How to improve peak reproductivity of furfural with IC

[thanh_ha]

Hi!

I used Dionex-IC with carbohydrate-specific column PA1 and electrochemical detector and NaOH as eluent for analysis of this aldehyde, but the areas and the height of peaks are not reproducible. Since furfural is not much soluble, I prepared NaOH eluent with 2% acetonitrile to improve its solubility in mobile phase, but it did not work. Furfural can be measured with GC and LC method, but I want to know if it can be detected with IC.
Did someone work with furfural analysis using IC? Can you give me any advice.

Thank you!

[Vlad Orlovsky]

what is your detection technique? Are you sure that what ever you see is your target compound?

[thanh_ha]

Hi,
That is Pulsed Amperometric Detection with Au-working electrodes and Ag/AgCl Reference Electrodes.
And the peaks are surely furfural, since I used only the standards of furfural and the height of peaks is more reproducible with the increase of furfural concentration.

[JGK]

I set up a RP-HPLC method based on the Jeurig & Kuppers J.Assoc. Off. Anal Chem 63(6), 1980 1215-18

C18 column, methanol water mobile phase and measurement at 285 nm.

I was looking at hydroxymethylfurfural but the method detects both

[Vlad Orlovsky]

Hi,
That is Pulsed Amperometric Detection with Au-working electrodes and Ag/AgCl Reference Electrodes.
And the peaks are surely furfural, since I used only the standards of furfural and the height of peaks is more reproducible with the increase of furfural concentration.

....or it corresponds to the impurity. You need to inject your compound without column and with the column and see if peak area matches.