A General Robotic Procedure for Performing Precolumn Derivatization and its Application to On-Line Liquid Chromatographic Analysis

Abstract

A procedure is described utilizing robotics for performing precolumn derivatization prior to liquid chromatographic (LC) analysis. A reaction vial heating station is incorporated into the robotic system permitting the use of elevated reaction temperature if desired. The procedure automatically calculates the optimum batch size to maximize sample throughput and prioritizes sample handling to maintain the integrity of the derivative. Several examples are described illustrating the general utility of the methodology. The procedure is also useful for several types of precolumn derivatization reactions prior to gas chromatographic (GC) analysis.