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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1998  > December  >
In the Laboratory
A New GC-MS Experiment for the Undergraduate Instrumental Analysis Laboratory in Environmental Chemistry: Methyl-t-butyl Ether and Benzene in Gasoline
Dinh T. Quach, Nancy A. Ciszkowski, and Barbara J. Finlayson-Pitts
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-2025
Cover
December 1998
Vol. 75 No. 12
p. 1595
Abstract
With the recent ACS approval of an option in environmental chemistry at the undergraduate level, there is a need for new experiments that illustrate fundamental principles of instrumental analysis in the context of environmental chemistry. We describe an experiment that utilizes combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and benzene in gasoline. This is particularly appropriate, given the increased use of oxygenates in reformulated gasolines in the United States. In addition to illustrating the fundamentals of GC and MS, this experiment demonstrates (i) the use of internal standards to improve precision; (ii) the application of the method of standard additions; and (iii) the importance of techniques such as selected ion extraction/monitoring in the identification and measurement of specific highly volatile organic compounds in complex environmental mixtures.
More Information
*  Citation
 Quach, Dinh T.; Ciszkowski, Nancy A.; Finlayson-Pitts, Barbara J. J. Chem. Educ. 1998 75 1595.
*  Keywords
 Laboratory Instruction; Instrumental Methods; Environmental Chemistry; Chromatography; Mass Spectrometry; Quantitative Analysis
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 June 18, 1999
June 24, 2005
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