The problem with shared retention data
Direct methods to measure k-vs-T relationships are tedious and time-consuming. Shared retention databases are unreliable and highly dependent on the specific GC–MS system, and physical standards simply do not exist for many compounds of interest.
The back-calculation method
A new methodology uses a series of temperature programs and algorithmic back-calculation of effective temperature and hold-up-time profiles. It is relatively fast, easy, and requires no additional equipment — and it enables automatic calculation of retention-time tolerance windows.
Accuracy that travels between labs
Retention projection is 3-fold more accurate under matched conditions, and 4- to 165-fold more accurate across laboratories using different methods — with a predictable error distribution. In LC–MS, 2- to 22-fold improvement over linear retention indexing.
Next: a large database of k-vs-T relationships, and faster methods for measuring k-vs-Φ to make the methodology routine.
