ONLINE COUPLED LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY AND CAPILLARY SUPERCRITICAL FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHY - LARGE-VOLUME INJECTION SYSTEM FOR CAPILLARY SFC

A sample introduction system for capillary SFC was developed to allow introduction of relatively large sample volumes without significant decrease in chromatographic efficiency and resolution. The system includes a sample inlet capillary which receives the liquid aliquot from the LC, whereupon the solvent is eliminated by passage of nitrogen gas. The inlet capillary is then pressurized with CO2 and the analytes are transferred to an impactor interface where they are deposited. The analytes are then eluted through the impactor interface and the capillary SFC column by pressure programming of the CO2 mobile phase. The system was demonstrated in a multidimensional mode using microcolumn liquid chromatography in the first dimension. Narrow bands were obtained in the final SFC step for C-36 hydrocarbon and pentaerythritol tetrastearate.