Chromatography Forum

Hello Everyone,

I am in need of a heated syringe autoinjector. I do not need a headspace injector. I would like to inject 1uL of molten phenol (feeze/melt pt. 40.7C) on my Shimadzu and Varian GCs. We currently are diluting the samples with DI H2O for the injections but this causes the formation of Hydroxyacetone in the sample. I cannot use methanol as a solvent because it contains impurities we are monitoring as well. Manual injections are not an option. My safety department wants to limit the chance of exposure to the molten phenol. I have tried heating the vial but the heat loss in the syringe causes crystalization and pluggage immediately.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks for the help.
Micheal

Hi Michael

I have never come across a liquid autoinjector that heats the syringe, and even the heated headspace samplers do not keep the needle hot. The only thing that I can suggest is to rig a hair dryer or something similar to blow hot air on the syringe.

Good luck

Peter

Dear Phenol Guy,

There are heated valve injectors which one can attach to a GC. You would need enough sample to feed through a narrow ID line to the valve and a waste line from the valve. You could then inject a molten sample onto a GC column directly.

These cost several thousand dollar$.

I would do SPME analysis for the impurities you wish to measure.

Is this possible? One does not need a solvent if the matrix melts at a reasonable temperature in a vial which in your case, it does.

Email or call Supelco Technical Service for assistance.

800-359-3041 techservice@sial.com

best wishes,

Rod

Thanks Peter and Chromatographer 1,

I have tried the hair dryer technique before. I also have heated valves on my on-line GCs that are located in my production unit. The heated valves work well when thay work, but they are a maintenance nightmare. I am interested in SPME and have e-mailed supelco. Thanks for the advise.

I'd also recommend SPME.

I had to deal with very nasty matrices and SPME proved to be one of the few techniques which actually worked.

I'd be beneficial if you'd tell which impurities you're looking for. Knowing that choosing the best for your application fiber is simplified.