Ern Dawes

LC/GC approaches to analysis are attractive because they combine the selectivity of solid-phase sorbents in the first dimension with the separating power and peak capacity of capillary GC in the following dimensions.

LC–GC approaches to analysis are particularly attractive because they combine the selectivity of solid phase sorbents in the first dimension with the separating power and peak capacity of a capillary GC column in the following dimensions. Their widespread use is limited because of the difficultly in desolvating the stream from the LC dimension without the solvent vapour passing down the GC column in significant quantity. An alternative approach to elution chromatography in the first dimension is to harness the specificity of the solid-phase process for digital chromatography using discontinuous changes in solvent polarity. Digital chromatography on a small sorbent bed reduces the volume of mobile phase to discrete plugs that are sufficiently small to be injected directly into a GC with a large volume injector or, alternatively, subsampled into a conventional split/splitless injector.

Solid-phase extraction (SPE) has revolutionized sample preparation. Variations on the technique offer enhanced recovery, greater speciation and reduced solvent and sample consumption over other techniques. Micro-extraction packed sorbent (MEPS) is the miniaturization of conventional SPE from millilitre to microlitre bed volumes that allows SPE to be used with very small samples. The manipulation of the small volumes is achieved with a precision gas tight syringe. With a typical void volume of 7 μL, the volume of solvent eluted from MEPS is compatible with GC and LC inlets making it ideal for integration into an automated sampling system for on-line SPE.