Chromatography Forum

So I need to start running GC samples of ethyl formate, which has a boiling point of 54 degrees Celsius, the solvent I'll be using is going to be ethanol, with a boiling point of 78 degrees Celsius. Will this pose a problem? My intuition is that I'll just see the analyte peak first, then the solvent peak, but I'm somewhat of a newbie to method development on GC.

I'm using an HP 5890A with an FID, in case anyone cares.

How polar is your column?

I wouldn't use ethanol, as it's typically denatured with other chemicals, including other volatile solvents like methanol or isopropyl alcohol.

It should not pose a problem.

If you had methanol in your ethanol would that be a problem?

Nope.

As you said the analyte peak will appear ahead of the ethanol peak. Just run blanks of your ethanol solvent first to show there are no early eluting peaks coming from the solvent itself.

best wishes,

Rod

The critical parameter is the column stationary phase.

Under some circumstances you will get distortion of the ethyl formate peak due to solvent effects, but that is a bridge to be crossed when you come to it.

Peter

Hi Mr.Incitor use DB-624 Column where the Ethanol will elute first and the Ethyl formate later.

Thanks for all the helpful advice guys, I think I've achieved good separation, with the ethyl formate peak coming out first.

I'm really happy I found this forum. I hope to be able to contribute with more than just question soon.