| Abstract: | A new, simple procedure to deactivate fused silica capillaries without hydrothermal treatment is proposed. Based on high temperature reactions of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) in the presence of oxygen, this procedure results, upon coating with dimethylsilicone (SE-30), in columns which give almost symmetric peaks for as little as 150 pg of critical compounds, such as decylamine, thereby demonstrating very high inertness. A mechanism of the deactivation procedure, which, in contrast to previously developed procedures, is based on thermal reactions under aerobic conditions, is proposed. |
