Why not wait and see what you need? Buying the correct grade is just as important as the type. The most appropriate solvents to have on-hand for GC-MS will depend on the exact types of samples and matrix present. Most chemicals used for GC-MS analysis need to be GC-MS grade ($$$), but many other types of chemicals used may not need to be. This is not a task for an inexperienced user. Please ask the person with several years of formal training in developing GC-MS methods for advice at your place of work. Guessing at what you might need is wasteful.

• Optionally, to save money, ask your employer to hire someone with the needed experience (10+ years of demonstrated industrial analytical GC-MS experience) to set-up your GC laboratory and provide training. Professional set-up will be far more cost-effective and you will be ready to run actual methods for new samples much sooner.

Hi Mahsa, common solvents we used at BASF for GC (basically for oleochemical products) were isooctane (2,2,4-trimethylpentane), dichloromethane and toluene. Isooctane performs particularly well for routine cleaning of the column and injection system and does not evaporate quickly from the autosampler vials due to its high boiling point (99 °C). In this way, it does not have to be permanently refilled.

I am less familiar with GC/MS than GC-FID, but you should consider whether purchasing derivatization agents for silylation or methylation of polar functions may be relevant to your applications. On the website of "Machery-Nagel" you will find good information material on this topic.

Of course, the exact chemical requirement also depends heavily on the analytical issues.

I wish you much success in building up your new laboratory.

Hi Mahsa

Hexane would also be a good choice. It has a rather low boiling point (69 ºC), which will usually be lower than the boiling point of your analytes. The solvents that you already have in your lab are relatively polar, so having a non-polar solvent such as hexane will definitely come in handy. Other solvents to consider are acetone (56 ºC), n-pentane (36 ºC), cyclohexane (80 ºC) or toluene (110 ºC).

Another thing to bear in mind is that solvents with a lower molecular mass have a greater expansion volume than solvents with a higher molecular mass. The liner has a limited capacity, so this could result in backflash and therefore, contamination and chromatography problems if the injection volume is too high for the used solvent.

Overall, the selection of the solvents will ultimately depend on the specification of the column that you'll be using and your analytes.

Good luck with your laboratory.

Solvents needed for a new GC lab. such as methanol, acetonitrile, acetone , n-hexane etc.

In GC lab, for non polar sample, probably you will use carbon disulfide (especially in case of FID).

regards,

GB