An improved method for the analysis of the reaction products of the partial isobutane oxidation by gas chromatography using a green solvent

In the present work, an improved GC/MS method for the analysis of the reaction products of the non-catalytic partial oxidation of isobutane at a starting temperature of 25°C has been developed and compared to a previously published method [1]. Two green GC-solvents (dimethyl carbonate (DMC), diethyl carbonate (DEC)) and several internal standards (hexane, benzene, toluene, DEC) have been tested. The separation of the products at low retention times (methanol, isobutane, isobutene) could be significantly improved. For the liquid main products t-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP), di-t-butyl peroxide (DTBP), t-butanol (TBA), propanone and most trace products (isopropanol, isobutanal, methyl formate, isopropyl formate, t-butyl formate and some acetates - 24 compounds in total), a coefficient of determination CoD > 0.999 has been achieved. For all weighing and GC/MS measurements uncertainties have been calculated. The peaks of the peak pair t-butyl formate (CoD >0.999) and isobutanol (CoD >0.99), have been simulated and used for calibrations. DEC gave a decomposition of TBHP on the column. With DMC, a problem of peak purity of TBHP appeared but could be resolved. The use of the green solvent DMC, compared to also studied traditional solvents like heptane and toluene, proved to be very beneficial, since it also permitted to determine polar compounds, e. g. carbon dioxide and formic acid.