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Gas Chromatography Lab

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In this experiment, preparative gas chromatography was performed to isolate components present in a mixture before infrared spectroscopy was utilized to determine the separated parts. At the start of the lab, unknown # C-2 at 170C was provided for testing. When the GC was ran, the retention time for fraction 1 started with 2.12 minutes and ended with 2.96 minutes. The retention time for fraction 2 started at 4.56 minutes and ended at 5.96 minutes. After centrifugation, a small amount of the sample was pulled to the bottom of the conical vials to be used in the infrared spectroscopy. For fraction 1, two main peaks developed at 3336.14 cm-1 and 2878.08-2962.24 cm-1. For fraction 2, two main peaks also formed at 3265.26 cm-1 and 1635.72 cm-1. …show more content…

Unknown # C-2 was injected into a separation column that was coated with a polar stationary phase. This apparatus was held in an oven so that the sample could be heated to vaporization under 170C. An inert gas, like helium in this case, acted as the mobile phase since it carried the vapor through the column to the thermal conductivity detector, forming 2 peaks along the process. The first fraction was concluded to be 3 pentanol since its peaks included 3336.14 cm-1, an alcohol functional group, and 2878.08-2962.24 cm-1, an alkane functional group. Since the two components in this lab had identical boiling points, separation cannot rely solely on the volatility of each compound. Instead, a polar gas chromatography was utilized to isolate a mixture based off of its interactions with hydrogen bonds. Although 3 pentanol is polar with an alcohol group attached to its end, its hydrocarbon chain decreases its solubility in water, making it possess a lower affinity for the stationary phase and elute first. In the second fraction, only one main peak could be identified at 3265.26 cm-1 that matched the provided IR spectra. This peak represents another alcohol group which limits it down to 3-methyl-butanol, 2 heptanol, 2 octanol, and 1 hexanol. Since this was the second fraction, it must be more polar than the first fraction to elute last. Therefore, by elimination, the second fraction was identified as 3-methyl-butanol. This structure includes an alcohol group. However, its shorter hydrocarbon chain increases its solubility in water while its methyl group decreases in dispersion forces, making 3-methyl-butanol more polar than 3 pentanol. Overall, preparative gas chromatography proved to be mostly successful in this experiment since this technique was able to separate the

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