ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly discusses the application, chemical properties and physical properties of toluene. It presents detailed information on the analysis of aqueous and nonaqueous samples of toluene. Toluene occurs in gasoline, petroleum solvents, and coal-tar distillates. It is used as a solvent and in many organic syntheses, colorless liquid with a characteristic aromatic odor, slightly soluble in water and readily miscible with organic solvents. During the analysis of aqueous and nonaqueous samples of toluene, samples are thermally desorbed from the sorbent trap and is swept by an inert gas onto a gas chromatography (GC) column, for separation from other volatile compounds, and detected by photoionization detector (PID), flame ionization detector (FID), or a mass spectrometer. Alternatively, toluene is thermally desorbed from the solid sample under the He purge (without any solvent treatment) and analyzed by GC or GC/MS.
