TY - JOUR

T1 - System stability and signal enhancement with analyte protectants

T2 - Gas chromatography analysis of oxygenated-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

AU - Jørgensen, Mathias B.

AU - Nyemann, Peter P.

AU - Haq, Inam U.

AU - Christensen, Peter

AU - Pattison, David I.

AU - Christensen, Jan H.

N1 - Funding Information: This study is a contribution to the VANDALF project under grant agreement no. 9067-00032B and supported by the Innovation Fund Denmark. We would like to thank Jette Petersen for supervision and assistance in the laboratory. Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Matrix effects can affect detection limits, precision, and accuracy and lead to signal enhancement or suppression effects in gas chromatography analysis. Analyte protectants, such as shikimic acid and gluconolactone, can imitate the effect of matrix components and reduce the differences in matrix effect between samples. This study aimed to investigate the ability of analyte protectants to enhance gas chromatography detector signals of different oxygenated-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Addition of 100 μg L−1 shikimic acid and 200 μg L−1 gluconolactone effectively enhanced detector response of the investigated target compounds. Addition of a higher content of analyte protectants did not result in any further enhancement. It was found that between four and eleven consecutive injections of a standard solution with analyte protectants were required to obtain a stable compound response. The long-term signal stability was then maintained with subsequent injections, though an overall negative drift of the system was observed over the sequence of 200 investigated injections. Analysis of the actual sample matrix instead of standards in pure solvent, as presented in this study, could also be a way to minimize the required number of injections. Shikimic acid and gluconolactone were first and foremost able to enhance signals of oxygenated-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with similar functional groups (hydroxyl) in their molecular structure. It can be relevant to consider alternative analyte protectants with different functional groups according to the type of target compounds investigated.

AB - Matrix effects can affect detection limits, precision, and accuracy and lead to signal enhancement or suppression effects in gas chromatography analysis. Analyte protectants, such as shikimic acid and gluconolactone, can imitate the effect of matrix components and reduce the differences in matrix effect between samples. This study aimed to investigate the ability of analyte protectants to enhance gas chromatography detector signals of different oxygenated-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Addition of 100 μg L−1 shikimic acid and 200 μg L−1 gluconolactone effectively enhanced detector response of the investigated target compounds. Addition of a higher content of analyte protectants did not result in any further enhancement. It was found that between four and eleven consecutive injections of a standard solution with analyte protectants were required to obtain a stable compound response. The long-term signal stability was then maintained with subsequent injections, though an overall negative drift of the system was observed over the sequence of 200 investigated injections. Analysis of the actual sample matrix instead of standards in pure solvent, as presented in this study, could also be a way to minimize the required number of injections. Shikimic acid and gluconolactone were first and foremost able to enhance signals of oxygenated-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with similar functional groups (hydroxyl) in their molecular structure. It can be relevant to consider alternative analyte protectants with different functional groups according to the type of target compounds investigated.

KW - Analyte protectants

KW - Gas chromatography

KW - Matrix enhancement effects

KW - Micropollutants

KW - Oxygenated-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

U2 - 10.1016/j.talanta.2024.125810

DO - 10.1016/j.talanta.2024.125810

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38387374

AN - SCOPUS:85185529579

VL - 272

JO - Talanta

JF - Talanta

SN - 0039-9140

M1 - 125810

ER -