Addressing Chemical Diversity and Expanding Analytical Capabilities with Atmospheric Pressure GC

Atmospheric pressure gas chromatography (APGC) is a technique that allows rapid switching between UPLC-MS and GC-MS applications. This provides laboratories with the flexibility to analyse volatile and semi-volatile compounds of low and intermediate polarity traditionally analysed by dedicated vacuum GC-MS instruments. Changeover of the electrospray source requires minimal tools, no breaking of vacuum and typically less than 5 minutes to perform. It is possible to acquire data in ESI+ using UPLC separation, then within 1 hour, review data acquired using APGC on the same instrument (assuming a typical GC run time of 25-30 min). This type of procedure can be particularly valuable when screening samples prepared using generic techniques such as QuEChERS, which can generate extracts amenable to both UPLC and GC separations.