Chromatography Forum

Setting up HS GC FID for testing with residual solvents. Our setup technician advised us that we need to purchase analytical standards to set up calibration curves for detection limits. Mainly that we need to select a solvent for dilution of these standards that is not one of the residual solvents that we are testing for.

Is this accurate and any suggestions for solvents that would not be included in the residual solvents being tested?

Butane
1,1,1-Trichloroethane
1,1,2-Trichloroethane
Ethyl alcohol (absolute)
Toluene
Propane
1,2-Dichloroethane
n-Pentane
n-Hexane
Ethyl acetate
n-Heptane
Diethyl ether
Methanol
Isopropyl alcohol
Acetone
Chloroform
Benzene
Acetonitrile
Dichloromethane
Ethylene oxide
tert-Butylmethyl ether
Ethylbenzene
Anisole
Ethylene glycol
Isopropyl acetate
n-Propyl acetate
Ethyl formate
Tetrahydrofuran
Isobutyl acetate
2-Ethoxyethanol
Cyclohexane
Pyridine
Triethylamine
3-Methyl-1-butanol
n-Butyl acetate
1,4-Dioxane
N,N-Dimethylacetamide
Dimethyl sulfoxide
N,N-Dimethylformamide
1-Butanol
1-Pentanol
Isobutane
2,2-Dimethylbutane
2-Methylbutane
sec-Butanol
2-Butanone (MEK)
Trichloroethene
Methyl acetate
2,3-Dimethylbutane
3-Methylpentane
Isopropylbenzene

Guessing you're in pharma?
If so, lots of vendors offer lots of kits for this sort of thing.
A number of people use headspace sampling for it too.

Basically, I know nothing about the specifics of this process but am aware that you need not test for anything that is not a part of your production process. You need only test for things that your API or excipient would/could have in them. That's the list you need to consider. Are the things on it soluble in organic or aqueous solvents, are they high or low boilers, are they amenable to headspace? (I'm sure I'm missing some germane questions here)

That said, I don't see octane on your list. Back in my day, it was frequently used for GC/FID sample diluent as it does not flash, is a reasonably high boiler and is available in high purity. If you really have to DIY and aren't interested in headspace, that may be a solvent to consider.

I think I'd go with methylene chloride aka dichloromethane CH2Cl2 - more volatile than all the compounds on your list (I think) so it will come out first and won't significantly interfere.

Welcome to the forum.

Do you have in-house methods, will you use standard methods, or do you need to develop methods?. What is the matrix of your samples? What detection limits do you need?

What instrument is it?

The people who install new hardware are not necessarily experts on its use for specific applications.

Peter