Influence of temperature on the mechanism by which compounds are retained in gas-liquid chromatography

Determination of gas-polydimethylsiloxane distribution constants of major Cannabis terpenes and terpenoids by capillary gas-liquid chromatography

Terpenes and terpenoids are the principal responsible for the aroma of Cannabis, playing an important role in the interaction with the environment. Analytical determination of these compounds can be done by headspace coupled to solid phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) and then injected in a gas chromatograph. In the present study, we determined distribution constants between gas and polydimetylsiloxane (PDMS), a conventional SPME liquid phase, at three temperatures between 303.15 and 343.15 K for major Cannabis terpenes and terpenoids employing a method based in gas chromatography using four capillary columns for monoterpenes and five columns for sesquiterpenes. In addition, van't Hoff regressions (logK_fg vs T^-1) were obtained in order to estimate logK_fg at 298.15 K aiming to compare with bibliographic values (experimental or estimated ones). An excellent agreement was found between them. The method, based on chromatographic theory is robust and relatively simple. It is expected that the herein obtained data could be useful for selecting SPME fiber type and dimensions, estimating extraction efficiencies, as well as to develop prediction models and validate them.

Time-resolved chromatographic analysis and mechanisms in adsorption and catalysis

The main object of this review is the study of fundamentals of adsorption and heterogeneous catalysis, a benefit for the understanding of adsorptive and catalytic properties. This work aims to define and record, with the utmost accuracy, the phenomena and the possible reactions. A new methodology for the study of the adsorption is presented, which is a version of the well-known inverse gas chromatography. This reversed-flow inverse gas chromatography (RF-IGC) is technically very simple, and it is combined with a mathematical analysis that gives the possibility for the estimation of various physicochemical parameters related to adsorbent or catalyst characterization, under conditions compatible with the operation of real adsorbents and catalysts. On this base, this methodology has been successfully applied to the study of the impact of air pollutants, volatile organic and/or inorganic, on many solids such as marbles, ceramics, oxide-pigments of works of art, building materials, authentic statues of the Greek Archaeological Museums. Moreover, this methodology proved to be a powerful tool for studying the topography of active sites of heterogeneous surfaces in the nano-scale domain. Thus, some very important local quantities for the surface chemistry have been determined experimentally for many solids including thin films. These physicochemical local quantities (among which adsorption energy and entropy, surface diffusion coefficient, probability density function) have been determined from the experimental pairs of height of extra chromatographic peaks and time by a nonlinear least-squares method, through personal computer programs written in GW BASIC and lately in FORTRAN. Through the time-resolved analysis the surface characterization of the examined materials took place. In addition, the kinetic constants responsible for adsorption/desorption and surface chemical reactions have also been calculated. Thus, important answers have been provided to the following essential questions: (1) Can RF-IGC define the gnostic regions of adsorption/desorption, surface diffusion, surface reaction? Yes, irrefutably and undeniably. (2) Can RF-IGC deal with issues of catalysis, the existence of more than one reaction? Certainly yes. Indeed, it is impressive to observe the reactions "on line". (3) Can RF-IGC identify peaks of products and reactants simultaneously? Certainly yes. (4) Can RF-IGC be applied to thin films in a nano-scale domain? The answer is "definitely yes". (5) Can it kinetically follow the above? Yes, again.

Separation characteristics of wall-coated open-tubular columns for gas chromatography

The application of the solvation parameter model for the classification of wall-coated open-tubular columns for gas chromatography is reviewed. A system constants database for 50 wall-coated open-tubular columns at five equally spaced temperatures between 60 and 140 degrees C is constructed and statistical and chemometric techniques used to identify stationary phases with equivalent selectivity, the effect of monomer chemistry on selectivity, and the selection of stationary phases for method development. The system constants database contains examples of virtually all commercially available common stationary phases.

Evaluation of the separation characteristics of application-specific (fatty acid methyl esters) open-tubular columns for gas chromatography

The solvation parameter model is used to characterize the separation properties of the polar stationary phases EC-Wax and PAG with a poly(ethylene oxide) backbone (substituted with propylene oxide in the case of PAG) and the cyanopropyl-substituted polysilphenylene-siloxane stationary phase BPX90 at five equally spaced temperatures between 60 and 140 degrees C. The separation characteristics of these stationary phases are compared to four PEG and two poly(cyanopropylsiloxane) stationary phases (HP-20M, HP-Innowax, SolGel-Wax, DB-WAXetr, HP-88, and SP-2340) characterized in the same way. The database of system constants for these polar stationary phases is used to provide insight into the separation mechanism for fatty acid methyl esters and to determine selectivity differences that can be expected for generically similar stationary phase types. The discussion is not structured to indicate which stationary phase should be used for a particular separation but to provide a general framework to demonstrate the relationship between the retention mechanism and stationary phase chemistry.

