Influence of vapour pressure, activity coefficient and structure on the retention volumes of branched-chain nonanes

Determination of vapor pressures using gas chromatography

The determination of vapor pressures, p0, of compounds with low vapor pressures (10(-8) Pa < p0 < 10(3) Pa) is becoming increasingly important as a result of the need to measure p0 for environmentally sensitive compounds such as organophosphorus pesticides, biphenyls, dioxins and alkylbenzenes. Under strict conditions, the components of gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) (a volatile solute, an involatile solvent and a mobile carrier gas) are in equilibrium and as a result it is possible to use the technique to measure equilibrium properties such as vapor pressure. The technique is rapid, reliable and reproducible. These advantages have tempted many workers to measure physiochemical properties, including vapor pressures, under conditions for which the basic theories do not hold. In this review, the GLC techniques used to measure vapor pressures from GLC data together with the basic theory, limitations of the techniques and some recent measurements are discussed.

Gas chromatographic measurement of volatility of herbicide esters

The vapour pressures of eleven herbicide esters were calculated from gas chromatographic measurement of relative retention volumes (dibutyl phthalate = 1) on a non-polar SE-30 column. Measurements were made at temperatures from 72 to 182 degrees C, but by assuming that the ratio of the latent heat of vaporization of the ester to that of dibutyl phthalate was independent of temperature, values for vapour pressure could be extrapolated to 25 degrees C. Vapour pressures at 25 degrees C ranged from 2.5.10(-4) mmHg for 2,4-D ethyl ester to 1.9.10(-7) mm Hg for picloram isoocytly ester.