to be 1 μl in heptane as solvent.     

Thermostable persilylated polar glass capillary columns by the ammonia-etching method

Static ammonia etching has been used to effect regular surface roughening of glass capillaries. Following such treatment, polar phases could be coated after persilylation with varioussilylation agents such as hexamethyl-, tetramethyldiphenyl-, and tetra- phenyldimethyldisilazane, respectively. This method produces columns of high thermostability, which is limited only by the maximum applicable temperature for the phase itself.     

The preparation of thick-film glass capillary columns

A detailed method for the routine preparation of glass capillary columns is presented. The method consists of coating a glass tube with quartz powder prior to pulling the tube into a capillary. The inner surface of the capillary consists of an even distribution of quartz particles fused to the walls. This surface has been found readily deactivated by standard procedures and ideal for the preparation of thick-film glass capillary columns. The method has been thoroughly tested in two independent laboratories to ensure that the procedures described are reproducible.     

The use of glass capillary columns for the analysis of polar natural products

Two published procedures for glass capillary column production are applied to produce capillaries for chromatography of polar natural compounds. Soda lime glass capillaries, after leaching with aqueous HCL, are either treated with colloidal silicic acid or with barium carbonate and coated with either Silar 7CP or SE 52. A test mixture as well as polar carbohydrate and peptide mixtures are chromatographed on the different columns and their chromatographic properties are evaluated. Combined capillary gas chromatography-electron impact and chemical ionization mass spectrometry are used for identification of the peptide sequence.     

Factors affecting reproducibility in the manufacture of glass and siliceous glass open tubular (capillary) columns

Summary Column characteristics affecting the chromatographic behavior of glass and siliceous glass (fused silica) capillary columns include the dimensional uniformity of the column, the physical and chemical characteristics of the column wall and the characteristics of the liquid phase. In the case of the coated column the uniformity and thickness of the liquid phase film are the most important criteria affecting column reproducibility. The paper discusses these factors and their influence on column performance.Presented in part at the Symposium on Standardized Materials for Chromatography, 181 st National American Chemical Society Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, March 29–April 3, 1981.