Revised solute descriptors for characterizing retention properties of open-tubular columns in gas chromatography and their application to a carborane–siloxane copolymer stationary phase

An iteration procedure is used to calculate revised solute descriptors for 103 varied compounds suitable for characterizing the retention properties of stationary phases for gas chromatography using the solvation parameter model. The iteration procedure utilizes a database of retention factors obtained on up to 39 open-tubular columns and up to five temperatures in the range 60-140 degrees C for the 103 solutes. The average of the standard deviation [Sigma(logk(exp)-logk(calc))(2)/(n(c)-1)](0.5) where logk(exp) is the experimental retention factor, logk(calc) the model predicted retention factor, and n(c) the total number of retention factors) on all columns is 0.018 for the revised solute descriptors compared with 0.045 for the original values. When used to characterize the retention properties of six open-tubular columns selected to represent different selectivity groups the revised solute descriptors afford improved values for the multiple correlation coefficient and standard deviations of the system constants, and about a three-fold improvement in the standard error of the estimate compared with the original solute descriptors. The revised solute descriptors were used to model retention on the carborane-siloxane copolymer stationary phase Stx-500. This phase has low cohesion, is weakly electron lone pair repulsive, weakly dipolar/polarizable, and weakly hydrogen-bond basic. It has no hydrogen-bond acidity. Its separation properties are similar to those of the poly(diphenyldimethylsiloxane) stationary phases containing 5% diphenylsiloxane monomer, but it is not selectivity equivalent to these phases, being more dipolar/polarizable and a weaker hydrogen-bond base.

Accurate measurements of thermodynamic properties of solutes in ionic liquids using inverse gas chromatography

Activity coefficients at infinite dilution of 29 organic compounds in two room temperature ionic liquids were determined using inverse gas chromatography. The measurements were carried out at different temperatures between 323.15 and 343.15K. To establish the influence of concurrent retention mechanisms on the accuracy of activity coefficients at infinite dilution for 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium octyl sulfate and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tosylate, phase loading studies of the net retention volume per gram of packing as a function of the percent phase loading were used. It is shown that most of the solutes are retained largely by partition with a small contribution from adsorption on 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium octyl sulfate and that the n-alkanes are retained predominantly by interfacial adsorption on 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tosylate.

Solvation enthalpies and heat capacities ofn-alkanes in four polymer phases by capillary gas chromatography

Molar solvation enthalpy (deltasol H(o)298) and molar heat capacity changes (deltasol C(o)p) were determined by gas chromatography for the C6-C12 n-alkanes on four preferred stationary phases (100% polydimethyl siloxane, 50% diphenyl-50% dimethyl polysiloxane, 50% trifluoropropyl methylsiloxane, and polyethylene glycol) in commercial FSOT. Statistical evaluation indicated the temperature independence of deltasol C(o)p in the range 303-393 K. Deltasol H(o)298 depends linearly on the number of carbon atoms in the n-alkanes, but no linearity could be established for deltasol C(o)p of higher homologues on polar columns, which may be due to a more ordered state on the liquid phase. The homologues for which a linear temperature dependence exists demonstrated that deltasol C(o)p is related linearly to the van der Waals volume and the temperature derivative of the density of the stationary phase. The results are consistent with a simple physical explanation at the molecular level.

Chromatographic and spectroscopic methods for the determination of solvent properties of room temperature ionic liquids

Room temperature ionic liquids are novel solvents with favorable environmental and technical features. Synthetic routes to over 200 room temperature ionic liquids are known but for most ionic liquids physicochemical data are generally lacking or incomplete. Chromatographic and spectroscopic methods afford suitable tools for the study of solvation properties under conditions that approximate infinite dilution. Gas-liquid chromatography is suitable for the determination of gas-liquid partition coefficients and activity coefficients as well as thermodynamic constants derived from either of these parameters and their variation with temperature. The solvation parameter model can be used to define the contribution from individual intermolecular interactions to the gas-liquid partition coefficient. Application of chemometric procedures to a large database of system constants for ionic liquids indicates their unique solvent properties: low cohesion for ionic liquids with weakly associated ions compared with non-ionic liquids of similar polarity; greater hydrogen-bond basicity than typical polar non-ionic solvents; and a range of dipolarity/polarizability that encompasses the same range as occupied by the most polar non-ionic liquids. These properties can be crudely related to ion structures but further work is required to develop a comprehensive approach for the design of ionic liquids for specific applications. Data for liquid-liquid partition coefficients is scarce by comparison with gas-liquid partition coefficients. Preliminary studies indicate the possibility of using the solvation parameter model for interpretation of liquid-liquid partition coefficients determined by shake-flask procedures as well as the feasibility of using liquid-liquid chromatography for the convenient and rapid determination of liquid-liquid partition coefficients. Spectroscopic measurements of solvatochromic and fluorescent probe molecules in room temperature ionic liquids provide insights into solvent intermolecular interactions although interpretation of the different and generally uncorrelated "polarity" scales is sometimes ambiguous. All evidence points to the ionic liquids as a unique class of polar solvents suitable for technical development. In terms of designer solvents, however, further work is needed to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the relationship between ion structures and physicochemical properties.

