Chemical Methods in Gas Chromatography (Journal of Chromatography Library) Volume 24

Chemical Methods in Gas Chromatography (Journal of Chromatography Library) By V. G. Berezkin Publisher: Elsevier Science&Technology Number Of Pages: 313 Publication Date: 1983-10 ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0444419519 ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780444419514 Introduction The advances made in science and technology in the second half of the twentieth century are closely associated with the development of analytical methods. ‘Science progresses in quantum leaps depending on the advances in methods. Every forward step in the development of methods brings us to a new height from which we observe a broader vista with previously unseen objects’ - such was the vivid and accurate assessment of the significance of new methods by Pavlov. One of the most significant and spectacular achievements in analytical chemistry over the past quarter of a century has been the development and wide practical application of gas chromatography (GC). GC marked dramatic progress in the studying of complex mixtures of organic compounds and inorganic gases. The application of GC in chemical analysis has substantially advanced many branches of analytical chemistry and brought forth radical changes in the organic analysis of volatile compounds. Many determinations that had been practically impossible or demanded several days of arduous work have become accessible to any investigator in an ordinary laboratory with the aid of GC. GC was a gigantic leap forward in studies of complex mixtures of organic compounds and inorganic gases. A tremendous improvement has been achieved in such basic characteristics of analytical experiments as sensitivity (detection limit), selectivity (resolving power), accuracy, speed and reliability. The extensive use of GC in science and industry has given rise to a large volume of literature. Fig. 1 shows diagramatically the distribution of publications on individual analytical methods in the analysis of organic compounds and gases [ l ] . It can be seen that in 1975 45% of all publications on the analytical chemistry of organic compounds and gases dealt with chromatographic methods, GC accounting for 26% of the total number of works on chromatography. Table 1 lists analytical methods in decreasing order of their frequency of use by subscribers to Analytical Chemistry [ 2 ] . The table demonstrates that GC is currently one of the most widely used techniques. Another indication of the wide popularity of GC is the volume of production of gas chromatographs. For example, in the U.S.A. alone one (American) billion dollars worth of chromatographs are produced each year and 47.9% of all research laboratories in that country use GC [3]. The development of GC methods and the extension of areas of their application are continuing even today, with emphasis on combined or, to use Zolotov’s definition, hybrid methods [4] incorporating two and more techniques. The promising nature of the combined use of several chemical methods has been pointed out by Ostwald, who wrote that, if separation cannot be achieved directly by physical methods, one has the alternative of providing the right conditions for the isolation of a new phase by appropriately transforming the separated substances and other compounds, the new phase containing a derivative of the sample substance and enabling its mechanical separation [5]. The attractive idea of combining chemical and physical methods was later elaborated. DOWNLOAD LINK: http://rapidshare.com/files/196170784/0444419519_Gas_Chromatography.rar