Gas Chromatography (GC) is a commonly used analytic technique in many research and industrial laboratories.

A broad variety of samples can be analyzed as long as the compounds are sufficiently thermal stable and volatile enough. How does gas chromatography work? Like for all other chromatographic techniques a mobile and a stationary phase are required. !he mobile phase ("carrier gas) is comprised of an inert gas e.g. helium argon nitrogen etc. !he stationary phase consists of a packed column #here the packing or solid support itself acts as stationary phase or is coated #ith the liquid stationary phase ("high boiling polymer). $ore commonly used in many instruments are capillary columns #here the stationary phase coats the #alls of a small%diameter tube directly (e.g. &.'( mm film in a &.)' mm tube). !he main reason #hy different compounds can be separated this #ay is the interaction of the compound #ith the stationary phase*(like%dissolves%like+%rule). !he stronger the interaction is the longer the compound remains attached to the stationary phase and the more time it takes to go through the column ("longer retention time). What influences the separation? ,. -olarity of the stationary phase -olar compounds interact strongly #ith a polar stationary phase hence have a longer retention time than non%polar columns. Chiral stationary phases based on amino acid derivatives cyclode.trins chiral silanes etc are capable to separate enantiomers because one form is slightly stronger bonded than the other one often due to steric effects. '. !emperature !he higher the temperature the more of the compound is in the gas phase. /t does interact less #ith the stationary phase hence the retention time is shorter but the quality of separation deteriorates. ). Carrier gas flo# /f the carrier gas flo# is high the molecules do not have a chance to interact #ith the stationary phase. !he result is the same as above. 0. Column length !he longer the column is the better the separation usually is. !he trade%off is that the retention time increases proportionally to the column length. !here is also a significant broadening of peaks observed because of increased back diffusion inside the column.

(. Amount of material in1ected /f too much of the sample is in1ected the peaks sho# a significant tailing #hich causes a poorer separation. $ost detectors are relatively sensitive and do not need a lot of material. 2. Conclusion 3igh temperatures and high flo# rates decrease the retention time but also deteriorate the quality of the separation. Which detectors are commonly used? ,. $ass 4pectrometer (GC5$4) $any GC instruments are coupled #ith a mass spectrometer #hich is a very good combination. !he GC separates the compounds from each other #hile the mass spectrometer helps to identify them based on their fragmentation pattern. '. 6lame /onization 7etector (6/7) !he detector is very sensitive to#ards organic molecules (,&%,' g5s linear range8 ,&2 9 ,&:) but relative insensitive to a fe# small molecules e.g. ;' ;<. 3'4 C< C<' 3'<. /f proper amounts of hydrogen5air are mi.ed the combustion does not afford any ions. /f other components are introduced that contain carbon atoms cations are produced in the effluent stream. !he more carbon atoms are in the molecule the more fragments are formed and the more sensitive the detector is for this compound (%% = response factor). 3o#ever due to the fact that the sample is burnt (pyrolysis) this technique is not suitable for preparative GC. /n addition several gases are usually required to operate a 6/78 hydrogen o.ygen (compressed air) and carrier gas. ). !hermal Conductivity 7etector (!C7) !his detector is less sensitive than the 6/7 (,&%(%,&%2g5s linear range8 ,&)%,&0) but is #ell suited for preparative applications because the sample is not destroyed. /t is based on the comparison of t#o gas streams one containing only the carrier gas the other one the carrier gas and the compound. ;aturally a carrier gas #ith a high thermal conductivity e.g. helium or hydrogen is used in order to ma.imize the temperature difference (and therefore the difference in resistance) bet#een t#o thin tungsten #ires. !he large surface%to%mass ratio permits a fast equilibration to a steady state. !he temperature difference bet#een the reference cell and the sample cell filaments is monitored by a >heatstone bridge circuit.

0. ?lectron Capture 7etector (?C7) !he detector consists of a cavity that contains t#o electrodes and a radiation source that emits %radiation (e.g. 2);i )3). !he collision bet#een electrons and the carrier gas (methane plus an inert gas) produces plasma containing electrons and positive ions. /f a compound is present that contains electronegative atoms those electrons are *captured+ and negative ions are formed and the rate of electron collection decreases. !he detector is e.tremely selective for compounds #ith atoms of high electron affinity (,&%,0 g5s) but has a relatively small linear range (@,&'%,&)). !his detector is frequently used in the analysis of chlorinated compounds e.g. pesticides polychlorinated biphenyls #hich sho# are very high sensitivity