Live retention database for identification of compounds in capillary gas chromatographic analysis—Principle and structure

Abstract A live retention database for compound identification in isothermal and any step temperature programmed capillary gas chromatography has been developed. The database utilizes the Kovats retention indices of compounds on a given stationary phase and the retention time of n‐alkanes measured at isothermal conditions on the column to be used, together with the programming parameters. Identification is performed by search operation that compares the calculated results with the retention values of unknown peaks. Cross‐reference of the search results of different operating conditions is performed automatically by the database in order to increase the reliability of the identification. The error of the database conversion is ≤ ± 0.5 index unit, or ≤ ± 1% on retention time. This paper describes the principle and the structure of the database in detail. The experimental results for different calsses of compounds tested at divers operating conditions will be presented in Part II.