APPARATUS COMBINING GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH SPECTROPHOTOFLUOROMETRY BY MEANS OF A FLOWING LIQUID INTERFACE

An apparatus has been devised to combine the high separative powers of the gas chromatograph with the high sensitivity and selective response of the spectro-photofluorometer. The solute in the effluent of the gas chromatograph is picked up by a slowly flowing stream of alcohol, and the alcohol solution is monitored in a flow cell at the desired excitation and emission wavelengths. The combination has been used to analyze pesticides, air pollutants, and methylenedioxyphenyl compounds. Analyses in the nanogram range were possible, and sensitivity frequently exceeded that of the flame ionization detector. The device appears to have general applicability to the analysis of fluorescing substances that can be determined by gas chromatography and captured by the solvent that travels to the flow cell. The eluate of the flow cell may be collected for retention of fractions or for spectral or other analyses. © 1968, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.