Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS)

Gas Chromatography

Gas Chromatography is a technique for the separation and detection of complex mixtures of organic compounds. The separation is accomplished by means of a thin capillary column through which the sample passes in a temperature controlled oven. Ramping of oven temperature causes separation of components based on differences in volatility whereas separation based on chemical properties (i.e. polarity, acidity) is accomplished by coating the walls of the capillary column with a specific stationary phase, for which different compounds have different affinity. Compounds emerge from the capillary column as discrete bands of purified materials. Detection is accomplished with a Mass Spectrometer. As the separated compounds enter the Mass Spectrometer they are hit by a stream of electrons which causes them to shatter into many smaller fragments which are all detected by the mass spectrometer. Unique "fingerprinting" of each compound is thus accomplished because the fragmentation pattern of each molecule is reproducible and a characteristic of the molecule. Our lab currently uses a HP 5890 Series II GC with a HP 5970 MS detector.

 

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