Hi there,

I'm pretty sure I had posted this but I can't find it so I have to assume something went wrong in the submission.

Anyways, I have this group working on a project involving the hydrogenation of ketones and one of their reagents consist in a base, mainly either potassium/sodium isopropoxide or tertbutoxide (Na/K -OiPr, -OtBu) in a mixture of isopropanol/methanol (90:10). For analysis, they'd like to take an aliquot of 100 uL and dilute to 1000 uL in isopropanol (so concentration of base ends up being about 0.003 M) and inject in GC (1 uL injections, split injections, Chiraldex B-PM).

Anyone know if these bases can be damaging to the column? They are strong bases but small concentrations (technically, in the solution phase, -OiPr, -OtBu and -OMe species would exist) - not quite sure what kind of pH it woulf give. Would they simply precipitate out in the inlet? The bp's of Na/K alkoxides is generally very high. We use inlet liners with glass wool and a guard column but I would like to ensure we do not damage the chiral column. Anyone has any experince on this? Any input at all would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you so much,

Roxanne.