Computer-aided optimization of gas chromatographic separation

The use of computer-aided optimization of separations has become widely used in liquid chromatography (LC) in the past few years, but its application is seldom used in gas chromatography (GC). In LC, adjustment of isocratic mobile phase strength and gradient steepness is a powerful technique to control relative peak spacing (selectivity). In contrast, improvement of GC separation usually is achieved by increasing the column plate number (via increases in column length), and/or by changing the column type. In this paper, we will discuss examples of isothermal, temperature programmed, and multi-step temperature programmed optimization of GC separation. These results will be compared to those obtained by LC using commercial software