A NOVEL DERIVATIZATION PROCEDURE FOR THE DETERMINATION OF TRACES OF POLAR ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS IN WATER USING STATIC HEADSPACE GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY

Static headspace gas chromatography represents a very powerful tool for analyzing organic compounds in water. For the purpose of trace analysis its application is restricted to compounds whose volatility is sufficiently high. The volatility of many polar, hydrophilic compounds like diols, phenols and organic acids is too low for a determination at trace level using headspace technique. A method is described that makes use of a derivatization technique to convert such polar substances into hydrophobic compounds whose volatility is sufficiently high for a determination by headspace gas chromatography. The technique is based on a reaction with dimethylsulphate performed in the closed sampler vial. The main advantage of static headspace gas chromatography, namely its simple sample pretreatement procedure, is fully preserved.