Quantification of silylated organic compounds using gas chromatography coupled to ICP-MS

Abstract

Gas chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (GC-ICP-MS) has been used for quantification of n-alkanols (butanol, pentanol, hexanol and heptanol) after silylation using N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoracetamide (MSTFA) in pyridine, thus introducing a silicon atom for labelling. External and internal calibrations have been performed, which show identical sensitivities for the compounds tested and therefore facilitate a substance independent quantification. Our first results revealing an absolute and a relative detection limit of 100 fmol (1 µL injection volume) and 100 nmol L−1, respectively, indicate the capability of this method to become an add-on tool for quantification of organic compounds such as alcohols, amines, acids or ketones, which are routinely analysed with gas chromatographic techniques.