A rapid method for precise gas phase analysis of 14C-labelled compounds

✍ Scribed by F. Cacace; G. Perez

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1966
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 180 KB
• Volume: 2
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-2135
• DOI: 10.1002/jlcr.2590020110

✦ Synopsis

There is little doubt that the activity of weak (3 emitterssuch as 14C and 3Hcan be measured with the highest accuracy and sensitivity by gas phase counting methods (l).

The many advantages of this type of assay, including its outstanding precision, the absence of self-absorption and quenching problems, the comparatively inexpensive equipment required, etc., have, so far, been more than offset by the need for a quantitative chemical conversion of solid or liquid samples to suitable gaseous compounds.

In the analysis of 14C, a large number of experimental procedures for the conversion of organicspecimens to 1 4 C 0 ~( ~-~~) , l4CH4(l69 17) and other compounds (18, 19) have been described. Apparently, however, despite all attempts to shorten and simplify the operations needed for gas phase assay, they still require considerable skill and take much more time than the more usual solid and scintillation counting techniques. This is understandable, since the steps involved in the quantitative conversion of organic materials into a well-defined gaseous compound have been derived from, and are closely similar to the procedures employed in elemental analysis.

Recently, however, instrumental and highly automatized methods for elemental analysis have been introduced (20, 2G) and commercial apparatuses for the rapid combustion and gas chromatographic separation of the combustion products have been made available.