Submitted by Early_Shake_1810 t3_y7sjyh in askscience
Hi, I’ve got a work related question. I have to check our produced technical alcohol using GC. Two of the components of my calibration are ethyl butyrate and 1-Propanol. Ethyl butyrate has a boiling point of about 120°C and 1-Propanol 97°C. But ethyl butyrate peaks first? I’ve run them separately too…but shouldn’t it be the other way around? Thanks In advance :)
ChemistDude t1_iswgksv wrote
If you’re using a fairly polar column it’s possible. n-Propanol has a fairly exposed hydroxy group. On a DB-WAX column, it elutes after ethyl propionate (closest compound to ethyl butyrate I could find data for). Here’s a list of typical retention times for various phases.
https://www.chem-agilent.com/cimg/Solvent-Retention-Data_b-0292.pdf