Abstract
THE value of gas chromatography as a technique for the analysis of the minute quantities of products formed during the kinetic studies of gas reactions is well illustrated by recent work on the gas-phase reaction between ethyl nitrite and nitrogen dioxide. Studies of the behaviour of ethyl nitrite, ethyl nitrate and water on a partition column of kieselguhr wetted with di-butyl-phthalate and eluted with nitrogen revealed that a complete separation of a mixture of the esters and water can be achieved. Using gas chromatography, it has thus been possible to identify three major components, namely, ethyl nitrite, ethyl nitrate, and water, in the residue from the reaction between ethyl nitrite and nitrogen dioxide at about 190° C. Few other micro-analytical techniques would have enabled this to be done so simply or so quickly.
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Phillips, L., Nature, 165, 564 (1950).
Pollard, F. H., Marshall, H. S. B., and Pedler, A. E., Nature, 171, 1154 (1953).
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POLLARD, F., PEDLER, A. & HARDY, C. Effect of Nitrogen Dioxide on the Thermal Decomposition of Ethyl Nitrite. Nature 174, 979 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/174979a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/174979a0
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