Development of sample-tailored gas chromatography strategies involving one, two and three analytical dimensions

The scope of modern gas chromatography (GC) analysis is to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize the profiles of complex samples, such as foods, fragrances, petrochemicals, etc. If the objective is connected to sensory analyis, then the purpose is to recognize and prioritise target organoleptically-interesting molecules, and distinguish them from other volatiles that may not have relevance to the overall odour of a sample. The research work carried out during the three years of the PhD course in Chemistry Sciences can be placed within such contexts. In such a broad field of science separation, I have dealt with a number of innovative techniques, such as preparative (heart-cutting) multidimensional chromatography for the isolation and identification of highly-pure compounds; use of flow-modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (FM GC×GC) with different detectors as a powerful tool for the characterization of complex samples. Finally, during the last year of PhD course, I approached sensorial analysis, exploring the use of gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) for the determination of odour-active compounds in food samples. With regard to preparative chromatography, a lab-constructed system composed of one liquid and three GC systems was used for the isolation of the most important sesquiterpenes belonging to sandalwood essential oil [1]. With regard to FM GC×GC, the studies are related to fragrances [2], bio-diesel [3], and an essential oil [4]. Finally, GC-O was exploited for the determination of the odour-active compounds belonging to Heracleum transcaucasicum [5]. As can be derived from the brief description, during the three-year research period one-, two-, and three-dimensional GC methods have been developed with fine tuning for various analytical scopes.