Micropreparative system for enrichment of capillary GC effluents

An automated system for preparative gas chromatography with capillary columns is described. The effluet from the capillary column is switched to the FID detector or to the traps by means of a Live-T switching device. The pneumatics is controlled by a microprocessor so that repetitive sampling can be performed over a period of days in order to enrich sufficient amount of material for NMR or other spectroscopic methods. The effluent containing the compounds is collected in glass tubes filled with column packing material (e.g. Chromosorb coated with 3% OV - 101, crosslinked). The trap temperatue can be adjusted from + 20°C to − 80°C, depending on the trapping material and volatility of trapped substances. The analysis of enriched substances or chromatographic fractions can be performed by thermal desorption of the same traps or by solven elution. The recovery of enriched substances is higher than 90%. High capacity and resolution for enrichment of trace components are obtained with the aid of a double column-double oven system. Examples of such applications are given.