Application of capillary gas chromatography to studies on solvation thermodynamics

The potentiality of capillary gas chromatography (GC) as a means for research on solubility phenomena is focused. Basic thermodynamic information can be obtained in a simple and direct way from this technique relying on few parameters with their associated errors tightly controlled. An unexplored field of solvation phenomenology inaccessible to other techniques is revealed by the accuracy of capillary GC, provided that relevant chromatographic variables are utilized and an adequate treatment of the experimental information performed. The present article reviews different approaches for the attainment of basic thermodynamic information through capillary GC. Some traditional concepts on the treatment of chromatographic data for physicochemical measurement are questioned. Applications of the technique to research on solubility phenomena are depicted.

Evaluation of a structure-driven retention model for temperature-programmed gas chromatography

The solvation parameter model is suitable for describing the retention properties of compounds of varied structure in temperature-programmed gas chromatography. An empirical second-order model provides a good account of the change in system constants as a function of program rate. These relationships codify the reduction in retention time at higher program rates and changes in elution order (selectivity) with program rate. The prediction of retention times from structure, while quite good, is probably adversely affected by descriptor quality and the possibility of a mixed retention mechanism on polar stationary phases. Plots of experimental against predicted temperature-programmed retention times for varied compounds are linear but generally contain a small bias from an ideal model (slope of one and an intercept of zero). The average absolute deviation in temperature-programmed retention times on three columns (DB-210, DB-1701 and EC-Wax) varied from 0.15 to 0.89 min with the best results obtained at higher program rates on the columns of lower polarity.

Minimum in the temperature dependence of the Kováts retention indices of nitroalkanes and alkanenitriles on an apolar phase

The Kováts retention indices (I) of 1-nitroalkanes and alkanenitriles were determined on polydimethylsiloxane and Innowax (polyethylene glycol) columns in a wide temperature range. The temperature dependence of the retention indices exhibits a definite minimum for the early members of the homologous series. The position of the minimum shifts to lower temperatures with increasing carbon atom number of the solute. The thermodynamic explanation of an extreme in the I vs. T function is the higher solvation heat capacities of nitroalkanes and alkanenitriles relative to those of the reference n-alkanes, owing to the deviation from the ideal state in the solution. A novel equation was derived which describes the minimum in the I vs. T function, too.

Wall-coated open-tubular column chromatography on an organo-clay stationary phase

Wall-coated open-tubular (WCOT) column chromatography is shown to be a viable tool to measure hydrocarbon interactions with an organo-clay as the stationary phase. In this paper, we report the heats of interaction for a series of hydrocarbons (n-alkanes of C6-C12, and cyclohexane) on a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-modified Laponite-RD clay. The measurements were performed with a new WCOT method that we have developed, and also a conventional packed-column approach. Although the measurements from both techniques yield the same values of enthalpy (on the basis of our statistical analysis), we argue that WCOT column chromatography gave the more reliable results, with lower uncertainties and better chromatographic behavior.

Column selectivity from the perspective of the solvation parameter model

The solvation parameter model is a useful tool for delineating the contribution of defined intermolecular interactions to retention of neutral molecules in separation systems based on a solute equilibrium between a gas, liquid or fluid mobile phase and a liquid or solid stationary phase. The free energy for this process is decomposed into contributions for cavity formation and the set up of intermolecular interactions identified as dispersion, electron lone pair, dipole-type and hydrogen bonding. The relative contribution of these interactions is indicated by a series of system constants determined by the difference of the defined interaction in the two phases. The interpretation of these system constants as a function of experimental factors that affect retention in the chromatographic system provides the connection between relative retention (selectivity) and the control variables for the separation system. To aid in the understanding of these processes we perform an analysis of system constants for gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, supercritical fluid chromatography and micellar electrokinetic chromatography as a function of different experimental variables as a step towards gaining a theoretical understanding of selectivity optimization for method development.

