title: Optimization of programmed-temperature vaporization injection preparative capillary GC for compound specific radiocarbon analysis.
abstract: Preparative capillary GC (PCGC) is a powerful tool for the separation and purification of compounds from any complex matrix, which can be used for compound-specific radiocarbon analysis. However, the effect of PCGC parameters on the trapping efficiency is not well understood. Here, we present a comprehensive study on the optimization of parameters based on 11 reference compounds with different physicochemical properties. Under the optimum conditions, the trapping efficiencies of these 11 compounds (including high-boiling-point n-hentriacontane and methyl lignocerate) are about 80% (60-89%). The isolation of target compounds from standard solutions, plant and soil samples demonstrates that our optimized method is applicable for different classes of compounds including n-alkanes, fatty acid esters, long-chain fatty alcohol esters, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and steranes. By injecting 25 μL in large volume injection mode, over 100 μg, high purity (>90%) target compounds are harvested within 24 h. The recovery ranges of two real samples are about 70% (59.9-83.8%) and about 83% (77.2-88.5%), respectively. Compared to previous studies, our study makes significant improvement in the recovery of PCGC, which is important for its wide application in biogeochemistry, environmental sciences, and archaeology.
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban & Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, P R China.
authors.forename: Xinyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yexin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yunping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
keywords: Biomarkers; Compound specific radiocarbon analysis; Preparative capillary GC; Programmed-temperature vaporization injection