Pyrolysis gas—liquid chromatography of N,N-dimethyl-alkylamine N-oxides and their mixtures

Abstract

A rapid quantitative and small scale method based on direct injection pyrolysis gas—liquid chromatography is described for the determination of N,N-dimethylalkylamine N-oxides. The method is suitable for determination of individual N-oxides as well as of their homologous compositions with or without the presence of parent tertiary amines in water or methanol solutions. The sensitivity of the method is 10–15 nmol of compounds injected. The unsymmetrical (1-methyldodecyl)dimethylamine N-oxide forms two isomeric alkenes 1-tridecene and trans-2-tridecene in a ratio of 1.68, in agreement with the predicted value.