Behavior of n-alkanes on poly(oxyethylene) capillary columns. Evaluation of interfacial effects

The solvation behavior of n-alkanes on poly(oxyethylene) was studied employing capillary gas chromatography. Interfacial effects were discriminated and evaluated through the analysis of retention data from six commercial fused-silica capillary columns, having film thicknesses of 0.15-5 microm. Expressions for the mixed retention mechanism in capillary columns were deduced from assumptions of a general character. Partition coefficients were determined for the n-alkanes up to 28 carbon atoms, at temperatures ranging from 40 to 240 degrees C. In agreement with other authors, it was observed that interfacial phenomena contribute poorly to the chromatographic retention, being negligible over 140 degrees C for homologues with less than 16 carbons.

Selectivity assessment of popular stationary phases for open-tubular column gas chromatography

The solvation parameter model is used to study the influence of temperature and composition on the selectivity of nine poly(siloxane) and two poly(ethylene glycol) stationary phase chemistries for open-tubular column gas chromatography. A database of system constants for the temperature range 60-140 degrees C was constructed from literature values with additional results determined for HP-50+, DB-210, DB-1701, DB-225 and SP-2340 columns. The general contribution of monomer composition (methyl, phenyl, cyanopropyl, and trifluoropropyl substituents) on the capacity of poly(siloxane) stationary phases for dispersion, electron lone pair, dipole-type and hydrogen-bond interactions is described. The selectivity coverage of the open-tubular column stationary phases is compared with a larger database for packed column stationary phases at a reference temperature of 120 degrees C. The open-tubular column stationary phases provide reasonable coverage of the range of dipole-type and hydrogen-bond base interactions for non-ionic packed column stationary phases. Deficiencies are noted in the coverage of electron lone pair interactions. None of the open-tubular column stationary phases are hydrogen-bond acids. The system constants are shown to change approximately linearly with temperature over the range 60-140 degrees C. The intercepts and slopes of these plots are used to discuss the influence of temperature on stationary phase selectivity.

Selectivity equivalence of poly(ethylene glycol) stationary phases for gas chromatography

The solvation parameter model is used to study differences in selectivity for poly(ethylene glycol) stationary phases for packed column (Carbowax 20M) and fused-silica, open-tubular column (HP-20M, AT-Wax, HP-INNOWax and DB-FFAP) gas chromatography. All phases are dipolar, strongly hydrogen-bond basic with no hydrogen-bond acidity and of moderate cohesion. No two phases are exactly alike, however, and selectivity differences identified with cavity formation and dispersion interactions, n- and pi-electron pair interactions, dipole-type interactions and hydrogen-bond interactions are quantified by differences in the system constants at a fixed temperature where retention occurs solely by gas-liquid partitioning. The system constants vary linearly with temperature over the range 60-140 degrees C (except for n- and pi-electron pair interactions which are temperature invariant) facilitating a general comparison of the importance of temperature on selectivity differences for compared phases. From a mechanistic point of view it is demonstrated that selectivity differences can result from chemical differences between the poly(ethylene glycol) stationary phases and from differences in the relative contribution of interfacial adsorption to the retention mechanism. The latter depends on both system properties and solute characteristics.

Distribution coefficients of n-alkanes measured on wall-coated capillary columns

Distribution coefficients K of n-alkanes were determined in wide ranges of temperature and carbon numbers from gas chromatographic retention data measured on wall-coated poly(dimethylsiloxane) commercial capillary columns. A discussion is centered on how to mitigate the difficulties for an accurate determination of K when using weakly retentive columns, as those bearing very high phase ratios or short lengths. Particularly, the errors associated with the estimation of the gas hold-up and the phase ratio of the column are considered. The chromatographic importance for determining K of n-alkanes relies on the fact that these are the most commonly applied references for reporting relative thermodynamic parameters such as the Kovats Index and the relative retention. A great amount of information has been compiled in this form. If K of the reference is known, absolute values of distribution coefficients for a myriad of substances are readily obtainable. The knowledge of K(T) functions of solutes in wide ranges of temperature is a primary necessity in temperature-programmed gas chromatography. This knowledge is needed for the prediction of absolute retention times and for computing separation optimizations of mixtures containing several critical pairs of analytes.

Use of principal component analysis for the study of the retention behaviour of anticancer drugs on a beta-cyclodextrin polymer-coated silica column

The retention parameters of eighteen commercial anticancer drugs were determined on a beta-cyclodextrin polymer-coated silica support (beta CDP) using methanol-water mixtures as eluent and the relationship between the retention behaviour and physico-chemical parameters was elucidated by principal component analysis (PCA) followed by two-dimensional non-linear mapping. No significant linear correlation was found between the retention behaviour of drugs on octadecylsilica and beta CDP silica columns, indicating that the retention capacity and selectivity of the columns are considerably different. The results of PCA indicated that hydrophobic and electronic interactions and steric conditions govern the retention of anticancer drugs on beta CDP column, suggesting a mixed retention mechanism.