Sorbentless cryogenic needle trap device for the extraction of organic volatile compounds

Determination of trace compounds and artifacts in nitrogen background measurements by proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry under dry and humid conditions

A qualitative analysis was applied for the determination of trace compounds at the parts per trillion in volume (ppt_v ) level in the mass spectra of nitrogen of different qualities (5.0 and 6.0) under dry and humid conditions. This qualitative analysis enabled the classification and discovery of hundreds of new ions (e.g., [S_x ]H⁺ species) and artifacts such as parasitic ions and memory effects and their differentiation from real gas impurities. With this analysis, the humidity dependency of all kind of ions in the mass spectrum was determined. Apart from the inorganic artifacts previously discovered, many new organic ions were assigned as instrumental artifacts and new isobaric interferences could be elucidated. From 1140 peaks found in the mass range m/z 0-800, only 660 could be analyzed due to sufficient intensity, from which 463 corresponded to compounds. The number of peaks in nitrogen proton transfer reaction (PTR) spectra was similarly dominated by nonmetallic oxygenated organic compounds (23.5%) and hydrocarbons (24.1%) Regarding only gas impurities, hydrocarbons were the main compound class (50.2%). The highest contribution to the total ion signal for unfiltered nitrogen under dry and humid conditions was from nonmetallic oxygenated compounds. Under dry conditions, nitrogen-containing compounds exhibit the second highest contribution of 89% and 96% for nitrogen 5.0 and 6.0, respectively, whereas under humid conditions, hydrocarbons become the second dominant group with 69% and 86% for nitrogen 5.0 and 6.0, respectively. With the gathered information, a database can be built as a tool for the elucidation of instrumental and intrinsic gas matrix artifacts in PTR mass spectra and, especially in cases, where dilution with inert gases plays a significant role.

Application of On-Line Sorbentless Cryogenic Needle Trap Extraction Coupled with GC-FID for Analysis of Some Organic Volatile Impurities in Solid Pharmaceuticals

An automated sorbentless cryogenic needle trap device (ASCNTD) was developed for the extraction of organic volatile impurities (OVIs) from solid pharmaceuticals prior to their determination by gas chromatography (GC). In this method, a new set up was designed and used to extraction of several OVIs from ceftazidime, ceftriaxone sodium and amoxicillin. For this purpose, a proper amount of the sample was transferred into the extraction vessel. The sample headspace components were started to circulate through a needle with a flow rate of 20 mL min-1. The OVIs were trapped on the inner surface of a needle placed on top of the sample by flowing liquid nitrogen. After a predetermined time, the coiled nichrome resistance wire placed into the hollow ceramic rod was heated and the trapped analytes were desorbed and swept into the GC capillary column using the carrier gas. The effective parameters such as volume of the sample vial, headspace flow rate, extraction temperature and time, and desorption conditions have been investigated. Qualification studies reveal that pyridine (as a degradation product of ceftazidime), methylene chloride, diethylamine, triethylamine, isopropyl alcohol and n-butyl acetate are the main impurities in the studied pharmaceuticals. Detected OVIs were quantitated using external standard method. The obtained relative standard deviation values were <8%, and the limits of detection (LOD) for the detected OVIs were in the range of 1-34 ng g-1.

On-Line Sorbentless Cryogenic Needle Trap and GC–FID Method for the Extraction and Analysis of Trace Volatile Organic Compounds from Soil Samples

In this study, an automated sorbentless cryogenic needle trap device (ASCNTD) coupled with a gas chromatograph (GC) was developed with the aim of sampling, pre-concentration and determination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from soil sample. This paper describes optimization of relevant parameters, performance evaluation and an illustrative application of ASCNTD. The ASCNTD system consists of a 5 cm stainless steel needle passed through a hollow ceramic rod which is coiled with resistive nichrome wire. The set is placed in a PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) chamber through which liquid nitrogen can flow. The headspace components are circulated with a pump to pass through the needle, and this results in freeze-trapping of the VOCs on the inner surface of the needle. When extraction is completed, the analytes trapped in the inner wall of the needle were thermally desorbed and swept by the carrier gas into the GC capillary column. The parameters being effective on the extraction processes, namely headspace flow rate, the temperature and time of extraction and desorption were optimized and evaluated. The developed technique was compared to the headspace solid-phase microextraction method for the analysis of soil samples containing BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene). The relative standard deviation values are below 8% and detection limits as low as 1.2 ng g−1 were obtained for BTEX by ASCNTD.