Gas-liquid chromatography of cholesteryl esters on non-polar and polar capillary columns following on-column...

Capillary gas chromatography of cholesteryl esters following on-column injection was investigated in fused silica columns coated with a non-polar "bonded" liquid phase (DB-1) or a polar liquid phase (SP2330). The 15-m DB-1 column (0.3 mm I.D.) completely resolved the esters on the basis of carbon number, and further partially separated the saturated esters from unsaturated esters. The polar column system consisted of a 10-m SP2330 column (0.25 mm I.D.) butt-connected to a 60-cm empty deactivated wide-bore (0.3 mm I.D.) capillary column into which the sample was injected. This system completely separated the cholesteryl esters according to degree of unsaturation. The lower limits of sensitivity of the columns were about ten-fold lower than that previous obtainable with splitless injection. The lower limits for the DB-1 and SP2330 columns were about 500 and 1500 pg respectively. Thus these columns can be used for the analysis of cholesteryl esters from the smallest of biological or cell culture samples.