Ensuring selectivity using retention time modulation by solvent composition, applied to the analysis of phenol in...

A gas chromatographic method for the determination of volatile contaminants (halogenated solvents, benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene, xylenes, styrene) and phenol in e-liquids was developed and validated with a working range of 0.01 (limit of quantification) to 0.5 mg/l, and variation coefficients between 2 and 14%. Selectivity performing MS/MS-detection was sufficient for all analytes except for phenol: e-liquids contain high amounts of aroma compounds in excess of 10⁵ compared to phenol. A number of these compounds potentially interfere at the retention time of phenol, showing all masses (including daughter ions and transitions) of phenol. To allow the detection of phenol in this matrix, a novel approach of adding a polar molecule to the injection solvent was used, modulating the polarity of the column, and thus the retention time of phenol. By adding 3 μl/ml and 10 μl/ml of 1,2-propanediol the retention time of phenol was shifted by 0.06 and 0.11 min respectively, while interfering peaks have not been shifted. This allowed a reliable confirmation of the presence of phenol. The introduced approach is an easy way to generate an additional chromatographic dimension for confirmation purposes, not requiring additional equipment.