Chromatography Forum

Dear All,
I have googled this to relatively little success:
What would you use to derivatize diethylene glycol in volatile matrix?
I would need to run sample by GC-MS. I found a small reference to TMS.
Does anyone do this routinely? DEG response low without derivatization.
Best Regards
WK

We routinely assay for diethylene glycol here. It will give multiple peaks, usually three, due to its isomers. For as-is, use a polar column such as a PEG type. We more routinely dissolve our samples in DMF, then derivatize with BSTFA reagent (Regis, Pierce, etc.), and use a nonpolar capillary such as DB-5 or DB-1. Derivatized DEG will also deliver multiple peaks (we usually just do peak summation for this. And either GC-FID or GCMS.

Thanks for the reply CPG,
Do you get significantly better response with BSTFA?
WK