Isolation and Analysis of Essential Oils Using Gas Chromatography
Isolation and Analysis of Essential Oils using Gas Chromatography
Lyndon Justin T. Guzman
Institute of Chemistry, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
Date Performed: February 2; February 4, 2011
Date Submitted: February 18, 2011
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment is to isolate the essential oil from eucalyptus leaves as a pure compound; moreover, the components of the essential oil, camphor and limonene, will be then separated using gas chromatography technique, identify the components by their retention times, and compute for the concentration and percentage content of each component by their peak areas and peak heights. The volatile oil from eucalyptus leaves was isolated with the use of steam distillation setup, then using a separatory funnel to pipette out the extract from the distillate. A gas chromatography, with nitrogen gas as the carrier gas and a flame ionization detector, was used to separate and characterize the components of the essential oil. The retention times, peak areas, and peak heights were obtained for qualitative and quantitative analysis. A percentage of 0.05% and 2.85% were obtained as the content of camphor and limonene in the extracted oil, respectively. It also goes to show that limonene has greater concentration than that of camphor in the essential oil extract. Indeed, steam distillation and gas chromatography techniques are essential methods for extracting essential oils and separating natural compounds from plants.
I. Introduction
Gas chromatography is used for separations of volatile or reasonably volatile organic liquids and solids. In this method of chromatography, the components are partitioned between a liquid coating on the column (the stationary phase) and an inert gas (the mobile phase). The stationary phase for gas chromatography is usually an organic polymer coated on the inside of a tube, such as long capillary, and the mobile phase is an inert gas, such as hydrogen, helium, or nitrogen.
Lyndon Justin T. Guzman
Institute of Chemistry, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
Date Performed: February 2; February 4, 2011
Date Submitted: February 18, 2011
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment is to isolate the essential oil from eucalyptus leaves as a pure compound; moreover, the components of the essential oil, camphor and limonene, will be then separated using gas chromatography technique, identify the components by their retention times, and compute for the concentration and percentage content of each component by their peak areas and peak heights. The volatile oil from eucalyptus leaves was isolated with the use of steam distillation setup, then using a separatory funnel to pipette out the extract from the distillate. A gas chromatography, with nitrogen gas as the carrier gas and a flame ionization detector, was used to separate and characterize the components of the essential oil. The retention times, peak areas, and peak heights were obtained for qualitative and quantitative analysis. A percentage of 0.05% and 2.85% were obtained as the content of camphor and limonene in the extracted oil, respectively. It also goes to show that limonene has greater concentration than that of camphor in the essential oil extract. Indeed, steam distillation and gas chromatography techniques are essential methods for extracting essential oils and separating natural compounds from plants.
I. Introduction
Gas chromatography is used for separations of volatile or reasonably volatile organic liquids and solids. In this method of chromatography, the components are partitioned between a liquid coating on the column (the stationary phase) and an inert gas (the mobile phase). The stationary phase for gas chromatography is usually an organic polymer coated on the inside of a tube, such as long capillary, and the mobile phase is an inert gas, such as hydrogen, helium, or nitrogen.
References: Skoog, D.A., West, D.M., Holler, F.J. and S.R. Crouch. 2004. Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry, 8th edition. Thomson Learning Asia, Singapore. Institiute of Chemistry. Intermediate Chemistry Laboratory II Manual. 2010. University of the Philippines, Diliman, Philippines. Druelinger, M.L., B.A. Gaddis and A.M. Schoffstall. 2000. Microscale and Miniscale Organic Chemistry Laboratory Experiments. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., USA. Dalrymple, D.L. and J.A. Moore. 1976. Experimental Methods in Organic Chemistry, 2nd edition. W.B. Saunders Company, USA. Ault, A. 1983. Techniques and Experiments for Organic Chemistry, 4th edition. Allyn and Bacon, Inc., USA. %content = (area / total area) x 100 %content = (5820/10766407) x 100 %content = (area / total area) x 100 %content = (306384/10766407) x 100