ABSTRACT
This chapter contains descriptions of some mixture analysis problems to which chromatography/Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) has been applied. Lower identification limits were obtained by capillary gas chromatography than by packed column gas chromatography. Shafer and coworkers employed complementary mass spectrometric and infrared detection with gas and liquid chromatography to analyze wastewater samples. Flavor and fragrance mixtures contain esters and acids for which chromatography/FT-IR sensitivity is high. Chromatography/FT-IR has been employed in a study to elucidate the nature of an animal response to a specific fragrance stimulus. Hordenine was isolated from equine urine by extraction, followed by thin-layer chromatography. Electron-capture gas chromatography and Gas Chromatography (GC)/mass spectrometers were found to be more sensitive than GC/FT-IR for degradation product analysis, but these detectors provided ambiguous identifications. In addition to GC/FT-IR analysis of naturally occurring fragrances, chromatography/FT-IR can be employed for analysis of other complex organic mixtures derived from living systems.
