Transformation and transmission of organotin compounds inside a gas chromatograph

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Abstract
A wide variety of mono-, di-, and tri-substituted tin compounds are transformed to, and transmitted as, chlorides, bromides, or iodides on injection into a gas chromatographic system doped with HCl, HBr, or HI, respectively. This transformation occurs directly from some thirty-odd analytes such as organotin oxides, hydroxides, organic esters, and other halides including fluorides. Three germanium compounds appear to behave similarly. A conventional, packed-column gas chromatographic set-up with flame photometric or flame ionization detector can tolerate the necessary acid doping. Compounds such as bis(tributyltin) oxide will elute, as halides, in subpicogram amounts. If the dopant flow is turned off, the packed column can act as a hydrogen halide reservoir for several days of operation. The transformations of tributyltin species into the halide form are generally fast on the timescale of chromatographic processes, i.e. sharp peaks result from the use of mixed hydrogen halides, and the retention time of mixed-halide peaks can be adjusted by varying the dopant composition. Keywords: organotins, gas chromatography, derivatization, acid doping, photometric detection.