FormNo. 203-821-259 02/05-REV0
LECO is a registered trademark of LECO Corporation
1
Separation Science Application Note
Pegasus
®
TheUse of Resample, aNewChromaTOF
®
Feature, to ImproveDataProcessing
for GCxGC-TOFMS
Introduction
Comprehensive two-dimensional Gas Chromatography (GCxGC) peaks generally range from
100 to 200ms wide. A Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TOFMS) is the onlymass spectrometer
capable of proper GCxGC peak definition because it can acquire data at up to 500 spectra/second.
Alsowith TOFMS, a full mass spectrum from 5 to 1000 u can always be acquired if necessary. With
fast acquisition rates, full mass range acquisition, and the longer GC runs sometimes seen in
GCxGC, file sizes can be rather large (up to 500MB or more), and automated and flexible data
handling is necessary. ChromaTOF
®
, LECO’s fully automated instrument control and data
processing software for the Pegasus
®
4D, containsmany features necessary to handle GCxGC data.
Some of these features (all automated) include baseline, peak find, spectral deconvolution,
Combine of peak slices, library search, calculate area/height, quantify, Compare, and reporting of
data. Recently, a new feature called Resamplewas added to ChromaTOF that provides additional
flexibility for GCxGC data processing.
Resample is away to create a new data file that is reduced in size from an Acquired Sample File.
Often this can lead to faster andmore efficient data processing. This notewill demonstrate the use
of Resample for GCxGC-TOFMS data.
Samples
A petroleum standard containing paraffins, iso-paraffins, aromatics, naphthenes, and olefins
(PIANOmix) was used to demonstrate Resamplewith GCxGC-TOFMS, in addition to another
standard containing polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).
Experimental Conditions for Petroleum
GCxGC-TOFMS
GCxGC: Agilent 6890Gas Chromatograph equippedwith a LECOGCxGC thermal modulator and
secondary oven
Column 1:
100m x 0.25mm x 0.50 µm Rtx-1 PONA (Restek)
Column 2:
2m x 0.25mm x 0.10 µm Rtx-50 (Restek)
Carrier:
Helium at 2.3mL/min, constant flow
Injection:
0.05 µL split at 250°C, split ratio 250:1
Oven 1 Program:
40°C (0.2min), 2°/min to 200°
Oven 2 Program:
5°C offset from oven 1
Modulation time:
2 seconds
