Can a GasPro column by damaged by alcohol?

Can a GasPro column by damaged by injection of alcohol?

  • Hi celile.daniel,

    I have updated the tags on this post and moved it to an application area for better visibility. Can you provide a few more details on the column such as size, phase etc. There should be a tag on the column with the details and this will help the community respond to your question.

    Regards

    James

  • Hi Cecile,

     

    Gaspro or SilicaPLOT columns have silica (SiO2) as stationary phase, like sand or quartz. The surface of silica has a lot of silanol groups present that interact with polar compounds and give them a lot of retention. Smaller alcohols elute from the phase broad, larger alcohols or glycols might stuck to the phase as their boiling point is close to the Tmax of the stationary phase. Eventually they will elute, but it can take days or weeks.

     

    Try to condition the column at 220 °C (higher temperatures for a long time can also influence the phase) at high flow rates (3-5 times more than you normally do, depends on the dimensions of your column) for maybe a weekend and it might be good again.

     

    So the answer on your question is "the column is likely not damaged", but annoyingly contaminated. Avoid injecting polar solvents on the column.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Norbert

  • I marked this as assumed answered since there has been little activity.

    James

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