DEVELOPMENT OF DIRECTLY COUPLED SUPERCRITICAL FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH PACKED CAPILLARY COLUMN MASS-SPECTROMETRY WITH ATMOSPHERIC-PRESSURE CHEMICAL IONIZATION

Semi-micro packed column supercritical fluid chromatography was combined with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry through a vacuum nebulization interface originally developed for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-mass spectrometry. High-purity carbon dioxide (99.999%) used as the mobile phase was delivered through a conventional HPLC pump to the semi-micro packed capillary column maintained at 100-degrees-C in an oven. The injected samples were introduced into the ion source with the aid of the nebulizing gas. To obtain the optimum results, the effects of various experimental parameters of the system were studied using Triton X-100 as a test sample. Under the optimum conditions, polyethylene glycol 400, polystyrene A-300, fat-soluble vitamins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were analysed.