Oxygen determination in organic fluorine compounds by means of a glassy-carbon pyrolysis tube

A conventional apparatus for determination of oxygen in organic compounds has been improved for application to organic fluorine compounds. A feature of the apparatus is the use of a pyrolysis tube made of glassy carbon instead of quartz, which eliminates effects due to hydrogen fluoride produced in pyrolysis of the sample. Ten analyses of dexamethasone with the apparatus gave a mean value of 20.44% for oxygen (theory, 20.38%), with a standard deviation of 0.16%. Oxygen in 9 organic fluorine compounds was accurately determined by using the apparatus, with an average error of +0.1%. One analysis by a gravimetric or a coulometric method took about 40 or 25 min, respectively.