Dynamic Control of Gas Chromatographic Selectivity during the Analysis of Organic Bases

A novel method for controlling selectivity during the gas chromatographic (GC) analysis of organic bases is presented. The technique employs tandem stainless steel capillary columns, each coated with a pH adjusted water stationary phase. The first is a 0.5 m trap column coated with a pH 2.2 phase, while the second is an 11 m analytical column coated with a pH 11.4 phase. The first column traps basic analytes from injected samples, while the remaining components continue to elute and separate. Then, upon injection of a volatile aqueous ammonia solution, the basic analytes are released as desired to the analytical column where they are separated and analyzed. Separations are quite reproducible and demonstrate an average RSD of 1.2% for analyte retention times in consecutive trials. Using this approach, the retention of such analytes can be readily controlled and they can be held in the system for periods of up to 1 h without significant erosion of peak shape. As such, it can provide considerable control over analyte selectivity and resolution compared to conventional separations. Further, by employing a third conventional GC column to the series, both traditional hydrocarbon and enhanced organic base separations can be performed. The method is applied to the analysis of complex mixtures, such as gasoline, and much less matrix interference is observed as a result. The findings indicate that this approach could be a useful alternative for analyzing such samples.