Use of carbowax 20M glass capillary columns below their lower temperature limit

The optimal separation properties of Carbowax 20M as a stationary phase in 300-m glass capillary columns at temeperatures below its lower temperature limit (60°) in terms of the selectivity, efficiency and speed of the gas chromatographic analysis of isomeric C₁₀---₁₃n-alkenes were investigated.In the separation of isomeric n-alkenes two possible states of the Carbowax stationary phase below 60° were used (solid state and intermediate liquid state), and the dependence of the retention of the isomers on temperature was studied. The region of the hysteresis portion of the I^CW = f(T)diagram permits the continuous setting of column selectivity. The efficiency of the column at temperatures below the lower temperature limit of Carbowax 20M depends on the spatial cis-trans configuration of n-alkenes and, in the solid state, for cis-isomers is comparable to the high efficiency of this column at higher temperatures (115°). Utilization of Carbowax 20M in the solid state made it possible to achieve faster and more complete separations of the eleven possible positional and spatial isomers of n-tridecenes in comparison with previous methods.