Retention behavior of isomeric polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles in gas chromatography on stationary phases of different selectivity

• Published in: Journal of Chromatography A Vol. 1485; pp. 120 - 130
• Main Authors: Wilson, Walter B., Sander, Lane C., Oña-Ruales, Jorge O., Mössner, Stephanie G., Sidisky, Leonard M., Lee, Milton L., Wise, Stephen A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 17.02.2017
• Subjects: Chromatography, Gas - methods; Dimethylpolysiloxanes; Heterocyclic Compounds, 3-Ring - chemistry; Heterocyclic Compounds, 4 or More Rings - chemistry; Ionic Liquids; Isomerism; Molecular Weight; Thiophenes - chemistry
• ISSN: 0021-9673; 1873-3778
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2017.01.024

•GC retention indices for 48 PASHs.•Detailed comparison of three GC stationary phases with different selectivities for PASHs.•First reported separations of PASH isomers via GC on a 50% liquid crystalline DMPS phase.•Correlations are presented between the GC retention of PASHs and their L/B. Retention indices for 48 polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASHs) were determined using gas chromatography with three different stationary phases: a 50% phenyl phase, a 50% liquid crystalline dimethylpolysiloxane (LC-DMPS) phase, and an ionic liquid (IL) phase. Correlations between the retention behavior on the three stationary phases and PASH geometry (L/B and T, i.e., length-to-breadth ratio and thickness, respectively) were investigated for the following four isomer sets: (1) 4 three-ring molecular mass (MM) 184Da PASHs, (2) 13 four-ring MM 234Da PASHs, (3) 10 five-ring MM 258Da PASHs, and (4) 20 five-ring MM 284Da PASHs. Correlation coefficients for retention on the 50% LC-DMPS vs L/B ranged from r=0.50 (MM 284Da) to r=0.77 (MM 234Da). Correlation coefficients for retention on the IL phase vs L/B ranged from r=0.31 (MM 234Da) to r=0.54 (MM 284Da). Correlation coefficients for retention on the 50% phenyl vs L/B ranged from r=0.14 (MM 258Da) to r=0.59 (MM 284Da). Several correlation trends are discussed in detail for the retention behavior of PASH on the three stationary phases.